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4326

General Software Discussion / Re: Has anyone discovered any cool Windows 7 third-party utilities?

« Last post by superboyac on November 12, 2009, 05:30 PM »

You can currently get a fully licensed copy of Ashampoo's WinOptimizer 2010 v6.50 for free (e-mail address registration required) courtesy of a find by the folks over at for-free-on-internet.com

This product lists for around $50 if you were to go out buy it.

Link to info:

http://for-free-on-i...latest-v-650-4-free/

If you're looking for an all-in-one optimizer/general utilities package, Ashampoo does one of the better ones.

-40hz (November 12, 2009, 05:26 PM)

Cool!

4327

Living Room / Re: You have a computer backup plan.. but does it work?

« Last post by superboyac on November 12, 2009, 05:25 PM »

This is such good advice, thanks mouser.

I've been through the ringer about all this backup business.  Back in 2003, my IBm Deathstar failed and I lost a huge amount of music.  I didn't have any backup in place at the time.  Since then, I have been very crazy about backing everything up.  In my current computer system (see thread here) you can see how many drives are added simply for the purpose of backing things up.

The setup goes like this:
--Main hard drive (for OS and apps)
--Main hard drive (for documents and files)
--Backup #1 (backs up the two main drives above; images for the OS drive, file-synching for the document drive)
--Backup #2 (backs up backup #1, accomplished through file-synching)

I even have an additional spare drive since I'm using a 2-bay enclosure.  backup #1 is inside my tower, backup #2 is in the external enclosure, and the other bay just has whatever spare drive in there (I just use it to play around with things).  Now, that means I'm using a total of 5 drives!  I'm almost crossing the line between a normal home PC and some kind of mini-corporate server setup.

Is my setup perfect?  not really.  As mouser said, there can be several weaknesses even with all the redundancy I have.  For one thing, I haven't figured out a good schedule for doing images (for the main drive).  I basically just do it occasionally whenever I feel like it.  Then, do I replace existing images?  Do I do some kind of incremental system?  Do I do separate images for each time?  The issue with imaging is that the files are very big, and even with cheap drives, you can fill them up pretty fast with images.  And it's not just an issue of getting additional hard drives (which ARE cheap).  If I add more drives now, i have to think about doing a serious server setup...with NAS connections, or RAID, or I don't even really know about that stuff.  Once you get into that, the equipment gets really expensive.

Another issue is that all of this stuff is located in the same room.  I should probably keep an additional drive in my parents' house or something.  Or back it all up with some kind of uploading service.  There is a lot to consider here.  Backing up properly is a complex thing.  People who don't know a lot about computers have no idea what is involved.  Imaging, multiple drives, file syncing, external enclosures.  A lot of people think all they need to do is burn their files to a DVD.

One thing I worry about is just like mouser said.  I have the backup drives (where one backs up the backup).  But let's say I get a horrible virus that infects everything and that gets backed up, and then the backup gets backed up.  Well, now I have triple-redundancy, but they are all completely infected.  So what now?  I don't know...that's where incremental backups and versioning comes in.  But then you will start need more drives, and you get into the whole thing I mentioned above.  You see how crazy it is?  Ugh...

4328

Living Room / Re: Leather messenger bag recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on November 12, 2009, 01:44 PM »

Well, I just bought the banana republic bag I posted in the first link!  So my backpack of 18 years is gone.  I was going to shop more, maybe get one from Cole Haan, but BR had a 30% sale and I ended up getting it for about $150, which is great.

I also got some new shoes.  I'm on my way to looking like the pretentious ass I've always wanted to be.

4329

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

« Last post by superboyac on November 12, 2009, 01:08 PM »

I'll definitely post more about the book as I go through it.  he uses Photoshop primarily.  What I'd like to know is if I can take his techniques and apply them to Illustrator.  Nobody uses Illustrator for this stuff, and I know why, but I can't shake the feeling that I want to go that way.

One of the great bonuses of that book is seeing exactly all the steps involved in creating a page of art.  That's really useful.  I had a book as a kid called How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.  it was pretty good, but in the end, I didn't find it too helpful because a lot of little steps were not explained.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

« Last post by superboyac on November 11, 2009, 09:54 PM »

40hz, I just got the book:
The DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics

It is fantastic.  It is exactly, precisely, 100% the book I was looking for.  He is the only person who has written a book on this subject, there isn't even anyone close.  And he's done an awesome job.  It's not about drawing, it's not about how to draw well...it's all about how to get things done using the computer.  And he does a great job showing the pros and cons of the digital method vs. traditional paper and pencil.  Thanks man, you are a source of endless useful information around here.

4331

General Software Discussion / Re: PDF's

« Last post by superboyac on November 10, 2009, 06:45 PM »

Sounds to me like the only plausible solutions would have to address the creation of the pdf's.  Since there's no way for the company to do that without fiddling with those settings, then I'm afraid there really isn't a solution to your problem.

Our company here has tried solutions like Bluebeam's network printer where users drop files into a folder and then they get automatically converted to pdf's and spit out into another folder.  but most people still went straight to the copy machine/scanner for most of their needs.  So, in the end, it doesn't matter.  If you scan, you get an image, and it's going to be a bigger file than it needs to be.  In my opinion, we're still a good 5-10 years away from moving away from heavily relying upon copy machines for large corporations.

4332

General Software Discussion / Re: Has anyone discovered any cool Windows 7 third-party utilities?

« Last post by superboyac on November 10, 2009, 11:12 AM »

Very cool, guys!  These are exactly the kind of things I was hoping for.

4333

Screenshot Captor / Re: NOD32 False Positive

« Last post by superboyac on November 09, 2009, 12:45 PM »

I've discovered how to exclude files by extension, which wasn't immediately obvious to me: in Settings -> File Anti-Virus -> Threats and exclusions -> Settings again. I needed this because after installing the AV I started getting strange crashes from an application that often updates a large MS Jet database. It was throwing unlikely errors like "disk or network resource is no longer available", then crashing and taking some of my work with it. It suppose Kaspersky was scanning the DB in real time (on every access?) and maybe was locking the file, who knows. It seems to have stopped after I excluded the specific extensions from scanning.

-tranglos (September 15, 2009, 12:19 PM)

You know, I just remembered a situation a few years ago when I used newsgroups more.  I was using forte agent, and I remember that kaspersky would do the same thing for the database files that agent used.  I tried to figure out how to make kaspersky exclude it, but could never figure it out.  I'm glad you did.  I'm going to have to bookmark this solution for the future.  Thanks!

4334

General Software Discussion / Has anyone discovered any cool Windows 7 third-party utilities?

« Last post by superboyac on November 09, 2009, 12:37 PM »

Has anyone found some interesting third-party utilities for Windows 7?  I really mean for Windows 7, not for Windows in general.

For example, I'd be interested in something that managed all the settings differently, in a more poweruser kind of way.  As many of you know, the settings in Windows 7 are layered in many menus and submenus.  I'd love to see it in something presented in a more efficient interface.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Any XP users switching to Windows 7 yet?

« Last post by superboyac on November 09, 2009, 11:08 AM »

Dang 40hz!  Is there anything you don't do?  You are quickly becoming my phone-a-friend lifeline...

To continue the off-topic discussion:

Spoiler

I, too, prefer to keep it as low-tech as possible for live gigs.  But to be more accurate, my goal is to keep it as simple as possible.  Here's the problem, even with the most basic setup that we have (drums, acoustic bass, piano, vocals) you need amplification.  For that, we have the absolute simplest setup with a little portable PA/speaker system so we can have all the inputs go to one place and control the sounds somehow.  Now, here's the problem with the piano...everyone else can use a real instrument and just amplify it, but the piano player has to use a keyboard (unless the venue happens to have its own grand piano).  Initially I would just use the onboard sounds on my Roland RD700.  But here's the problem...the onboard piano sound is shit.  It's just barely tolerable.  I try to be calm about it because you just have to be prepared to play in non-ideal situations as a musician.  However, if you want a better sounding piano, you have to get a whole new freaking $2000 keyboard.  So, I can't afford to get a new keyboard for every subsequent version that comes out (RD700SX, GX, etc.).  All I want is playable piano sound.  So, if I were a pro, I'd keep trying keyboards until I found the right one.  But I can't do that.  You can't tell from just playing in the store.  It's like a mattress:  you need to use it for a couple of months to see if you like it or not.

This is where my complaint of the slow-moving, old-school musician industry thing comes into play.  90% of the manufacturers out there will do this:  when they want to improve the piano sound of a keyboard, do they offer it as some kind of downloadable update to be flashed on the keyboard through USB or something?  No.  They make a whole new keyboard and add a couple of buttons and interface changes.  Not to mention the 3 years you had to wait for them to even attempt to improve the sound.  In the end, it's a very easy fix if someone wants to address it in the company.

The problem with this situation is that the owners of hardware (me) are at the mercy of the manufacturer's schedule for changes and improvements.  That's why I turned to PC sampler software.  What I have relative to most of the musicians out there is an aptitude for technology and how to use it in practical situations to solve a problem.  So, there are tons of great piano samples out there that you can try out very easily and cheaply, without having to commit to buying thousands of dollars of equipment.  So I started trying them out.  Here's the great thing about samplers:  multiple gigabytes of samples means nothing to the computer.  Hard drives are peanut cheap.  But these keyboard companies (to this day) brag about their 64MB or 128MB onboard sound.  Why?  because they get away with it.  To me, anything in the megabytes is shit.  What the hell is 64MB?  64MB hasn't been anything to brag about for over a decade.  Anyway, with the sampler, you can use huge samples and you can find something very easily that sounds WAY better than anything Roland has on their keyboards.  Now, granted, some of these sample companies have gone a bit crazy with their enormous samples (50GB?! 200GB?!!!).  In my case, I found a sweet spot with a 2GB sample that I have.  It's awesome.  In fact, I can find a 500MB sample that will blow away anything the Roland can offer in the way of playability and sound.

But now, I need to add a laptop to my rig.  That's a pain, let me tell you.  It's one thing to bring a keyboard and two wires to plug into the PA...it's another thing to add a laptop.  First, like you mentioned, you worry about stability.  I'm over that right now, I've never experienced any issues in many, many hours of playing to date.  but the thought always lingers in the back of your head.  Second of all, your setup immediately becomes very complicated with additional wires and stuff.  I need a midi cable now going to the laptop and the laptop needs to be connected to the PA.  Then, there's a very loud humming buzz because of a ground loop (very common).  So, I needed to buy this little box to put between the laptop and the pa that gets rid of the buzz (works amazingly well, by the way).  Then I needed to setup a dual-boot on the laptop so i can run a bare-bones XP installation for just musician stuff.  Then you have to get the settings just right and easy to use.  All in all, a pain in the ass!  But worth it.

All this so that I don't have to be tied to the manufacturer's old-school ways.  I'm not buying a new keyboard unless it physically offers something I want like a better action on the keys or something...and significantly better.  And I know what you're thinking: "Why don't you just buy a midi-only keyboard".  Well, it's because there aren't many midi-only keyboards out there that have a good feel to them.

Rant...over.

4336

General Software Discussion / Re: Any XP users switching to Windows 7 yet?

« Last post by superboyac on November 08, 2009, 04:14 PM »

Ugh, it's such a crazy world once you get caught up in all the music studio stuff.

-superboyac (November 08, 2009, 02:41 PM)

Not always.

I had a copy of Gigasampler running very nicely on a dedicated PC. The PC was bought used. I spent a huge amount of time getting Windows tweaked and stripped down as much as possible. Once I did, I loaded and tweaked Giga - and that was i!

I worked beautifully after that because I never changed anything once it was working to my satisfaction. And I've followed that same approach for every other piece of music software I've ever used:

• Set up the OS as cleanly as possible
• Install the app and get it working correctly
• Leave everything strictly alone after that - and just use it.

Think appliance. 

That means absolutely NO upgrades or changes to the OS. And as few as possible to the app itself.

Once you stop chasing all those upgrades for features that sound cool on paper but are seldom needed, your music apps tend to work great.

( BTW: I did the same thing with Cubase too! )

Just my 2¢

-40hz (November 08, 2009, 04:00 PM)

I think you and I are thinking the same way on this one.  So on my laptop, I have XP set up on one of the partitions as a dual boot system.  XP will ONLY be used for playing live music.  I use Kontakt rather than Gigasampler, and the only real purpose of using a sampler is to use a grand piano sound that is halfway decent.  I play through my Roland RD700, which has plenty of pianos on it by itself, but they sound like crap.  So, Kontakt wouldn't even start up in Win7, that's why I'm doing all this.  Anyway, I got Kontakt set up on XP and it worked really well actually.  I was worried it might struggle with the sample piano since it's an old laptop.  So now I can use my laptop at live gigs!

Like you, I've also stripped the XP installation of anything that I don't really need.  It will only be used to play music live.  I will leave it alone now!

If I need to do other things, I can use the Win7 installation.  Isn't that great?!

What I meant about the musician stuff being a headache is the whole experience of getting what you want as a hobby/budget musician.  Very few serious musicians are going around playing pianos through their computer or anything like that.  Most likely, they are using some $xxxx piece of hardware.

4337

General Software Discussion / Re: Any XP users switching to Windows 7 yet?

« Last post by superboyac on November 08, 2009, 02:41 PM »

...(musician software wasn't running well on Win7), ...

-superboyac (November 08, 2009, 12:46 AM)

This I can believe especially if you are running older versions of your software as Microsoft totally re-wrote the audio stack for Windows Vista & Win7 just builds upon those changes. You'll probably have to keep dual-booting or upgrade your software to something Win7-aware. And since it's specialized software...that probably won't be cheap.

-Innuendo (November 08, 2009, 10:06 AM)

Yeah, something is definitely not working there.  The problem with musician stuff is that it takes soooooo long for them to update anything or keep up with current technology.  All the way from their hardware to their software.  For example, pretty much nobody sells a PCIe soundcard even though it's been years since the format has been around.  and if you find one that does, like you said, get ready to pay big bucks for it.  It's one of those industries that is pretty old-school and quirky.  It messes with the whole supply and demand balance.  All the professionals use expensive hardware instead of software.  So not much attention is given to the software.  Ugh, it's such a crazy world once you get caught up in all the music studio stuff.

4338

General Software Discussion / Re: Any XP users switching to Windows 7 yet?

« Last post by superboyac on November 08, 2009, 12:46 AM »

OK, I've tried out Win7 on my laptop...it's pretty nice.  Yes, it's very true that all the options to configure things are all over the place deep in submenus.  But like someone earlier said, I tend to go with third party software usually in the long run for most things.  Overall, it's a fast OS, even considering the fact that the laptop is pretty old.  I don't have much more to say at this point.

As a vote for XP, remember how I built my new rig this year?  Well, I took my old computer (~2002) and hooked it up to my very old curvy screen TV to be used as a "media PC".  It's running XP.  I removed all the things that I wouldn't really need and just kept the basics like multimedia programs and file managers.  It's runs very fast, I am really impressed.  The resolution is something crazy like 800x600 because of the TV, but it's great to use as your media center.  I even took care of some fan issues just now so it's pretty quiet also.  This is great!  I have some new things to play with:  my new rig for most of my work, my laptop with Win7 to get used to it dual-booted with XP so I can use with my piano for live gigs (musician software wasn't running well on Win7), and I have a new media PC for my old ass TV.  Good stuff!

4339

General Software Discussion / Re: Any XP users switching to Windows 7 yet?

« Last post by superboyac on November 06, 2009, 03:51 PM »

I've pretty much switched over.

There's nothing I really need in the Windows environment that doesn't run on Win7 so I've decided to not put it off any longer. Your mileage may vary.

(Fingers crossed. )

-40hz (November 06, 2009, 03:47 PM)

Very cool!  I've been thinking about it.  Especially since I have a nice, new rig, I figured I might as well put the latest OS on it, but XP has been running well for me.  I remember that I didn't make the switch to XP way back when for two years after it came out.  I was using ME, which ran really well for me and I've never understood all the flak it got.  Maybe I was the exception.  I did give Windows 7 a test run and it was pretty nice I suppose.  But Vista was pretty nice as a test run also.  I don't know.  Keep us informed, 40!

4340

General Software Discussion / Any XP users switching to Windows 7 yet?

« Last post by superboyac on November 06, 2009, 03:11 PM »

I know there has been talk about Windows 7 being pretty good.  I also know there are a lot of us that have been happy just sticking with XP throughout the whole Vista era.  So, the question is, are any of you XP users switching to Windows 7 now?  And I don't mean just installing it on another partition or virtualization or something.  I'm talking about the real deal.  Like, you will be using Windows 7 to do all your normal, daily computer activities.  Basically, forget about XP and move on.  Anyone making that jump yet?  Discuss...

4341

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by superboyac on November 06, 2009, 01:49 PM »

The kwoon video...awesome.

4342

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: New program: eStopWatch (freeware)

« Last post by superboyac on November 04, 2009, 03:51 PM »

Here are some suggestions on my end to keep the interface the way it is for the most part, but add a couple of timer features:

4343

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: New program: eStopWatch (freeware)

« Last post by superboyac on November 04, 2009, 11:40 AM »

Feature suggestion:

Currently, I use this program every day as my timer for brewing coffee.  I use it on countdown mode.  It would be nice if it remembered the last used countdown setting and/or automatically reset to the initial countdown set time without going through the process of setting the time again.  Here's all the steps it takes to set the countdown timer:

--click the "start:down" button
--click the "load preset" button in the set timer window that pops up
--click the "count down" button

That's 3 clicks just to keep using the same time over and over again.  If I've already loaded the time, it would be better if it resets after it finishes, and then I just click start to do it again.  That's only one click.  And if this happens, I would also suggest the program to remember the last used timer setting after exiting/restarting.

4344

The Form Letter Machine / Re: Online version of The Form Letter Machine coming soon..

« Last post by superboyac on November 04, 2009, 10:48 AM »

I've always liked this program.  I've thought of a lot of potential uses for it.

4345

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

« Last post by superboyac on November 03, 2009, 10:30 AM »

Man, 40, you sure know a lot about this stuff.  Thanks for all your input, I love it!

I remember in my early teens when I came across the movie "Heavy Metal".  I don't remember how I saw it, maybe it was on cable or something.  I thought it was so naughty.

4346

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

« Last post by superboyac on November 02, 2009, 10:52 AM »

Why stop at making your own drawings based on your own 3d models.. why not press your own paper from pulp and hand illustrate each copy of each book printed, using a quill pen.

-mouser (November 01, 2009, 01:32 PM)

Actually, that's not as far fetched as you might think when it comes to fantasy and sci-fi publishing. There is a very active demand for extremely limited editions in that market. You'll find these collectible gems on the websites of many of the better small publishers.

Printed on hand operated presses (using metal type!), exotic bindings, hand-tinted illustrations (with an occasional original drawing thrown in for good measure) - these are real collectibles - not some limited production run intended to to create an artificial rarity.

These books are usually produced in editions numbering less than a hundred. They're beautifully made, quite unique, and priced accordingly. That being said, they're still labors of love since most of the presses that produce them are small operations that are usually not trying to do much more than make enough to keep doing what they love doing.

Many famous fantasy authors have one of these "chapbook" editions out. Very often, a press will commission a short story or novella especially for this purpose. These numbered editions, frequently slip-cased or bound in unusual formats, are almost always autographed by the author. They're actively sought by both die-hard genre fans and those who appreciate the art of fine bookmaking.

-40hz (November 02, 2009, 07:47 AM)

Wow, 40!  You know a lot about this stuff.  That is fascinating.  I've known a little about the fantasy genre from many years ago because I thought the art was so cool (the female nudity helped).  I didn't know about these special collections, though.  In fact, I've never really met anyone who was a fan of this art.

But mouser has a point, if I am understanding him correctly.  I need to focus on a schedule and see what can be realistically accomplished, even if that means sacrificing a little quality.  For the past few weeks, I've been experimenting with different styles and programs to see what method I come up with.  I still probably need a couple of more months of that.  After that, I need to start setting goals and coming up with illustrations, no matter what.  I can't be researching forever.  i think that was his point, right mouser?

4347

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

« Last post by superboyac on November 01, 2009, 03:15 PM »

I know you're not doing a graphic novel, but there's a really good book I picked up a few weeks ago that has some excellent tutorials that might help with what you're doing. It's called The DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics by Freddie Williams II (ISBN: 978-0-8230-9923-8). This book is very well written, and has concepts that go well beyond just creating comic books.

-40hz (October 20, 2009, 07:05 PM)

40hz!  I completely missed this great post of yours.  Thanks, I will check this book out immediately.

4348

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

« Last post by superboyac on November 01, 2009, 03:14 PM »

Why stop at making your own drawings based on your own 3d models.. why not press your own paper from pulp and hand illustrate each copy of each book printed, using a quill pen.

that's just my way of saying that it seems like you are going down a path that is going to drastically effect how long it's going to take you to finish the book; if that's ok with you then it sounds like it's going to be a real labor of love.  just make sure it's a tradeoff you are willing to make.

-mouser (November 01, 2009, 01:32 PM)

I hear you.  I just talked about this with my friend.  I'm not going to do any more 3d models.  but the sword is such a critical element of the story, i figured it would be good to start off doing something like this.  The other stuff I'm going to do by hand like that one sketch I already started.  It will be a labor of love, but we still want a product.  Our time frame is about 1-2 years.  I think I can hand draw enough things in that time.

4349

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphic Design question: Services and prices?

« Last post by superboyac on October 31, 2009, 05:56 PM »

Well, color me impressed by plain ol vanilla Autocad.  I did this rendering in Autocad after messing around with lights and materials for a good four days.  But I gotta say, it looks pretty sweet.  I still feel like Autocad is too sluggish with the 3d stuff, but this is a pretty fine rendering:

4350

Living Room / Re: Reocities: the GeoCities one-man rescue project

« Last post by superboyac on October 29, 2009, 04:54 PM »

Ah...Geocities.  I remember it.  I think I had a website on it.  The only thing I had on the site was that stupid animated gif of the hand coming out and grabbing something.  I thought that was so cool at the time.

[edit]
HAHA.  I found it...so stupid!