Recent Posts

4776

Screenshot Captor / Re: Cannot capture region using Surface Pro4, dual monitor - extra zooming

« Last post by mouser on May 04, 2016, 09:42 AM »

I think we may have spotted a common factor among those having a problem.

It seems to happen only on windows 10 when multiple monitors are set to DIFFERENT ZOOM MAGNIFICATIONS.

That is -- it's not a problem when multiple monitors have different resolutions, or when a zoom magnification other than 100% is used.

But Windows 10 introduced the ability to set magnification differently on each monitor, and having different magnifications on different monitors seems to be the problem.

Can those of you who are experiencing this issue confirm?

4777

Living Room / Re: Micro Reviews of Board Games From a Non-Competetive Perspective

« Last post by mouser on May 02, 2016, 08:49 AM »

Well the time has come at last for me to post about: AGRICOLA.

Agricola was one of the first board games I bought about 9 years ago when I was getting into the hobby, based on the glowing reviews it was getting on hardcore board game discussion sites.

I tried playing it once and completely gave up on the game in disgust and sold it.  The complexity and sheer number of things to figure out, as well as the fiddly scoring left a bad taste in my mouth.

Skip ahead a few years, and with some more experience with heavier/euro board games, I felt an unexplained itch to try it again, and after a more determined effort to learn the rules I found that I became an Agricola fan, and it's become one of my favorite modern board games.


What makes Agricola such a special game?

Agricola has been called a "farming simulator" and that's an apt description.  More than any other game I have it feels like a true sandbox simulation, where components and actions interact and unfold over time creating dynamics that are sometimes hard to predict and control, but always with a satisfying level of stress and amusement.  Even if you have no interest in farming, there is something utterly compelling about the theme and the setting.  It's a hard scrabble existence as a farmer, and resources are always in short supply.  Do you try to make it growing grains and vegetables?  Or specialize in sheep, boar, cattle?  Or focus on growing a big family and expanding your house into a mansion.  Everything takes work and planning and you never quite have time to do everything you want.  It's a worker placement game, which means that you'll have to constantly adapt your strategy to be different from your playmates.




I taught it to a group of people yesterday and they loved it.  In fact I highly recommend you find someone who can teach it to you rather than try to learn it from the rulebook, which can be a very frustrating experience. I also highly recommend the "Farmers of the Moor" expansion, which adds horses and the need to heat your house, which helps balance things out.


This is definitely NOT a casual board game -- it can take quite a while to play and requires some serious rule learning -- but I do highly recommend it.  It can also be played solo -- which is never hugely fun, but i'd say it was one of the very few board games that actually can be enjoyable to play solo.

4778

Living Room / Re: Show us a photo of your mutt or other creatures..

« Last post by mouser on May 01, 2016, 11:34 AM »

Foster kittens will be with me for the next month:

4779

Living Room / Re: Amazon: clicking 'Unhelpful' on Customer Review now has NO effect

« Last post by mouser on April 30, 2016, 05:40 PM »

ah that's interesting..

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Living Room / Re: Amazon: clicking 'Unhelpful' on Customer Review now has NO effect

« Last post by mouser on April 30, 2016, 04:50 PM »

I was just about to suggest the same thing.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Examples of great, intuitive, clever UI design?

« Last post by mouser on April 30, 2016, 04:12 PM »

Basically any UI that has ever made you go "wow, I wouldn't have thought of that"

I'll try to think of some but to be honest i'm happiest when the UI is completely standard and causes me not to notice it -- a nice clean standard UI with nothing unusual.

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Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by mouser on April 30, 2016, 12:47 PM »

hahahahah i don't know why but the windows 10 one makes me laugh 

4783

General Software Discussion / JayIsGames.com - longtime favorite casual games review website - calls it quits

« Last post by mouser on April 30, 2016, 12:33 PM »

From 2005 to 2016 there have been over 100 posts on this forum referring to the casual flash game review site JayIsGames.com.
During the heyday of casual flash games -- before mobile phones took off like a rocket and flash fell out of favor - JayIsGames was one of the very best places to discover new fun games playable in the browser.
They will be missed 

Here's the announcement:
http://jayisgames.co...il-we-meet-again.php

4784

Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« Last post by mouser on April 30, 2016, 10:16 AM »

Electronics-all-in-one for Dummies:
http://www.amazon.co...s-Doug/dp/0470147040


I figured it was time to learn some electronics.. Not a bad book at all.

4785

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by mouser on April 30, 2016, 05:35 AM »

But you own a raspberry pi..

Quite right -- i am considering hooking up a raspberry pi (or similar) and having it send an email on sensor trigger.  As there is an external siren signal outputted by the system, it would be easy to sense.

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Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« Last post by mouser on April 29, 2016, 07:23 PM »

I recently installed a home security system and went with this GE Simon XTi system:
http://interlogix.he...on/product/simon-xti

Can be bought on ebay along with sensors and keyfobs fairly cheaply, is easy to hook up.


Pros: price, good small accessories and sensors, ease of programming
Cons: no internet access -- can't alert you over email when tripped.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: System tray notification of remote computer status

« Last post by mouser on April 29, 2016, 06:58 PM »

I LOVE reading threads like this -- it's wonderful to see someone get some help and a new utility created.

Allow me a brief annoying reminder to everyone that part of what this site is about is sending a little donation to people whose work you want to encourage.  That goes for anyone reading this thread -- if you like to see things like this continue, then send a few bucks c.gingerich's direction by clicking on the $ beneath his name above! 

4788

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Invalid docking layout stream header

« Last post by mouser on April 29, 2016, 12:46 PM »

Now reinstall!

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Living Room / Re: Be prepared against ransomware viruses..

« Last post by mouser on April 29, 2016, 10:07 AM »

It's friday guys, think positive thoughts!

4790

DC Gamer Club / Re: DC Board Game Night

« Last post by mouser on April 27, 2016, 11:04 PM »

There is also: https://tabletopia.com/

4791

Living Room / Re: Custom dice for board games, etc.

« Last post by mouser on April 27, 2016, 10:50 AM »

Recently a company put out some dice with colored sides that you can remove and change -- designed to be useful for prototyping games:
http://boardgamegeek...nes-prototyping-dice

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Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Invalid docking layout stream header

« Last post by mouser on April 26, 2016, 10:55 AM »

Try this:
Exit Clipboard Help+Spell.
Then find the directory where Clipboard Help+Spell stores its "PresetViews" folder. By default it is in MyDocuments\DonationCoder\Clipboard Help+Spell\PresetViews\
Then delete all the files in their starting with "Last."

If you keep getting this error, it may be that some security thing is preventing the program from saving its files where it thinks it should.  If so, one solution might be to UNINSTALL and DELETE the C:\ProgramFilesx86\ClipboardHelpAndSpell directory, and then either reinstall OR download the portable version and install it someplace where you store your files normally.

4793

General Software Discussion / Re: screenshot captor corrupt or invalid

« Last post by mouser on April 26, 2016, 10:02 AM »

This happens when the web browser only downloads a partial file -- it's also a terribly confusing error because if you try to re-download with the same web browser it often just returns the same partially downloaded file from its cache.
The solution is to use a different web browser (firefox, chrome, opera, internet explorer, etc.) to re-download the file.

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Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Invalid docking layout stream header

« Last post by mouser on April 25, 2016, 04:46 PM »

Can I ask if you are using the portable version or normal installed version?

4795

Living Room / Re: Be prepared against ransomware viruses..

« Last post by mouser on April 25, 2016, 09:37 AM »

"historically proven at risk users"

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Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Invalid docking layout stream header

« Last post by mouser on April 24, 2016, 11:56 PM »

Try this, open Clipboard Help+Spell, and choose from the Layouts menu "Standard", then exit CHS.
See if that fixes it.

4797

Screenshot Captor / Re: my problem about freezing when taking screenshot

« Last post by mouser on April 24, 2016, 02:38 PM »

You have two options:
1. don't take a region capture -- just take a whole-monitor screenshot, which doesn't involve any freezing of the image, and then select and crop the region from within the screenshot captor interface itself.
2. use red-box capture more to perform region captures -- this alternative method does not freeze the screen at all. Go to the "Selection Caption Options" and under "When to Use Red Box" choose "Objects AND Regions"

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N.A.N.Y. 2016 / Re: NANY 2016 Pledge/Alpha: Mouser's Media Browser

« Last post by mouser on April 22, 2016, 12:27 PM »

I'm sorry I haven't replied to this excellent post yet -- I promise I will in the next few days -- I've been away from home for last week or so.

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Living Room / Re: Show us a photo of your mutt or other creatures..

« Last post by mouser on April 18, 2016, 07:05 AM »

so cute!

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Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by mouser on April 16, 2016, 11:31 PM »

ahahahahahhaahah