Recent Posts

4976

Post New Requests Here / Remember removed programs

« Last post by Curt on February 08, 2009, 07:14 AM »

Don't you just hate it when it happens. You have grown used to some feature, and one day this particular feature is gone, and you can't remember which program gave it to you, or you can at least not remember the name of the program. And where do you go to read about the programs that were recently removed? There is no such place to go, because the informations went out the door together with the program and the feature.

My wish is for some little app to read and remember (important parts of) the informations from Windows' "Add/Remove Programs", or something alike, so I can go back and figure out why I suddenly lost this or that feature, please.

 

4977

General Software Discussion / Re: does anyone has a copy of Viewtify?

« Last post by Curt on February 07, 2009, 03:34 AM »

- sounds useful! Has it been tested on Vista?

4978

General Software Discussion / Re: wanted: nice and small screensaver

« Last post by Curt on February 07, 2009, 03:14 AM »

Today (Saturday 7'th February 2009)'s Giveaway is a nice, clean screensaver builder.

http://www.giveawayo...ensaver-builder-pro/

Key benefits:

    * Create Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista compatible screensavers; supports Multiple Monitors.

    * Collect up to 10,000 images (JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG, TIF, SGI...) and 2flyer will merge them into a screen saver.

    * Add sound and music files (MP3, WMA, WAV, MID; and even Internet Radio) as an aural background to your screensavers.

    * Display images from 290 images transition effects that can be customized to create unlimited unique effects.

    * Create a single .scr or .exe screensaver installation file - email and share the screensaver with your friends at any time.

Additional benefits for (today's) Professional Version:

    * Play Flash & Flash MX files or online Flash resources in screensaver software.
    * Play movie clips in screensavers, make YouTube screensaver, Google Video screensaver; supports RealPlayer, MediaPlayer or QuickTime files (RM, RA, RMJ, RAM, RMM; MPG, MPEG, MPE, MOV; ASX, ASF, WMV, AVI); You can even play online channels (Audio or WebTV).
    * Play web pages in screensavers, supports java applet screensaver; complete with offline mode, display interval setting and other features.
    * Create customized screensaver icon, quick installation and more.

http://www.2flyer.com/

4979

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: DVD Ripper 50% off

« Last post by Curt on February 06, 2009, 02:45 PM »

Thanks for the guidance, justice   


My primarily reason for testing DVD Ripper was a need for some RipDVD2MP3 program. Not too many are offering this feature, but worse: none (that I know of) are doing it properly! If the authors would do what is needed, these programs could very well rip a soundtrack to properly named and tagged MP3s. But they don't. All I can get, is either one big audio file or, at best, a number of  untagged, sequentially named files, without any useful informations in names or tags.

Another problem is the one I mentioned before, they don't offer any higher resolution than 160 kbps. This may be okay for the background sound from a movie, but I don't feel it can be enough for musicals, etcetera.

Or is it simply some limitation in the DVD media itself, that I don't know of?
Are DVDs limited to 160 kbps audio? I can hardly imagine it should be so!
 

4980

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: DVD Ripper 50% off

« Last post by Curt on February 06, 2009, 04:37 AM »

- thanks for telling, 40hz   


However, I think bitripper might be sort of misnamed...
- could better just be named "DVD to AVI".

4981

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: DVD Ripper 50% off

« Last post by Curt on February 05, 2009, 08:50 AM »

- yes, I also needed to read it twice, to believe it... 

 

4982

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: DVD Ripper 50% off

« Last post by Curt on February 05, 2009, 03:52 AM »

However, I don't think I will take the offer myself. Yes, this program is very versatile, but the options points in the direction of Rip_To > Medium_or_Low_Quality only. As an example, if you want to rip a music video to mp3, the settings don't go any higher than 160 kbps! If on the other hand you would like to rip to iPod, iTunes, PSP, etcetera, (of which I have none), this program just might be perfect for you.

4983

Found Deals and Discounts / DVD Ripper 50% off

« Last post by Curt on February 05, 2009, 03:31 AM »

Many programs will offer to rip a CD or to burn a DVD, but only a few will offer to rip a DVD.
Software Deal of the Day's deal TODAY, Thursday 5'th of February, is Extra DVD Ripper Express.

Normal price $38, today and today only: $19.
Discount code: EXTR-1JK9

http://www.software-dod.com/
http://www.dvdcopyri...-ripper-express.html

Extra DVD Ripper Express is a versatile DVD ripper application, it is extremely easy to use, and it will help you to convert DVD movies into almost every format including AVI, MPEG, iPod(MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC), iPhone(MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC), FLV, Sony PSP, Sony PS3, BlackBerry(3GP, AVI, WMV, MP4, MP3, AAC, M4A, WMV), Zune(WMV, MP4, MP3, AAC), WMV, Pocket PC(WMV, AVI, FLV, MP4, 3GP), RM, RMVB, Mobile 3GP, Apple TV, Archos Player, Creative Zen Player, Disney Mix Max Player, xBox360, HP iPAQ Series, Audio(MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV) and many other formats with no quality loss.

1. Rips DVD movies to AVI with latest DivX CODEC.
2. Rips DVD movies to VCD, SVCD, MPEG .
3. Rips DVD moves to Mobile 3GP.
4. Rips DVD movies to RealPlayer RM, RMVB
5. Rips DVD movies to Audio MP3, AAC, WM4, WAV
6. Rips DVD movies to Apple iPod MPEG4, H.264, MP3 Audio, AAC Audio.
7. Rips DVD movies to Apple iPhone MPEG4, H.264, MP3 Audio, AAC Audio .
8. Rips DVD movies to small size Flash FLV Video file for online distribution.
9. Rips DVD movies to Sony PSP(MPEG4, H.264), Sony PS3(MPEG4, FLV, MPEG2)
10.Rips DVD movies to BlackBerry 3GP, AVI, WMV, MP4, MP3, AAC, WMV, M4A.
11.Rips DVD movies to Windows Media Video 8, Windows Media Video 9.
12.Rips DVD moves to Microsoft Zune Player WMV, MP4, MP3, AAC.
13.Rips DVD moves to Pocket PC WMV, AVI, FLV MP4 3GP.
14.Rips DVD movies to Apple TV, Archos Players, Creative Zen Player, Disney Mix Max Player, xBox360, HP iPAQ Series.

http://www.software-dod.com/

4984

General Software Discussion / Re: How much trouble is a 64-bit OS right now?

« Last post by Curt on February 03, 2009, 06:05 PM »

IMHO: Using 64-bit Linux for anything other than a very specialized high-performance singleton server doesn't make much sense. And to really gain the benefit, you'd also need to code your application up in native 64-bit, along with whatever libraries it would call.

The problem with 64-bit Linux is that it is not full 64-bit binary from front to back. Most of the applications, and virtually all of the libraries included in a "64-bit" distro are still 32-bit.

-40hz (February 03, 2009, 02:26 PM)

However, there seems to be some Linux versions running 64-bits fine:

In the beginning only certain Linux distributions were capable of properly using 64-bit systems,
 

-start64

http://www.start64.c...t=1&limitstart=4

4985

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Backup4all 4 BETA released

« Last post by Curt on February 02, 2009, 05:11 AM »

FYI:

We do not recommend to use Backup4all in order to backup system files / installed software.
We encourage users to use it only for their own work: files and folders.

-support@backup4all

4986

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: White Smoke 70% off

« Last post by Curt on February 01, 2009, 01:54 PM »

It should be stated that a license is per machine, and you will have to ask WhiteSmoke to transfer any license.

4987

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: White Smoke 70% off

« Last post by Curt on February 01, 2009, 01:38 PM »

I own a license for WhiteSmoke 2008 upgraded to 2009. However, I would never place it in start - in general it really is too intrusive, as noted, and as also pointed out, sometimes even when it shouldn't intrude at all.

"Today's" offer is not expensive, but costly:

(clickable thumb):

4988

General Software Discussion / Re: Why was I recommended Screamer Radio?

« Last post by Curt on January 29, 2009, 07:42 AM »

I forgot to tell the end of the "story":

After all this tagging and renaming, the final move is to use Id3ToFolder - it is by far the easiest music mess ORGANIZER. Not many features, (two!!), except a little renaming, and this totally easy moving (organizing) of the files into the proper folders. Many programs can organize your music collection mess, and can do it with tons of other features, but not one of them can make it happen so easy & user-friendly (= fast), as Id3ToFolder does.

http://www.benware.d...der&lang=english 

4989

General Software Discussion / Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?

« Last post by Curt on January 28, 2009, 05:10 PM »

I cannot imagine what MP3tag is doing to the files, when tagging them, that are changing the signal the file later is sending to the MP3Ext's bit-rate reader, but it is doing something.

-Curt (January 28, 2009, 08:31 AM)

I'd be willing to bet that you have MP3Tag set to write ID3v2.4 (which I believe is the default) and MP3Ext only handles or prefers ID3v2.3 or earlier. 

-TheQwerty (January 28, 2009, 11:55 AM)

- your bet might not be taken, and MP3Ext has not been updated for five years, so your explanation *should* seem likely. However, I have now transcoded all the files in question, using MediaCoder, and once they have been transcoded (to the very same bit rate as they already were) they are  being displayed correctly, by MP3Ext. Meaning, the error could not have been caused by the tags, but must have been caused by the file's bit-rate coding, or whatever. Apparently altered by MP3tag.

Or what? Does MediaCoder maybe also alter the tags, without telling?

4990

General Software Discussion / Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?

« Last post by Curt on January 28, 2009, 08:31 AM »

I have been trying MP3tag for a couple of months, and was overall pleased with it. The reason I nevertheless have ditched it is because it was ruining MP3Ext's ability to read the bit rates. I cannot imagine what MP3tag is doing to the files, when tagging them, that are changing the signal the file later is sending to the MP3Ext's bit-rate reader, but it is doing something.

I am now trying Tag&Rename (3.5 RC 1), MP3 Collector, and some others, instead.

---

This thread is a little old, and maybe needs to be updated,
so I guess it is 'appropriate' to repeat masu's initial question:

Which MP3 tagger do you use? 

4991

General Software Discussion / Re: New duplicate file finder... I am open to features suggestion

« Last post by Curt on January 28, 2009, 02:45 AM »

The most important feature for me is being able to access the program from the Windows Explorer right click context menu.  I hate having to open a program & rebrowse to the directory that I'm already working with.  That goes for any application.

-skywalka (January 27, 2009, 11:01 PM)

- ditto

4992

Living Room / Re: media icons - suggestions please.

« Last post by Curt on January 26, 2009, 04:00 AM »

- nice set, 40hz 

I should have told that MP3ext allows you to replace the program's default MP3 icons (shown in my previous two posts) with a collection of your own choice or making. This way you can combine a collection, like the fine one 40hz is showing, with icons for each audio sample rate.

4993

Living Room / Re: media icons - suggestions please.

« Last post by Curt on January 25, 2009, 11:34 AM »

- I tried some other terms for searching, and finally got what I wanted: MP3ext

One problem is, that  the author already five years ago announced that he wouldn't be spending more time on this program of his, MP3ext, meaning that it hasn't been updated for Vista. Nevertheless it works okay with my Vista.

Another problem is a little worse: The various third party MP3 encoders that I have used are not fully being recognized by MP3ext, meaning that a number of, say, 256 kbps files, are showned as "Ext", which basically means MP3, but something may be wrong, and the sample frequency is unknown. However, I assume this also is due to the encoders.

In general, I can only recommend this program if you install this one first, and then install a newer / better MP3 "tool-tip" program like MediaInfo or what you have.

4994

Living Room / Re: media icons - suggestions please.

« Last post by Curt on January 25, 2009, 10:39 AM »

- bumping....

Please tell if you think you (probably) know
from which program I got these MP3 icons:




 

4995

Living Room / Re: On photography

« Last post by Curt on January 24, 2009, 05:34 AM »

You will primarily have to give "thanks" to Playboy, MTV, and Hollywood, (etcetera), - I honestly believe these have done more bad than good, when it comes to women's picture of the ideal woman. Well, let me speak frankly, they have perverted our image of womanhood!



Just to show how perverted "we" are: My personal favourite is Jessica Rabbit...

1230x1024, 643 KB:




- but, of course, she can't help it, she was drawn that way!

 

4996

General Software Discussion / Re: Why was I recommended Screamer Radio?

« Last post by Curt on January 23, 2009, 04:18 AM »

- and the answer was so easy that it almost is embarrassing!

Replacing the "[CD_...]" part with a "- " was of course the easiest. But once this was done, all I had to do was to find and hit this little button in Mp3tag:  with the tooltip text "Filename > Tag", and Mp3tag suddenly understood what I was expecting of it. Then File Renamer Turbo had no problem renaming them all according to the new tags.

A piece of cake it is, when you know what to do..., which I didn't, yesterday. But a good night's sleep can really do you good! 

4997

General Software Discussion / Re: Why was I recommended Screamer Radio?

« Last post by Curt on January 23, 2009, 03:12 AM »

- you are probably right.

Anyway, I will have to eat my words all the same. After having tried with other radio stations, than my two favourites, it turns out that it is the way the station is naming their files that determines the output format, not Screamer itself.

But still, Screamer could easily tag the files. It is literally the closest to do so.

Edited:
- my plead for help is of course still standing:

What can I do to (batch rename and) auto tag the files from Screamer Radio, please?
 

-Curt (January 22, 2009, 04:23 PM)

4998

General Software Discussion / Why was I recommended Screamer Radio?

« Last post by Curt on January 22, 2009, 04:23 PM »

Yes, Screamer Radio is really good at what it does. I have been impressed with how easily it can find and download lots and lots of my favourite music. Wow!! The problem is not as much what Screamer can do, but what it doesn't do!

First, the worst: Screamer does not tag the files! What an opportunity to miss: Recording and naming the files, but not tagging them! It is almost unbelievable!

Secondly, the file name order can not be changed. And for my setup the default order is wrong. It  is "Artist, Titel, Album", but should be "Artist, Album, Title" Well, really is should be "Artist, Album, Track, Title", but I can accept that the track number is missing.

Third and finally, the album name is surrounded with square brackets, which also is wrong. It is like this: Alan Munde Gazette - Little Teardrops [CD_Made To Last].mp3 ,  but should preferably look like this: Alan Munde Gazette - Made To Last - Little Teardrops.mp3



Now that I am complaining, I would also like to yell at Mp3tag    Very often I have read praises of this program, so today I decided to actually USE my copy! But to no avail. When I added the first file from Screamer, Al Batten And The Blue Grass Reunion - Sucking The Corn [CD_Live At The Kinston Winter Bluegrass Festival].mp3, Mp3tag & freedb suggested that it was the German national hymn!! Seriously!!!


Why are people recommending Screamer Radio and Mp3tag? Well, that really wasn't a fair question. So please allow me then to ask: What can I do to (batch rename and) auto tag the files from Screamer Radio, please?
 

4999

General Software Discussion / Re: Tagging Files (Tag Everything)

« Last post by Curt on January 22, 2009, 08:44 AM »

brand new and free, using drag&drop: TaggedFrog from http://lunarfrog.com/

TaggedFrog for Windows
Feel the power of tags. It's free!






We all know about the tags and use them every day - they are everywhere on the Web. These short words make life easier – so, why not to use this concept on our personal computers?

Based on the convenient drag’n’drop technique, TaggedFrog allows you to organize your files, documents and Web links. Just add objects to the library and tag them with any keywords. That’s it. You can forget the file name or where the file is located, but don't worry - the tags will find the file for you.

You can tag Web links, Microsoft Office documents, PDF documents and images. In fact, you can tag any kind of file. And if you wish, you can tag each and every file on your hard drive!

TaggedFrog application is free and is available right now. With TaggedFrog you can tag everything!

5000

General Software Discussion / Re: create fill in the blank in PowerPoint

« Last post by Curt on January 22, 2009, 04:45 AM »

Monday 26 January, 2009:
http://www.bitsdujou...ershare-quizcreator/

Wondershare QuizCreator - Easily Create Flash-Based Online Quizzes!

Deal Available: Monday 26 January, 2009
Create Flash-based quizzes and assessments accompanied by images, sounds, links, animations, and narration. Results instantly available for analysis and review.

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