Recent Posts

4576

General Software Discussion / Re: Stay Away From Microsoft VISTA

« Last post by Darwin on September 13, 2007, 03:01 PM »

Interesting... the references I can find to this quote attribute it to Albert Einstein who, while admittedly not a cat, was similarly not a Southerner... To whom, pray tell, should app be attributing this quote?

4577

Living Room / Re: Microsoft patches applied - EVEN WHEN AUTOUPDATE IS OFF

« Last post by Darwin on September 13, 2007, 01:51 PM »

Thanks for putting up the poll, Carol. I read this with unease this morning when Windows Secrets hit my mailbox. I think it is disturbing, as Ralf Maximus points out, that these components are updated despite users expressly requesting that automatic updates NOT be installed without their permission.

4578

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by Darwin on September 13, 2007, 01:30 PM »

Woo.. I think it's quite clear I like DC very much, and I spend a lot of time here. DC is lucky to have me, and I (as well as every one else) is lucky to have DC.. 

Agreed! Keep those posts coming, mitzevo!

@ Curt: Wow! Thank  you very much! That's a great graphic - I'm honoured and humbled 

4579

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by Darwin on September 13, 2007, 07:45 AM »

Thanks PhilB66!

4580

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Kaspersky Internet Security 7

« Last post by Darwin on September 13, 2007, 12:42 AM »

Nice review, cwuesterfield! Thank you for doing this. Antivirus is something that I've finally come to the (late I realise) conclusion should not be taken lightly - even if you've paid for a solution and have 5 months left on your free updates, if it stops working, find something else. Now. I'm always on the lookout for good security solutions and I will keep Kaspersky in mind.

@Armando - I had the same experience with ZoneAlarm Pro. I had half a year remaining on my licence and uninstalled it last week - wasn't worth the aggravation!

4581

Living Room / Re: Firm sues over comments

« Last post by Darwin on September 13, 2007, 12:15 AM »

So, mouser, do you think that "Company Complaints" subforum should remain open?

Ha ha - good point. Pending the outcome of the Australian court ruling, some of us might be in trouble

[Ed ... quote bracket fixed, Carol]

4582

General Software Discussion / Re: IrfanPaint - a painting plug-in for IrfanView

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 11:20 PM »

Hmm... interesting. It's been AGES since I had IrfanView installed. I'd forgotten about the ability to have it call an external editor. Still, I think for most people's needs this will make a winning combination.

4583

General Software Discussion / Re: ReNamer: The best freeware file renamer? (yes says cybernetnews.com)

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 11:18 PM »

Cool - nice little minireview. Very succinct but all the pertinent information is there.

4584

Living Room / Re: current tasks/windows switchers solutions

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 11:17 PM »

Great - reply coming your way with the installer. I hope this solves things for you.

4585

Living Room / Re: Forum Signature Spam: Let's discuss how to handle..

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 09:42 PM »

Target - fair comment. Makes sense to me as well. If anyone wants to link to a service or external site, their profile allows them to do this... Still, in the interest of allowing people to express themselves as they wish, mouser's scheme seems to me to strike the right balance between allowing personal expression and avoiding abuses of that privilege.

4586

General Software Discussion / Re: ReNamer: The best freeware file renamer? (yes says cybernetnews.com)

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 09:30 PM »

Oh, yes this can be done very easily in BRU, Curt! The editing I've done to this screencap is decidedly amateurish, but does the job:
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Darwin (September 12, 2007, 07:01 PM)

The interface on that proram is just, well, it needs a little TLC. 

-cybernetnews (September 12, 2007, 09:27 PM)

Yeah, it's funny what you can get used to, isn't it? I agree that the UI looks like a dog's breakfast, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest!

EDIT: repaired quotes

4587

Living Room / Re: current tasks/windows switchers solutions

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 09:26 PM »

OK PM has been sent... without the attachment - I'd forgotten that there is no facility for making attachments to PM's. Anyway, I sent it anyway with a request that you reply to my e-mail address (in the PM) and I'll send it to you directly.

4588

General Software Discussion / Re: Stay Away From Microsoft VISTA

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 09:24 PM »

yeah me too, its a tactile thing i spose, could be why porn is so disappointing 

-Grorgy (September 11, 2007, 10:36 PM)

I missed the last part of this quote the first time around - 

4589

Living Room / Re: current tasks/windows switchers solutions

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 08:23 PM »

What other add-ons do you have loading, Armando? Maybe you could try disabling everything BUT WordToys and restarting Word to see if that helps? I have the installer for 2.5 if you want me to send it to you, just let me know. It's been a while since I purchased WordToys (like, three years now!) and couple of years since I installed 2.5 so I don't remember specifics, but I do know that there were some significant changes (better icons for a start - but there were significant changes under the hood, too). Ah heck - I'll send it via PM!

4590

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Acronis True Image 9 - $8 (plus shipping)

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 07:49 PM »

Yup - I was right. Acronis TrueImage 11 is under active development...

TrueImage 9 is a fine app, though, and no one should regret not having the latest version.

4591

Living Room / Re: Forum Signature Spam: Let's discuss how to handle..

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 07:34 PM »

i don't think we need to get so complicated..
the people who register to spam do not have any intention of wasting time making real posts, etc.  they are looking for a quick way to spam people with minimal effort.

that's why simply blocking signatures until a few posts solves the problem because we catch the fake posts before they hit that many.

-mouser (September 12, 2007, 06:22 PM)

Cool then! It seems to me that not allowing signatures for the first 5 - 10 posts should be fine then. I suggested 10 to make sure that spammers who follow the hit and run after 5 posts or so don't get through our defences!

4592

General Software Discussion / Re: ReNamer: The best freeware file renamer? (yes says cybernetnews.com)

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 07:01 PM »

Oh, yes this can be done very easily in BRU, Curt! The editing I've done to this screencap is decidedly amateurish, but does the job:

4593

Living Room / Re: Firm sues over comments

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 05:35 PM »

Unbelievable. What will be next - injunctions, restraining orders, and prosecution for uttering criticisms at coffee shops? Talk about not getting it! Wars have been fought over this type of censorship. Kind of indicates that the internet and how we perceive it is still in its infancy, still evolving.

4594

Living Room / Re: Forum Signature Spam: Let's discuss how to handle..

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 05:31 PM »

I'm not wed, particularlly, to the notion of signatures. I think that the solution proposed is sensible - it allows people who are committed to hanging out here the freedom to express themselves without allowing spammers to waste our time. I'd suggest that the limit be 10 posts before a signature is enabled. Of course, I envision with this kind of policy in place and this thread freely available via Google, etc. spammers will just make sure that they generate a few more posts than the limit and move on. Maybe add a probationary period as well and make the minimum post limit more tricky, like tie it to recent activity at the end of the probationary period. Spammers are unlikely to want to come back 12 days after joining just to make a post or two (in addition to the 10 post minimum) so that they can qualify to spam the boards after 14 days, or whatever.

These are just suggestions - I realise that someone is going to have to code this and monitor it, so it may not be very practical.

4595

General Software Discussion / Re: ReNamer: The best freeware file renamer? (yes says cybernetnews.com)

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 05:18 PM »

Just to point out, Bulk Rename Utility does offer regex searches and replacements, as you can see in the screenshot I posted earlier in the thread.

Another question: can the same be done with "_" and "-_-" (music files)??

I'm not sure, Curt. As noted, I've uninstalled Neodownloader so am not in a position to look into it for you, sorry!

4596

Living Room / Re: current tasks/windows switchers solutions

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 05:04 PM »

Just noticed this in the users manual for WordToys (maybe there's something helpful here):



I'd check for the presence of that registry key and those files in Windows/System 32. It's something to look at, anyway... Note that Romke Soldaat, the author had this to say about why he stopped developing WordToys and his other Office apps:

In Office 2007, all these carefully integrated utilities are taken out of their original context, and thrown together behind a button on the new Ribbon. As far as I'm concerned, this is such a messy solution that I consider Office 2007 as the ultimate add-on killer.

Thus, while it sounds to me like WordToys will work under Word 2007, you'll need to look for a button on the ribbon to find it...

4597

Living Room / Re: current tasks/windows switchers solutions

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 04:51 PM »

Now that's odd. I'll take a look at some settings and see what I can come up with. This really is a great solution if you can get it to work. I'm wondering if the author is going to release the Pro version as freeware as well as he's no longer developing it (he is supporting it for at least one more year, though).

I'm going to check this out but a thought has just occurred to me: what version of Word are you using? I don't think Word 2007 and WordToys play nicely together...

4598

General Software Discussion / Re: ReNamer: The best freeware file renamer? (yes says cybernetnews.com)

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 08:50 AM »

I can't find the other app, Curt. Sorry, I know it's in an options dialogue somewhere as a radio button to check but I'm stumped. All I can think of is that it might be an option in Neodownloader - which I no longer have installed (got it as a Giveawayoftheday but never used it so turfed it). Anyway, if I ever figure this out, I'll post back here. In the meantime, as noted above, Bulk Rename Utility (and probably any other renamer, will allow you to do this with the greatest of ease!

4599

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 08:40 AM »

The poll should have been multiple choice for me, because I resort to different file managers for different specific functionality, and the last option doesn't really capture any useful data.  Good start, though.

I wanted to get to the app that people use as their primary File Manager and felt that allowing people to pick more than one in the poll would skew the results so didn't opt for this when designing it. I can see your point, though - unfortunately, I can't go back and add the option to allow multiple votes to be cast in at this point (it's not an option that is offered to me in editing the poll). All I can suggest is that you post a note listing the File Managers that you use on a regular basis. I use DOpus almost exclusively, but also tend to use XYPlorer and TC at least once a day. Lately, I've been using TC heavily (as you probably have gathered from the original thread) but still find myself falling back on DOpus. This is as much because it is still configured to replace Windows Explorer on my system. Anyway, long and short of it is that I can't change the poll now without resetting the vote count and (possibly) starting from scratch.

By the way, that should be spelled "AB" Commander.

Whoops. Thanks for pointing that out - I've corrected it.

4600

Living Room / Re: current tasks/windows switchers solutions

« Last post by Darwin on September 12, 2007, 08:29 AM »

  Just prepping for a lecture. It's in 3 hours and 41 minutes and I have an hour commute to get there, yet I haven't been able to force myself to read the "new and improved" chapter of the "new and improved" edition of the textbook so that I can gently guide my students through it (you know, "minds to mould"). Pah!

Anyway, I've taken a look. First thing I'd suggest is making sure that "wordtoys.dot" is here:
C:\Documents and Settings\your username\Application data\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP\WordToys.dot

If it's not, check to see if it is elsewhere on your computer and copy it to that directory. If not, you probably need to resinstall WordToys. As you are cautioned to do so by the installer, make sure that Word and other Office programmes are not running when you do this. Once you're sure that that file is in the right folder, restart word and see what happens. You may have to use the Add feature in "Tools - Templates and Add-ins" to get it to show up AND you may have to restart Word as well.