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4401

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 04, 2011, 11:38 AM »

...I was/am shooting for either an incident (of black-out) where T-Clock's feature isn't enabled. Or a longer term episode like the one you mentioned having to shutdown to get out of.

-Stoic Joker (April 02, 2011, 04:31 PM)

I have had no incidents occur when Tcolock was not enabled.

The time I had to do the shutdown was when it was in one of the off-on blink manifestations.  The ones where it completely went to black and stayed there, I was able to get back in a normal way...though I do not remember now whether a log in was required for those.  Those happened first; the last 2 or 3 were the blinking kind.

-movrshakr (April 02, 2011, 07:38 PM)

Guess I need to do a bit of digging them ... Let me know how the test progresses.

Bug:

When using a negative width in the "Clock Text" tab, next time the hour changes the width will appear as if the width setting was double the amount I have chosen.
For example, if I set the width to -32, the next hour (or if I just change the system time manually) the width will go to and remain at -64 (even if it's impossible to set manually).
It's not really a problem as I can just set it to -16 to get -32, but thought I'd point it out.

If it matters (haven't really tested every possibility...), my time format is "yyyy-mm-dd hh:nn:ss".

-ajp_anton (April 04, 2011, 10:29 AM)

Just so I can duplicate this properly (first try failed), you are saying that the setting in the properties dialog is doubling (which has a corresponding ill effect on the clock's display output), correct?

And would I be correct in assuming that you are using the latest released build (95) of T-Clock?

4402

Living Room / Re: Please kill me now - just bought an iPad off of eBay

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 04, 2011, 07:02 AM »

*Sigh* ...At least I am still pure.

4403

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 02, 2011, 04:31 PM »

Just for education, when "monitor off" is commanded (by either Tclock's call or something else) are you saying it is just back light being turned off and the screen data is really still there?

-movrshakr (April 02, 2011, 12:09 PM)

No, the exact opposite is true. If T-Clock is guilty, then the monitor should shutdown completely (and logoff [caused by source unknown]). If the Backlight bulb is faulty, then the ghost image of the desktop should still be visible.

Your no. 1 will be hard to do as it is only off for a moment and actually there seems to be a "fade-to-black" transition going on, although very fast, as it goes into black.  But it comes back almost instantly, so seeing what is faintly still there during the off time, if anything, will be iffy.

-movrshakr (April 02, 2011, 12:09 PM)

I was/am shooting for either an incident (of black-out) where T-Clock's feature isn't enabled. Or a longer term episode like the one you mentioned having to shutdown to get out of.

4404

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 02, 2011, 09:41 AM »

It is on a Vista Home Premium laptop, so no monitor light to see.

-movrshakr (April 01, 2011, 07:29 PM)

Crap ... Unfortunately that lends credence to my florescent light bulb theory (could be the power board at the base of the screen assy).

The 500ms in the code is interesting...the cycle time I saw could have been 1/2 sec for either on or off instead of 1-1/2 total as I said.  I didn't measure it--just estimating.  On and off time 'seemed' about equal, but that is not measured.

-movrshakr (April 01, 2011, 07:29 PM)

The half second pause allows the user time to let go of the buttons, so the triggered action isn't inadvertently canceled.

If you don't hear about it from anyone else, it may not be Tclock, or it may be some odd interaction with something on my machine and not others.

-movrshakr (April 01, 2011, 07:29 PM)

Just because nobody else noticed, doesn't (conclusively) mean that it ain't broken (See AMMA's post/discussion )

I will do as you request-- try in a week (assuming I remember to turn it back on in a week!).  However, I don't think it started right when I set the option (I don't think...but frankly, I don't remember when I set that).  Big help I am.

So, we shall experiment.

-movrshakr (April 01, 2011, 07:29 PM)

Thank you. The list of things I can't remember could fill a library ... *Shrug* ...It's part of being human.

I don't read code much and certainly not C++; where is that WTS_SESSION_LOCK message (bit?) set, and what clears it? Could it still be true when unlock happens?  But never mind--I was not consciously doing anything to cause the unlock (certainly not entering the password--it was not asked-for).  That a clue?  Wait! It actually was not locking, because it came back to logged-in screen, not to login password screen as would be normal if it really had locked.  It was only screen off on, not lock-unlock.

-movrshakr (April 01, 2011, 07:29 PM)

The Clock registers itself with the system to receive Login Session Changes, and then responds to them by firing the monitor off code. And yes you are correct about the clue, the fact that no login was required is important.

Two things (tests) that could help the diagnosis, if/when the behavior reoccurs:
1. View the monitor while shining a flashlight (or other light source) on the screen at an angle to see if the desktop is still there but very faint. Usually have to get really close (8-10") and toggle something like the Start Menu to see it. This is typical behavior if the screen's back-light goes out.

2. Try connecting an external monitor (Might require mode switching the video output), to see if it gives you back the desktop.

4405

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 01, 2011, 06:51 PM »

Sir, an uncertain observation...

I turned the option ON for 'monitor off on screen lock.'  That worked--screen did go off when locked.  But I had a strange phenomenon occur about 5 times over four days...

-movrshakr (April 01, 2011, 11:32 AM)

That sounds like a fairly good sampling size.

I'd be working along and the screen would go dark then come back on on a mouse move.  Two of the times, it went into an off-on-off-on-off-on blink mode.  The period was about 1.5 sec from off to off or on to on.

I have a widget for oneclick shutdown and was able during the ON blinks to eventually move the cursor over that and click a shutdown.

I do not know for sure that Tclock was causing this, but I strongly suspect it. Since turning the option back off yesterday, I have not had the situation reappear.

-movrshakr (April 01, 2011, 11:32 AM)

That shouldn't be possible (shouldn't...), the monitor off code only fires (once) in response to a Session Lock message that it can only receive from the system. during a Session Change event. Hence the session would have to be in the process of locking to fire the code. Relevant code shown below:

Code: C++ [Select]

1. case WM_WTSSESSION_CHANGE:
2.            switch(wParam) {
3.                 case WTS_SESSION_LOCK:
4.                 Sleep(500); // Eliminate user's interaction for 500 ms
5.                 SendMessage(HWND_BROADCAST, WM_SYSCOMMAND,SC_MONITORPOWER, (LPARAM) 2);
6.                 return 0;
7.            }

I'm running it on both of my Windows 7 machines, one I lock frequently, and one I never lock. So far I've seen no ill effects. Granted that doesn't auto-magically mean there isn't any ... But 2 out of 3 ain't my favorite odds.

When it went on/off/on/off did the power light on the monitor (turn orange) react accordingly? If it stayed green/blue/whatever it could be the florescent bulb starting to go in the monitor.

Video card overheating might cause this type of behavior also...but is unlikely without other behavioral indicators.

Leave the feature off for the next week and we'll see what it does. Then if nothing goes awry, re-enable the feature and we'll see if the behavior returns.

4406

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 01, 2011, 06:17 PM »

When i started using Tclock i didn't have this feature in mind, but after using it i found it more convenient to have months and days names in my local language, since my most usage of these are in my local language and not in english.
Unlike my common usage for my PC; which is in English, so english local is needed for my system.
I hope you get my point.

-AMMA (April 01, 2011, 03:00 PM)

Okay, I think I can work with that. I'm corrently studying multiple versions of the code to see how who toggled what where to flip the default behavior. I'm thinking that the new default is probably best as a default behavior, for most folk ... But I may be able to add a checkbox to enable/disable the language window so both options/behaviors can be accessed.

Sound Fair?

4407

Living Room / Re: The "Cloud" Goes Up in Smoke

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 01, 2011, 07:04 AM »

The thing with some of these "businesses" is the CEO is satisfied as long as he can stay one step ahead of the IRS and the bill collectors, can keep his nice ride on the road, "talk business" on his mobile and write off some dinners and other entertainment expenses.

-MilesAhead (March 31, 2011, 11:20 PM)

+1 The name of the game is make money, not friends ... And the instant any "Cash Cow" stops producing, it gets shot in the head and tossed in the trash.

We went threw it with a web (site) hosting company. Had been with them for years; service was fine. Then they got bought-up by another bigger company that was assimilating small hosts with good reputations into a push to become the biggest "free" host on the web (e.g. They wanted to ride on the backs of the dead to the top).

Our hosting company (like many out there these days), was simply playing Lady-In-Waiting to star in a Pump-N-Dump scam. Which is where a company springs out of the gate to spike in "value" and then gets sold off for top dollar. Usually to sink a year or so later.

It was all completely hush-hush. Nothing was ever said to anyone. Only reason I found out is I got pissed at tech support and decided to go up their ass with a flashlight. Which is when I found out about the mass Exodus of the staff (80% walked on the same day), and found that the server farm was now oddly on the wrong side of the continent.

Hundreds (possibly thousands) of seemingly unrelated people screaming about loosing their entire sites. Were actually directly related to this silent gathering of hosting companies that were being uprooted to the new mother-ship's server farm. Which I personally verified by tracking the ownership of the (newly registered) IP net blocks that these completely unrelated (competitive) companies now shared in common.

4408

General Software Discussion / Re: What the hell is OpenCandy?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 31, 2011, 03:47 PM »

So, The torches and pitchfork wielding villagers are incensed by the frankin-monsters insistence on playing possum?

4409

Living Room / Re: The Candy Enthusiast Blog

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 31, 2011, 03:42 PM »

While it may seem trivial to some, U.S. authorities followed up with a seven-page letter asking Ms. Bird to formally authorize the destruction of her seized Kinder egg, she told CBC.

-From Deozaan's Article

...You gotta be shitting me.

Does this story remind anybody else of the scene from Airplane where heavily armed terrorists trapes right through security, seconds before security decides to tackle, slam on the floor, and strip-search a 90 year old woman with a walker?

4410

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 30, 2011, 07:44 PM »

-AMMA (March 30, 2011, 08:55 AM)

Ok, here what appear for some different languages in older version:

Eng

Greece

And your version only show english locale(ie. the first one) no matter what other locale i set!
[/quote]

Okay, this is rather interesting. It seems that you have identified a paradigm shift in the project that I've never seen/noticed before. The original TClock, and TClock Lite both have the same behavior in that the Clock's regional language is independent of (and completely ignores) the system.

Where as Two_toNe & I (albeit unwittingly), Use/leverage the system's regional setting (ignoring its-own) to determine the clock's output (see below).


(Now if by chance that ain't actually Greek ...(I've not a clue)... I may be screwed)


So actually the Locale setting on the Time Format tab is a decorative artifact of a configuration that (perhaps was only for Win9x) is no-longer used.

Does that make sense? Or do you think there would be need to have the clocks textural region working independently of the (rest of the OS) Windows shell?

Obviously something must be done, as the non/dysfunctional control could be quite annoying. I'm thinking that (pull the control) shell integration/harmony is the (long term) less confusing option ... But you it seems do use/have a need for this feature. Yes?

I'll hold off on doing anything in either direction until I hear from you.

4411

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 30, 2011, 06:36 PM »

I know it was asked before but, is there going to be a portable version of T-Clock?

-PhilB66 (March 30, 2011, 05:43 PM)

I recall it being asked before also, I just can't remember the who & where. Ironically it was started on in the origional source ... but I pulled it all out during the cleaning phase of the project (It's due for another one now I think).

I'm not adverse to doing it. I've even found times when it would have been handy. I just gotta get the time to do it (it is and has been on the project's to-do list for some time).

4412

DonationCoder.com Newsletters / Re: Newsletter for March 29th, 2011 - "6th ANNIVERSARY FUNDRAISER - FINAL DAYS"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 30, 2011, 11:20 AM »

Only 32 Dollars more to break the 13K barrier!

-housetier (March 30, 2011, 10:05 AM)

Covered that...

4413

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 30, 2011, 08:28 AM »

- Local option doesn't work for non english languages, while it was working fine in old versions.

-AMMA (March 30, 2011, 08:01 AM)

Can you expand on this a bit, and give an example of what output should but isn't working.

- Timer options from old versions is much better, i wish you could return the options as in TClock Lite version by Kazuto Soto.

-AMMA (March 30, 2011, 08:01 AM)

That's actually a different code branch, but I can look into it.

4414

Developer's Corner / W3Schools is trouble..?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 30, 2011, 07:16 AM »

So I went out looking for some of the new cutting-edge HTML5 sites to use as examples for an in-house project...And I ran across something quite perplexing.

http://w3fools.com/

Seems they have quite a Bone-to-pick with w3schools.com:

W3Schools offers certifications whose value is highly debateable… No employers recognize or respect W3Schools certificates. Unlike Microsoft’s MCP or Cisco’s CCC, W3Schools has absolutely no authority over the technologies for which they claim to provide certification. Unlike CompTIA’s ANSI/ISO accredited certifications, W3Schools has no support from governing standards bodies. W3Schools frequently publishes inaccurate or misleading content. We have collected several examples illustrating this problem below.

I have used w3schools.com in the past to get past an issue or two, but... After reading through some of their examples it does appear (that I shouldn't be) they have a point ... But I wanted to run it past the crew here to see what you thing of their body-of-evidence.

4415

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 30, 2011, 06:53 AM »

What about us who use the classic theme on windows 7, background should work fine.

-AMMA (March 28, 2011, 09:16 AM)

Actually, I'd forgotten that group existed - Even though I'm fighting to maintain Win 2000 compatibility (Doh!) -  (you win) I'll put it on the to-do list

4416

General Software Discussion / Re: Z-Type - Type to shoot

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 29, 2011, 05:38 PM »

Okay, two thing:
1. It does work in IE9
2. As I type this...It seems oddly quiet now.

Best I could do is level 7 - Looking at my fingers - I can't type.

4417

General Software Discussion / Re: Z-Type - Type to shoot

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 29, 2011, 01:34 PM »

Still using IE8 here at the office...I click on the Ztype link above... And get:

To play this game you need a good Browser, like Opera, Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

-the site

Um... I need a "good" browser like Safari?!? Good for what? sharing my Identity with people in the next universe? I wouldn't use that POS if the only alternative was  2 soup cans, 30' of kite string, a 6 year old phone book and a telegraph keypad.

Hopefully the site will run on IE9 ... If I can remember to try it when I get home.

4418

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphical depiction of web browser popularity from 1995-2011

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 29, 2011, 11:24 AM »

I view Google like one big benevolent giant -- as long as the ad revenue is pouring in like a tsunami they are kind and generous and behave well.  If anyone threatens their revenue stream they have their hands deep within the gears of the internet ready to do whatever they need to do to kill off the competition.

-mouser (March 29, 2011, 08:28 AM)

I think you meant big malevolent giant... ...Trust being a factor - In them - I have none.


Dragons never attack a village when they're being fed ("properly") a virgin or two on a regular basis...

4419

General Software Discussion / Re: Graphical depiction of web browser popularity from 1995-2011

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 29, 2011, 07:48 AM »

I'd also like to know why the commonly used "Windows" browser isn't on the chart. Every client I come in contact with uses the "Windows" browser when I ask them which they use (which usually translates to "Internet Explorer 7").

-nudone (March 29, 2011, 07:09 AM)

(hehe) Yeah, that should be listed right up there with the ones that give you the name of their ISP, when asked what browser they use.

Note: In defense of the end user, this confusion/phenomenon was caused by the practice known as branding.

4420

Developer's Corner / Re: Researcher Nabs $500K to Work On "Green Software"

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 28, 2011, 03:18 PM »

I'd say the "Green" Hot-Button" is well on its way to getting way out of hand.

What's next? Bog slow gutless - But ToTallY GreeN - computers? ...Don't laugh, they did it to the automobile.

4421

General Software Discussion / Re: Can't wait for Flash to die!

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 27, 2011, 06:37 PM »

And I'm not alone in the feeling. Apple hates it (which makes me think I should reconsider),

-zridling (March 27, 2011, 03:20 PM)

Hm...

Anything Apple doesn't own and control it tries to ridicule or litigate out of existence.

-40hz (March 27, 2011, 05:40 PM)

Shit. Now I can't hate Flash even though it really annoys me... (Er...) ...Sometimes.

4422

General Software Discussion / Re: shutdown and startup manger recommendations

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 25, 2011, 07:29 PM »

T-Clock does not do this ... And quite frankly, I don't have a really good explaination for why that is.

...I, Forgot...

4423

General Software Discussion / Re: free, very fast FONT VIEWER

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 25, 2011, 11:07 AM »

Frome their website:

The problem is well known: Only the written form is remembered, but the name is forgotten.
Here FontViewOK can help .It creates a quick visual overview of all installed fonts.
The deployment is so simple, a help file is not required.

4424

General Software Discussion / Re: What Android Apps Do You Use?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 24, 2011, 11:43 AM »

video conferencing while driving

-Renegade (March 24, 2011, 08:04 AM)

?!? ?!? ...That hardly seems wise...

4425

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: Snap DB

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 24, 2011, 11:27 AM »

I mean, there really is not a good place to put a multiline edit/text field on the main form without sacrificing listview space in some way (which I'm loathe to do).

-skwire (March 24, 2011, 10:07 AM)

There is the option to anchor an edit control window to the listview cell, that can be triggered (by double click or something) to open & display the full text, and then auto close when it looses focus. That way you can keep the clean single line view and still be able to peek at larger blocks of text as/if needed.