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4251

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 13, 2009, 12:37 AM »

Geez, another interesting thing about Light Alloy from the website in the contact section:

For discussion of all issues there is a forum in which even works search.

However, if you have an irresistible urge to send a message to the author the player, here you can do it.

Be aware that the likelihood that you will receive a response almost zero, but perhaps, your message will be read.

He's certainly one of the more peculiar authors that I've come across.  But he makes a fantastic product.

Other peculiar authors with great software I've come across (just FYI):
The Bat
Xfilesdialog
Calendarscope

4252

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 13, 2009, 12:31 AM »

The Russian SLO.RU states Light Alloy to be freeware, so the answer to the riddle may not be too difficult, for Russians... (unless the SLO version is a special SLO-Russian version).

-Curt (December 12, 2009, 04:31 AM)

Actually it says on the Softella website: Free for the Russian speaking population.

So, technically, if you can speak Russian you can use it for free.

-4wd (December 12, 2009, 06:08 PM)

Yeah, but it seems like you have to be able to solve the riddle to find out what to enter in the registration fields.

4253

Screenshot Captor / Re: Bug: blank file when using "grab selected region" capture

« Last post by superboyac on December 12, 2009, 12:53 AM »

Yes!  I do have KIS.  All fixed!  Thank you.

I love Kaspersky, but sometimes...it just drives me nuts.

4254

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 12, 2009, 12:14 AM »

By the way, I did a few experiments with MPC-HC and Light Alloy:
Light Alloy is still quicker to open a file.  Not that MPC is slow, but LA is quicker.  Just FYI.  I tried it with all kinds of files.

4255

Screenshot Captor / Bug: blank file when using "grab selected region" capture

« Last post by superboyac on December 12, 2009, 12:06 AM »

mouser, when I use the grab selected region capture method, I am getting blank captures.  The dimensions of the box is correct, but it's just blank white.

Also, i tried updating using DCUpdater, but it fails.  But it might be on my end, I can't tell:

4256

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 12, 2009, 12:02 AM »

Hahaha...
I love this guy, the author of Light Alloy.
So I'm browsing his all-Russian website using Google translator.  The front page says that the program is free for Russian speaking customers and there's a link:


which takes you to the license page.  Here, he gives the instructions on how to input the free license:


That's hilarious.  I'm trying to figure out what "Then have a little break his head over a mystery" means!  Maybe this is his way of truly filtering out russian speaking customers.  He beat google at their own game.  Brilliant!
[edit] I get it!  It's a riddle.  Cool.  Anyone?

4257

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread

« Last post by superboyac on December 10, 2009, 11:42 AM »

I know it's been talked about here before, but it would be really cool to have start menu organizer program.  It would scan all the shortcuts in the different user profile folders (start menu shortcuts) as well as the "all users" shortcuts, and allow you to move them back and forth, to sync them between.

Even though it's something that can be easily done with your file manager, there are a lot of folders involved with long paths and so on.  I'm picturing something like a tree structure.  I've come across a couple of programs on the web that kind of do this, but not all that well.

4258

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 10, 2009, 10:35 AM »

I'm not sure what the obsession is with speed, though. I'll gladly give up a second or so in launch time for the sheer humongous amount of tweaking/tuning options KMPlayer gives me.

-Innuendo (December 09, 2009, 11:15 PM)

No you wouldn't! 
 

Sorry for telling you what you would like, I have no right to do so. But superboyac did not ask for features or user-friendliness, or anything else than speed - in order to stop wasting time when he's walking through a collection of video files in Explorer, searching for the right one. There is no substitute for speed in such a case. If it furthermore is okay to wait another second or two, when you want to somehow edit or otherwise manage a file, then there is no need at all to have your favourite player set to also be the default player - you can merely right-click the file and make your choice.

-Curt (December 10, 2009, 10:00 AM)

Thanks Curt!  He described exactly the scenario I had in mind.

It's not an obsession.  I use many different video players for different purposes.  Sometimes, i even use a different video player just to change it up.  i.e. no reason.  But in this case, I wanted the quickest one.

It's just one of those things.  After using your computer for a while and trying out, say, a bunch of video players, you realize what is annoying you the most or what you find most pleasant.  In my case, I realized that I was really happy when I double-clicked a video file and the player quickly came up.  So I knew that was the feature that I liked most.

4259

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 09, 2009, 10:49 AM »

OOh!  It's portable?  I'm going to add it to my USB drive.

-superboyac (December 08, 2009, 08:50 PM)

Being a single executable kind of makes that easy

Just check the box Options->Player->Store settings to .ini file

-4wd (December 09, 2009, 06:21 AM)

MPC-HC is very, very nice!  I like it.  I may have found my default portable player.

4260

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 08, 2009, 08:50 PM »

Another vote here for MPC-HC - the only player I use, (in it's portable version).  Single executable, integrated codecs, fully customisable keys/mouse.

It works on W7 and is also available in x64.

-4wd (December 08, 2009, 05:25 PM)

OOh!  It's portable?  I'm going to add it to my USB drive.

4261

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by superboyac on December 08, 2009, 08:49 PM »

What doesn't annoy me?

-superboyac (December 08, 2009, 04:32 PM)

How about the picture of that 'girl with the basket' I posted in response to your leather messenger bag question?

-40hz (December 08, 2009, 07:10 PM)

He he...yeah, you got me there.

4262

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 08, 2009, 04:40 PM »

I like your term: "play and forget".

I agree with your complaints.  I would also like those features you mentioned.  I'll be sticking with Light Alloy for now.  But Splayer is nice, I will be keeping my eye on it.  I love the interface, it's so clean.

4263

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by superboyac on December 08, 2009, 04:32 PM »

What doesn't annoy me?

4264

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 08, 2009, 03:49 PM »

Thanks Curt.  I'll give that a go.  They should make their options interface a little more, shall i say, normal!

4265

Living Room / Re: A Chance to Brag/Explain - What is DonationCoder and What Are You Doing Here?

« Last post by superboyac on December 08, 2009, 01:52 PM »

I want to mention an aspect of DC that often goes unnoticed, and is a great nod to what mouser has done here behind the scenes:

This forum is so easy to use and the experience is very pleasant.  The organization of the forum is clear and intuitive for navigation purposes.  Searching in here is the best, no other forum comes close.  It's so easy to find things.  I can't tell you how important that is.  There are other forums that have a lot of information and good people and content, but their forums are such a pain to navigate and search.  Like hydrogenaudio (foobar's forums) or musicplayer forums, etc.

The layout here is so easy to read and you can do so much with the posts.   You can edit them at any time, attach pictures easily.  It's all so nice and easy here.  This is so very important.  There is no other forum that does all of this so nicely.  If it were not for that, I would not participate here nearly as much, and I'm pretty sure that goes for a lot of other people.

The way this forum is structured makes it so easy for the user to just express what he wants to.  In other forums, there are a lot of obstacles, technically, that get in the way of true, natural, free expression.  After a while, you just give up and don't even want to participate.

And it's no accident, all of this.  Mouser and others here do a lot of work behind the scenes to tweak everything and get it to be this way.

4266

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 08, 2009, 01:37 PM »

Superboyac: What do you want to configure in Splayer that you can't do?

-JavaJones (December 08, 2009, 12:54 PM)

Mouse button customization.  Most of these programs have options to assign functions to left-mouse, right-mouse buttons.  Also, program double-click function, etc.

4267

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 08, 2009, 10:42 AM »

Hmmm...I like Splayer, but I wish it was a little more configurable.  It has one of the strangest preference dialogs ever.

4268

Living Room / Re: Help me choose a new bank (software related)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 08, 2009, 12:58 AM »

Interesting...
It seems as though my Credit Union may be able to do this.  Although i get an error in Quicken when trying to connect.  I hope that's not because they charge for the service.  I'll have to call tomorrow and find out.  If this works, that would be nice, because I like my credit union.

4269

Living Room / Help me choose a new bank (software related)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 07, 2009, 11:58 PM »

I currently use Bank of America, but I am considering switching.  This is for my checking account, so it's not for savings or investments or anything like that.  I initially got Bank of America in college because there were a lot ATM's around, so it was convenient that way.  Now, cash is not so much of a problem, especially with credit cards and all the shopping I do.  So, I rarely actually use the ATM.

Now, what prompted this was that I want to streamline my finances with Quicken.  I used to download the files of my statement from BofA's website, then import them into Quicken.  But I'd like to automate all of that.  However, BofA charges a fee for that service.  I was wondering if any of you knew of a bank that offers that service for free.  So that's one of my main concerns.

The other issue is fees.

FEES
As you know, banks charge fees for everything, and they're a little annoying.  I'd like to know if there are banks out there that I can use ONLINE that have as few fees as possible.  Most banks charge a fee unless you direct deposit your paycheck into it.  Are there ones that don't?  Please let me know.

Also, I'd like a pretty sophisticated online experience.  Give me some useful features online, whatever they may be.

So, in summary, I'm looking for the following:

• Free "Direct Connect" services (that's the term Quicken uses)
• No fees if you don't direct deposit.
• Nice online features (online bill payments, etc.)

Thanks!

4270

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 07, 2009, 10:09 PM »

It doesn't come with codecs internally.  The codecs need to be configured on your system for it to play video.  it's not the player's fault.

-superboyac (December 07, 2009, 07:25 PM)

Yes, I know.  I have the CCCP codec pack installed; LightAlloy should be able to use those codecs.

-skwire (December 07, 2009, 07:42 PM)

I'm not sure then.  That's one of the areas I'm not too good at.  I don't know how the system and video players figure out how to decode a video, nor do I know how to configure settings too much.  I understand for the internal ones like VLC, everything is just packaged with the program.  But with the ones that depend on your system configuration, it's an area I'm weak at.

The cccp pack should work, I don't know.  I would say ask the Light Alloy developer, but unless you are fluent in Russion, it might be difficult!

4271

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 07, 2009, 07:25 PM »

Hmmmm...I just tried that LightAlloy build you attached.  I couldn't get it to play video for any type of file I tried (avi, mpg, mkv, or vob).  It would play the audio but not the video.  Furthermore, it didn't seem any faster than the MPC(HC)/CCCP combo I've used for years.  In fact, MPC seemed faster to me.  *shrug*  I don't mean this post as a flame...I'm just posting my thoughts.

-skwire (December 07, 2009, 07:15 PM)

It doesn't come with codecs internally.  The codecs need to be configured on your system for it to play video.  it's not the player's fault.  MPC is pretty fast also.  To be honest, I don't know why I ever stopped using MPC.  Years ago, i think I was just looking for newer programs to play with and MPC wasn't playing everything the way I wanted and/or there were errors every now and then.  All this stuff depends on what each person's video habits are.

I liked Light Alloy because it was specifically built for speed.  I think even with MPC or any other preferred player anyone has, it will be hard to beat the speed of Light Alloy.  Now, you may prefer other things about other players, but it can't be faulted for speed.

There are so many video players out there!  Someone should do a roundup.  It's weird how VLC is so popular even though I don't think it does any one thing better than another of the alternatives.  It definitely has the biggest name.

4272

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 07, 2009, 07:17 PM »

2superboyac
Just wondering:
did you try to use command line version of mplayer.hu?
The engine is the same as for SMPlayer but getting rid off GUI made it the quickest one on my PC. Original version also had dhahelper.sys driver which increased its speed a lot. Even though there are a lot of good players I am still using it as default one (sorry KMPlayer).

Oh! And there is also Total Commander plugin to use this application through lister interface. I don't dare to dream for more

-fenixproductions (December 07, 2009, 06:47 PM)

I have tried it, and removed it.  Although i don't really remember why.  It may have been because it was a little too minimalist for me.

4273

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 07, 2009, 06:45 PM »

Hm, when you mentioned "SMPlayer" I kind of figured you meant SPlayer, but I see there is also an SMPlayer. So, if you haven't tried Splayer, you might want to check it out:
http://www.splayer.org/index.en.html
It claims speed and low memory use as advantages. I've found it's pretty decent, I'm testing it as a secondary or even replacement for my current favorite The KMPlayer.

However, I do have another thought. Have you looked into optimizing The KMPlayer? For example if you're willing to use a player without built-in codecs, you could turn off all it's own codecs. Not sure if this would make it faster... or slower. But something to test. Also I imagine what video renderer you use affects this. I know there are many more options that affect this, such as playlist reading modes, etc, etc. I would think there is probably optimization-related discussion on the KMPlayer forums (hopefully in the English part ). If you do look into that, let us know if you find anything promising, as it's something I'd be interested in too.

Good luck!

- Oshyan

-JavaJones (December 07, 2009, 03:19 AM)

Splayer is very, very nice.  I will have to compare its speed with Light Alloy when I get home.  I like it a lot.  If it is slower than LA, it's not by much.  Nice find.  It's nice looking as well, and has some cool options.

4274

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 07, 2009, 06:11 PM »

... Light Alloy is still slowly being developed.  However, they are doing it all in Russian.  

-superboyac (December 07, 2009, 03:22 AM)

Have you (anyone) figured out what font the Light Alloy user will need, in order so see the proper Cyrillic characters in the program (not the site)? The titles are easy to read, but the mouse-over texts makes no meaning.

-Curt (December 07, 2009, 05:45 PM)

Oh, I should clear that up.  You have to go into the Preferences menu, change the language to English, and everything will be fine.  I'm at work right now, so I can't give a screenshot, but i can later tonight.

Actually, screw it, I can do it here at work:
Press F10, that will bring up the preferences setting (after clicking on the left button for the nag screen; I'm assuming yours is not registered).  Then pick English.  See the screenshots below:

4275

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on December 07, 2009, 03:28 AM »

Thanks Java!  Splayer looks interesting, I'm going to try it out.
Also, regarding the configuration of filters and such; not to be difficult, but I just don't have the heart for it at this point.  Maybe I will later, but I'd crossing my fingers that there's one that works awesome right out of the box.


PS I have to say, this latest version of Light Alloy is pretty amazing.  This may be the winner.