Recent Posts

5001

Living Room / Re: Global Warming & Statistics

« Last post by tomos on February 03, 2013, 09:26 AM »

What I find most frustrating in the "debate", though, is the lack of ... debate.

-CWuestefeld (February 02, 2013, 07:49 PM)

unfortunately it's another of those {"I'm for" \ "I'm against" \ "You're a plonker"} kind of 'debates' which, even just at the level of whether it's happening, is no debate at all.

I think the thing we have to most careful of is abuse and corruption - on any side e.g. it seems clear the idea of global warming is being abused for profit. Likewise, admitting major warming isn't happening could be used as a carte-blanch for pollution.

To begin with, some of the changes may actually be net-positive (looking at the big picture across all humanity; clearly there are always significant costs to change at the individual level): plants like warm (other things being equal), and having the opportunity to farm up into Canada, northern Asia, etc., could help global food production

-CWuestefeld (February 02, 2013, 07:49 PM)

Apparently plants grow bigger as well with more CO2 in the atmosphere (there was a link in the other dc thread Ren linked to - I dont have time to root for the post). Of course we may yet find other negative side-effects. It's really yet another one of those big experiments where we just hope everything turns out okay...

OTOH I understood that the world food production is currently enough to feed everyone in the world - a problem being that half of it gets chucked - or maybe that's just a symptom of deeper problems. (FWIW any corporation trying to convince us that we need more production and bigger 'products' -usually GMO, etc. are usually not motivated by wanting to feed the world.)

I suspect any climate change is going to come with 'winners' and 'losers' on a practical level. (Comparable maybe to the way ice is melting in the north pole - and expanding in the south pole.) The islanders App show's are clearly in trouble. So are the hunters in Greenland who can no longer go out on traditional hunting grounds because of ice being too thin. I'm sure there are and will be other examples.


Re your list - I suspect there will be so many different answers that it would be almost impossible to go from there.
I dont see industry being curtailed here - is that the case in the US? (or are there plans there to cut back - sorry, I'm just not very informed about this aspect).

5002

General Software Discussion / Re: Why is it so hard to find a decent image organizer?

« Last post by tomos on February 03, 2013, 08:18 AM »

^ thanks CW, that's very helpful info!

I've skimmed through the review again -the one I linked above- (imaging resource) which mainly looks at acdsee's editor - but they also have an earlier review which covers management etc (link). Combined with your comments, it sounds very good (even if it is unfortunately "just the least bad one out there").

Re Editing:
I dont work on many photos, but when I do it's usually a batch of them. I guess if I'm not happy with it's quality here, I'd have to use an external editor - then I gotta find an editor that does *everything* I want, but that's another story ;-)

5003

Living Room / Re: Homeland Security: Disable UPnP

« Last post by tomos on February 03, 2013, 07:26 AM »

Unfortunately, ScanNow requires Java. Kind of ironic to make your system vulnerable one way to find out if you are vulnerable another. 

-app103 (February 02, 2013, 07:20 PM)

is the online router scan enough if you're using a stand-alone machine?
http://upnp-check.rapid7.com/

(I have java uninstalled - a check above gets me "Congratulations! Your router did not respond to a UPnP discovery request.")

5004

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone testing Daminion Media Manager ?

« Last post by tomos on February 02, 2013, 01:18 PM »

It's pretty much on-topic for both threads, so I quote post of mine from the "Why is it so hard to find a decent image organizer?" thread:

Could any users of Daminion comment on the programme?
I guess I'm especially interested in how it compares to other organisers - I know that's asking a lot (but no harm in trying).

I have an older version of Daminion installed. I will probably update it - but because I have no experience of other organisers I dont really have a concept of where it fits in with regard to others.

Also ACDSee has a fairly attractive offer at the moment which only runs for another 1.5 days or so, but me being 'unexperienced', it doesnt give me enough time to test it and get a feel for it ...

-tomos (February 02, 2013, 01:11 PM)

thanks, Tom

5005

General Software Discussion / Re: Why is it so hard to find a decent image organizer?

« Last post by tomos on February 02, 2013, 01:11 PM »

Could any users of Daminion comment on the programme?
I guess I'm especially interested in how it compares to other organisers - I know that's asking a lot (but no harm in trying).

I have an older version of Daminion installed. I will probably update it - but because I have no experience of other organisers I dont really have a concept of where it fits in with regard to others.

Also ACDSee has a fairly attractive offer at the moment which only runs for another 1.5 days or so, but me being 'unexperienced', it doesnt give me enough time to test it and get a feel for it ...

5006

Living Room / Re: The Cost of Rudeness

« Last post by tomos on February 02, 2013, 12:58 PM »

I'm amazed by how placid developers (often) are when responding to users who are basically being very rude.
Of course as a user I know what it's like to be using some piece of software and to get very frustrated ... *and* to make a rude/angry/demanding post saying WHERE is this [!!] and WHY is that [!!]
  (usually followed up by being told it was under my nose all along lol)

I'm not so good at responding calmly to people who are already being very rude -
so I am very impressed by developers (or anyone for that matter) who can do that.

But in my dealings with people, including developers (not sure about software though) I mostly manage these days to cut out the rude/angry/demanding parts in my initial post/whatever.
With people interactions, I do notice that even if I do get angry - so long as I can leave all that other crap listed above to one side, there's a good chance of a fairly clean resolution to an interaction.

But maybe I'm just persuading myself I'm better than I really am

5007

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

« Last post by tomos on February 02, 2013, 04:41 AM »

I've tried three different players and cant get that to play (Trout/WMP/VLC). Tried downloading in a different browser too in case.
It's only 157kb, could that be correct? (Edit/ yes seems to be correct)

-tomos (February 01, 2013, 04:34 AM)

Heh were you saying a particular word after trying all that? 

-TaoPhoenix (February 01, 2013, 07:21 PM)

like golly or gosh...
or maybe it was gee whiz

5008

General Software Discussion / Re: FastStone Image Viewer

« Last post by tomos on February 02, 2013, 04:27 AM »

^ yeah, that's *not* nice - even if they did give it to you in the end. I had the same experience (described in that link I gave above) but I got so ticked off I didnt take it any further.

But hey, cyberdiva - I think you may have gotten them to change their ways!!
They currently have an offer of $54.99, if I follow through on it, it's converted to €43.99 which is only your usual relatively minor exchange-rate rip-off, (lets see, they make $3.50 extra there)**. The last time I tried, the "conversion" into euros magically transformed the $59 offer into the equivalent of $96 - that was when I gave up.


** edit/ my maths were wrong that converts back to $60 so they take $6 for the favour of converting to euros - not good, but still not as bad as my last experience...

5009

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

« Last post by tomos on February 01, 2013, 05:23 PM »

^no worries Tinman
I really enjoyed it
(watched Ren's video) hadnt heard it before

5010

Living Room / Re: Homeland Security: Disable UPnP

« Last post by tomos on February 01, 2013, 08:47 AM »

How to fix the UPnP security holes
 
Universal Plug and Play has always had security holes. Here's how to plug them.

http://www.zdnet.com...ity-holes-7000010584

-Tinman57 (January 31, 2013, 08:02 PM)

thanks for that -
unfortunately, it sounds like you've got to be pretty much an expert to figure this stuff out

5011

Living Room / Mp3 File Format Issue Split From Silly Humor Thread

« Last post by tomos on February 01, 2013, 04:34 AM »

 An educational broadcast about the "F" word.....
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Tinman57 (January 30, 2013, 06:55 PM)

  I've tried three different players and cant get that to play (Trout/WMP/VLC). Tried downloading in a different browser too in case.
It's only 157kb, could that be correct? (Edit/ yes seems to be correct)

5012

General Software Discussion / Re: FastStone Image Viewer

« Last post by tomos on February 01, 2013, 03:43 AM »

i only wish it was a tad faster like Irfanview

-hulkbuster (February 01, 2013, 02:09 AM)

do you use both? If yes,
I'm curious what you'd use each one for - when or why you would choose to open one instead of the other?

5013

Living Room / Re: Mid-range DSLR Camera Recommendations

« Last post by tomos on January 31, 2013, 06:59 PM »

Personally I'd be slow to buy a camera with a non-metal body - I'd guess that most lower end slr's would be plastic.
But I tend to drag cameras through the dirt.
And drop them occasionally

5014

Living Room / Re: Mid-range DSLR Camera Recommendations

« Last post by tomos on January 31, 2013, 04:24 PM »

The Nikon D80 is really good- this from my wife, who is a photographer.  However, what you might want to look into, especially if you tried the 50D already is an interchangeable lens camera.  A good write up on what they are, and why they're a good alternative to DSLRs for non-pros can be found here.  I bought one for myself when I first started (and I'm no where near pro), and my wife was surprised at the quality of the images, and the range of features available.  Another good article on some of the best is at Cnet, though they don't mention the Nikon 1, which is the one I'd recommend.

-wraith808 (January 31, 2013, 10:56 AM)

I got one of those compact system cameras in 2011 (Olympus PEN E-PL2). I love the small size; I love the images (colour and quality); the few lens are very good quality; but the low-light/high-asa quality is not as good as an SLR. (The Olympus OM-D E-M5 has a very good reputation but that's @ $999 for the body only). That camera and the Olympus PEN series has in-camera image stabilisation - but I dont know if that makes the lenses any cheaper (than e.g. the Sony NEX below).

The Sony NEX series has a much better low light performance. Their lenses were not as good quality as Olympus's (last year anyway) - but I'm not sure us mortals would really notice much :-) These reviews arent as in-depth but sound very positive:
NEX 6 (preview) - expensive: similar to the Oly above ($1000 for body, $1250 with kit lens)
NEX 5R (overview) $700 with kit lens (sounds very good - also mentioned in the NEX 6 preview)

(Dont know anything about the Nikons that wraith recommends.)

5015

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

« Last post by tomos on January 31, 2013, 08:39 AM »

"RAKING THE LAWN
RAKING THE LAWN"

a bit belated but I forgot the
(yes it was a laugh out loud response )

5016

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

« Last post by tomos on January 31, 2013, 07:28 AM »

^ that'd be this guy I guess ;-)

Spoiler

5017

General Software Discussion / Re: FastStone Image Viewer

« Last post by tomos on January 30, 2013, 04:06 PM »

I used Faststone simply as a viewer in the past and liked it a lot. They paid a lot of attention to interface which was nice
Never have used any of it's other features.

@cyberdiva, ACDSee must surely (?) have more comprehensive management features.
I know it's editor has gotten a very good review (dc summary comparing it to Lightroom but negative about interface, which could be the killer blow - against it I mean).

5018

Tours and Tutorials / Re: DonationCoder: Getting Started

« Last post by tomos on January 29, 2013, 05:16 PM »

yup,
thanks Stephen

5019

DC Gamer Club / Re: Headset recommendations

« Last post by tomos on January 29, 2013, 01:31 PM »

They have a lesser cost wired version also (G35).

-wraith808 (January 29, 2013, 12:38 PM)

was checking that and it appears to have a design flaw that the wireless one doesnt:
amazon.com review + comments

5020

Living Room / Re: Chrome Subtabs Extension - Does this exist?

« Last post by tomos on January 29, 2013, 09:58 AM »

I haven't used Chrome much - and this doesnt qualify exactly, but might do the job. (Last time I used this was about six months ago.)
It's like session saver crossed with your idea.

5021

Living Room / Re: Story of how NewEgg Defeated a Patent Troll

« Last post by tomos on January 29, 2013, 08:31 AM »

^ that was fun 40
and a good suggestion too

Related

I was talking to someone yesterday about how people act in different countries/cities when wanting to cross the road. In Istanbul (they were saying) when there's enough people wanting to cross, they will move en-masse onto the road. Where one individual would almost certainly be killed, cars will stop for the group. Apparently this isn't planned - it's sort of like a collective consciousness kicking in where everyone just senses the force building and that the time to cross is ... *now* :-)

Damn, company's got some balls!

-f0dder (January 29, 2013, 06:12 AM)

+1
nice to see someone (anyone!) in a big organisation *not* working from a position of fear.

5022

N.A.N.Y. 2013 / Re: N.A.N.Y 2013 Submission - Super Simple Photo Resizer

« Last post by tomos on January 29, 2013, 04:09 AM »

^ thanks Ath

5023

N.A.N.Y. 2013 / Re: N.A.N.Y 2013 Submission - Super Simple Photo Resizer

« Last post by tomos on January 28, 2013, 02:34 PM »

hi Ren,
I get the message:

---------------------------
The following applications are required before setup can continue:
    .NET 4.0 Full Framework (3 MB - 197 MB)
---------------------------

now,
when I look, I have this installed:
==================================================
Entry Name          : Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile
Installation Date   : 2011-08-18 16:08:17
Installation Folder : C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\SetupCache\Client
==================================================

I understand that that's like a mini-version of the NET framework,
so it looks like I'll have to install the full version. Is that correct?
Do you know if it's generally okay to install the full version on top of this version?

5024

Screenshot Captor / Re: Where are the common shapes Please?

« Last post by tomos on January 28, 2013, 10:41 AM »

hi saurabhdua
click the button with the yellow box in the toolbar on the right.

In the panel that then shows, under 'Shape' you can choose square or circle.
When 'drawing' the shape, use the control key to constrain the shapes to circle/square (as opposed to rectangle/ellipse).

To edit shapes (or added text), click on the button with the white arrow 'Object select mode' (this gets overlaid with a red 'o' when you are either drawing shapes or adding text - not sure why...)

5025

Living Room / Re: Great Messages in Software

« Last post by tomos on January 28, 2013, 06:55 AM »

@ app

I was testing something in Win 8 lately for Pierre of InfoQube. The html pane in IQ wasnt editable in 8. I had to run an ocxdhtml.exe and see if I could edit/add text in it's window.

I dont know anything about the executable, but it seemed to be quite intelligent -
I wrote some gibberish to test if it worked, and clicked close and got this message:

----------------------- This pies of crap has been changed Do you really want to save it? ---------------------