Recent Posts

476

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

« Last post by nudone on April 04, 2011, 12:08 PM »

Thanks, wraith. I'll keep the clamcase in mind - it might be something to use if I find I use the iPad regularly and need to type; otherwise, I'm not keen on the price.

477

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

« Last post by nudone on April 04, 2011, 10:47 AM »

I guess you also support the notion that true freedom of speech consists of the right to yell "Theater!!!" in the middle of a busy fire?

-40hz (April 04, 2011, 10:08 AM)

heheheheheh, now that I do like.

478

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

« Last post by nudone on April 04, 2011, 05:04 AM »

Damn. Is nothing original these days.

I see the case is available on eBay for £30. No, I'm not buying one. I've thought of a better idea. I'm going to put my Etch A Sketch (received as a Christmas present) inside the iPad case...

...now that IS COOOOOOOOOOL.

479

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

« Last post by nudone on April 04, 2011, 04:03 AM »

I thought Apple had tried to stop the BBC using iPlayer - I could have just imagined it though.

I've already thought about putting stickers over the Apple branding, Carol. Using Linux would only make me look cool in places I don't frequent. The only people that will see me using the iPad will assume I'm playing with an Etch A Sketch, such is their amazing grasp of technology.

480

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

« Last post by nudone on April 04, 2011, 02:22 AM »

I like how this thread has provided an outlet for more Apple hatred (that was worth me paying the price tag alone) - and a few justifications for the iPad itself.

Three days ago I had no intention of ever buying an iPad (which is one reason I've not bought an iPad 2). I've still no personal desire to use it myself - I just have a client that is complaining that their website doesn't look right on their own iPad, which means I now need to find out why - it's not a simple Safari issue as the site looks fine on non mobile Apple devices (another reason for me to hate Apple so much - their "perfectly designed and beautiful" devices don't actually display websites consistently).

That said, I will try it as an ebook reader, maybe a quick browser and email checker. The ergonomics of the device lead me to think that I won't use it much - so, I'll still by using my netbook when typing is involved.

If I do find that the iPad is genuinely useful - I'll buy an Android based tablet to replace it with when there is something decent to get.

In the meantime I'll just put the iPad in a brown paper bag when I'm using it so that no one sees me. If anyone asks what I'm doing I'll just say I'm stroking a deceased rat or something.

481

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

« Last post by nudone on April 03, 2011, 05:38 PM »

I had no idea that they had a refurbs section, though, I've just checked it and it's completely empty, i.e. no UK refurbished Apple products at all.

It seems that iPads are the price they are on eBay as they are probably the quickest way of obtaining one at the moment.

482

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

« Last post by nudone on April 03, 2011, 05:05 PM »

Oh ye of little faith. It will be in "immaculate condition" just as described. I know it will. And the $2000 I wired as security to ensure a speedy delivery will definitely be returned to me like the seller agreed. I wasn't sure about sending him my PayPal account login and password but it seemed perfectly reasonable when he explained it would increase my "trust" rating on eBay. It's nice to know there are some good, honest, people out there.


Serious mode: it cost £288 (including 10 quid packaging) and the item is about four months old and in "immaculate condition".

I was watching other iPads being sold on eBay over the past few days and it seemed they were going for £380 so I don't think I've done too bad.

(I've seen that Argos, and maybe other UK outlets, are selling iPads (v1) for around £320 or £330 - but the whole country appears to be out of stock with no chance of that changing soon.)

483

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

« Last post by nudone on April 03, 2011, 11:20 AM »

That sounds like a perfect description; I shall persuade my parents it is nothing more than a toy and "fun" to use. I'm just concerned that as soon as they have to type something on it the fun will quickly disappear.

484

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

« Last post by nudone on April 03, 2011, 09:22 AM »

As a someone that considers anything Apple related as anathema, I have now digitally soiled myself by buying an iPad (version 1).

My excuse: I need it for website testing as I've found that trying to emulate how Safari works on these devices (and iPhone) isn't the same as really using Safari on them. (There must be some weird Safari and OS bugs going on.)

I've also told myself that, maybe, just maybe, my parents will stop being frightened by the internet and use the tablet rather than a netbook. Yeah, fat chance - but if they do then I'll consider it worth allowing the wretched Apple machine into the house.

Now, please excuse me whilst I go and flagellate myself for being such a hypocrite.

485

General Software Discussion / Re: Make all Dialog Boxes and Browser Popups come up where the Cursor is

« Last post by nudone on April 02, 2011, 03:30 AM »

it's the one of the greatest tools ever (not that i'm biased). microsoft really should just include the dialogmove functions as native parts of the operating system - but with a few more intelligent features that are beyond an autohotkey script.

i would be driven insane without being able to use dialogmove on my main pc.

one caveat: i think dialogmove does require a bit of tweaking to get it just right - and you need to tell it which program dialogs to ignore or always move, if you want to get the best from it (which may help with the problem that Curt mentioned).

486

Living Room / Re: Movies I Love to Listen To: Dialects and Accents

« Last post by nudone on April 01, 2011, 01:49 PM »

Dead Man's Shoes - es th all talk lek wot i do.

487

Official Announcements / Re: I regret to inform that Cody has wasted all of our fundraiser money

« Last post by nudone on April 01, 2011, 01:40 PM »

Why not simply click Undo button in paypal?

-argv (April 01, 2011, 10:52 AM)

hehehe.

That deserves a fake webpage all of its own.

488

Living Room / Re: A Parrot Riding a Car's Windshield Wipers

« Last post by nudone on March 31, 2011, 06:13 AM »

i think the simple solution is this:

with some of the recent DC donations, we buy a parrot of our own (maybe a white one, with suitable name beginning with C), then with some of the other donations, mouser buys a nice car specifically for the purpose of testing whether the parrot enjoys high speed wiper blade rides.

i don't think the wings will need to be clipped - instead the bird could wear the smart jacket that was made for Baby Cody.

489

Living Room / Re: A Parrot Riding a Car's Windshield Wipers

« Last post by nudone on March 31, 2011, 03:16 AM »

[Disclaimer: I'm also a hypocrite as I don't like cruelty to animals (who would) but I'm more than happy for them to be slaughtered for my dinner plate. I am far to lazy to become vegetarian - and also like the taste of meat.]

Without fully understanding parrot psychology, it looks like the parrot isn't too distressed by the ride (and may be enjoying it):

1) Even if its wings are clipped, it doesn't appear to be stressed when perched on the wiper when the car is stationary. Assuming the parrot can remember the last high speed journey it made, riding the wiper, I'd expect it to jump off the wiper when the car is stationary - why would any animal stay in a location it considered stressful.

2) Anyone seen a dog stick its head out of a speeding car open window? The appear to love doing it. Why shouldn't a parrot be the same, why is there always an automatic assumption that the animal is in distress, the parrot might be absolutely thrilled by the speed.

3) The "expert" woman says that the parrot is clearly in distress because it doesn't move about on the wiper. Well, you wouldn't move about on the wiper when travelling at high speed because you want to keep your shape aerodynamic - the parrot has plenty of opportunity to jump off the wiper when the car is moving slower, and as we see at the end, the parrot gets, accidently, thrown of the wiper. It doesn't make a quick escape, instead it just stands there waiting for another ride.

4) If the parrot really hated the experience, wouldn't it be attacking it's owner to demonstrate how it felt. Instead I see quite a happy parrot with its owner.

5) The guy might not come across as that smart, but he seems to love his parrot. I think he'd realise if the parrot didn't seem happy about the whole thing. I doubt that one day he decided it was a good idea to take his parrot on a 60mph test drive - maybe a slow driver around the block for starters, and then faster runs as they progressed.

490

Living Room / Re: housetier's avatar - makes me smile

« Last post by nudone on March 30, 2011, 04:06 PM »

my avatar is just a little crop from a bigger picture i was messing about with after buying some stock images. the chest comes from a stock image of a suited man and the skull is a photo taken of a ram's skull hanging on my wall (with a bit of photoshop blending modes).

"nude one" suits me fine. it wasn't intentional but i like having a name that encourages people to say it anyway they like - especially if it's for fun.

worstje's has got it, though, "ummmmm, nudone".

491

Living Room / housetier's avatar - makes me smile

« Last post by nudone on March 30, 2011, 03:49 PM »

just wanted to say that housetier's super happy, laughing photo avatar makes me smile every time i see it.

maybe it's because his comments seem so good natured too.

what a great member to have here on DC.

three cheers for housetier.

492

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

« Last post by nudone on March 29, 2011, 07:09 AM »

Apple had buttons in the browser for people to report "broken sites". Hahahaha~! After all, Apple can do no wrong!

-Renegade (March 28, 2011, 06:44 PM)

Amazing. That really does say everything about Apple.

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").

493

Developer's Corner / Re: Robosoft from Ground Zero

« Last post by nudone on March 19, 2011, 03:48 AM »

Looks like it will be essential reading.

494

Adventures of Baby Cody / Re: Baby Cody arrives in Stuttgart, Germany

« Last post by nudone on March 16, 2011, 02:40 AM »

Marvellous. This has turned out to be Cody's best photo story yet. As mouser says, good idea with the camera angles.

495

Living Room / Re: More thoughts on micro vs macro donations and the turning point for donationware

« Last post by nudone on March 13, 2011, 10:49 AM »

As Barney said, look to what is already done elsewhere with marketing. Perhaps think about how donating can be more fun or more rewarding for the donor. If you made it tiresome for someone to donate, they may decide they've paid enough in time - and so donate zero to balance out their effort. You could also annoy someone who was prepared to donate $200 and make them change their mind and donate nothing. Who knows; what does the history of sales tactics show us? I don't know.

Also, $100 doesn't sound realistic - I can't imagine anyone believing that price when most DC utils are similar to programs in the $20 - $40 range. And I don't think there's anything you can do to make the sale instant, literally, one click and it's paid for and downloaded. Isn't PayPal the quickest and most convenient method; and that requires several clicks.

I get how you need people to stop and pause to reflect on what software is worth - you could do that simply be saying the software is $20 and that's it; pay or go away. But this is Donation Coder so there must be donations involved; it really sounds like donations don't work form what is said above - well, they obviously work during the fundraiser and maybe that's the key.

People donate not because of the value they perceive, they donate because they believe in the cause, they want to see the thermometer rise, they want to see the joy it brings, they want to feel part of the DC community (even if they are just standing at the boundary and throwing money in), maybe they want to appease their guilt. This is the marketing issue. Make donating seem cool or fun - or even a way for a wealthy person to brag to their peers.

Have badges, be proud, stick them on your website or on your car bumper, or on your t-shirt: "I donate to DC", "I support coders", whatever, wherever. Make people feel part of something. We're in the "social networking" age, people want to feel part of something - and demonstrate that they are. Look how Apple does it, people pay over the odds so they can feel part of the Apple Gang - and display the Apple badges in the forms of iPads, etc.

That's my contribution: make it fun, make it something I want to be part of.

496

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: On Screen Button That Sends Keyboard Commands

« Last post by nudone on March 12, 2011, 03:17 AM »

Marvellous. Going to download and give this a try - and daydream of getting a touchscreen...

497

Adventures of Baby Cody / Re: Baby Cody arrives in Stuttgart, Germany

« Last post by nudone on March 12, 2011, 03:09 AM »

I wouldn't pay too much attention to Cody's supervision, not unless you want even more of a mess.

498

Living Room / Re: Do it yourself dropbox

« Last post by nudone on March 09, 2011, 08:21 AM »

Are we saying that DropBox isn't to be trusted. Not wanting to start an argument, just wondering if I should stop using DropBox and move to SpiderOak.

499

JGPaiva's GridMove and Ahk Tools / Re: GridMove needs a new licensing scheme, please help

« Last post by nudone on March 08, 2011, 04:53 PM »

Right, I see. Well, a little. The licensing world sounds like a nightmare; I hope you do manage to find something workable.

Of course, I'm extremely unlikely to make something like Gridmove (someone would have to do it for me too). It's just something I've always had in the back of my mind; a daydream running along the lines of if I could code myself in something like C++ (or whatever it is these days) then there are several things I'd like to make.

I'm looking forward to seeing your update with Gridmove though. After all this time, it still does things no other window-mover util can do - useful things I must add. I guess that is shown by its popularity.

Maybe you should promote it (or develop it) in a more serious way.

500

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: On Screen Button That Sends Keyboard Commands

« Last post by nudone on March 08, 2011, 04:22 PM »

Sounds very promising. And horrible that there are problems detecting programs. Nothing ever is simple.

I think it will soon be time to order the touchscreen.