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5376

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 04:24 PM »

Armando,
"If I could find another reliable strategy which is sufficiently portable (I don't want to loose years of tags and annotation by just changing software or OS), I'd give it a try..."

Well you could do what I do with journal articles but for any other types of files also. That is, create a .txt file with the same name as the file you want tagged (but perhaps with "_tag" at the end) and put the tags and keywords in that .txt. I think any indexing search tool will find those tags and due to the same filename you then find the file you're searching for. If you have a consistent and unique format for your current tags in filenames that a script can isolate (like using [tag1 tag2 tag3] only for tags) then you could probably make a batch script that migrates to the ".txt system".

-Nod5 (June 12, 2007, 02:23 PM)

Just to note - this is possible with Endnote (pretty much any version) - you create your bibliographic entry, link to the pdf (either to its location your harddrive or you can have it copy the pdf to an Endnote managed location within the Endnote library you're importing into), and type out an abstract, keywords, notes, etc. into the bibliographic entry. It's all now searchable and linked within Endnote. As I mentioned before, this solution only works if you and anyone you want to share the notes with have Endnote installed...

5377

General Software Discussion / Re: Returnil Virtual System

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 11:31 AM »

Curt - I understood your note to the RegSeeker developer fine... I think! What you're after is a new feature that will index the contents of your registry to speed up searches.

5378

General Software Discussion / Re: Returnil Virtual System

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 11:09 AM »

Heh, heh... I'm supposed to be an observational scientist and yet didn't even notice that $5.99 doesn't work out to 20% of $34.95 (I at least flagged it as seeming a bit odd, but didn't give it a further though!).

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General Software Discussion / Re: List of Vector Illustration Alternatives

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 10:30 AM »

Ha, ha - that's the one I thought I was linking to! Thanks again Tom!

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Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 09:57 AM »

Neat idea Brandon - what are the six apps that you recommend (and require)?

5381

General Software Discussion / Re: Returnil Virtual System

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 09:56 AM »

Thanks for the clarification, Carol! That makes sense and still seems a good deal, just not clearly stated.

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Living Room / Re: Very Good (Printed) Book Search Site

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 09:54 AM »

Half the fun of being a student if figuring out how to beat the extortionate book costs!

-Darwin (June 11, 2007, 06:55 PM)

Fun you call it?

-steeladept (June 11, 2007, 10:43 PM)

That statement does smack of the same insensitivity displayed by my Lit 12 teacher in high school who always said: "enjoy your test" before we sat an exam!

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General Software Discussion / Re: List of Vector Illustration Alternatives

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 09:48 AM »

Thanks Tom! Another good resource is this wiki.

5384

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 09:45 AM »

OK here goes a third attempt at posting this (keep's timing out): just to note, there have been seven updates to DOpus 9 (9.0.0.1 through 9.0.0.6) since it shipped on April 27. Impressive for a two man development team that is also active on the users' forum. Take a look at the version history to see what they've been working on. I've no doubt that if the Foobar tagging issue can be solved from the GPSoft end, it will be.

The number of updates indicate to me that the team is very concerned about making sure that DOpus is a top-notch File Manager.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Xara Xtreme and Xtreme Pro upgraded to 3.2 - Proceed with caution: Info-rant!

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 09:25 AM »

I share your pain, Carol. I'm *hoping* that if I take what I perceive to be their advice and wait for the next version (4, I guess) that all will be well. However, I suspect that Xtreme Standard is going to go the way of Paint Shop Pro (ie increasingly dumbed down as each release comes out to try to grab new users) and that the Pro version is going to go the way of Illustrator in terms of pricing. In my (senselessly  ) humble opinion, this is NOT the way to take on Adobe. I *think* Xara were on the right track right before they announced the takeover (two related product lines, keep it simple, quick and cheap even in the pro range, at least initially). This just looks to me like Magix trying to squeeze money out of existing users right quick to justify to their investors the purchase price of Xara.

I'm glad that I'm not alone in feeling this way - the talkgraphics board looks to be split about 50/50 on the issue - there's a pretty vocal group decrying the paid upgrade and pointing out that there's not enough there to warrant it. Current users of Xara 3D are also EXTREMELY annoyed that there is no further discount available to them.

I'll just keep using Pro, watch from the sidelines, and hope my fears are groundless.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Returnil Virtual System

« Last post by Darwin on June 12, 2007, 12:25 AM »

Never mind, it is almost midnight and the newborn insists on keeping me up to post to you

 

Happy Days!

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General Software Discussion / Re: Returnil Virtual System

« Last post by Darwin on June 11, 2007, 10:37 PM »

Wow! 20% of the purchase price per year for maintenance is SWEET! I ASSUME (yes, I know, this makes an ASS out of U and ME) that where the Faronics rep has written

1-year maintenance included at $35.95, 20% off that price would be $5.99, which would be the price to pay to renew that maintenance package the following year.

OFF = OF? Otherwise rather than paying $5.99 per year for maintenance one would be looking at $39.95 less $5.99, which would be $29.96.

Just curious.

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General Software Discussion / Xara Xtreme and Xtreme Pro upgraded to 3.2 - Proceed with caution: Info-rant!

« Last post by Darwin on June 11, 2007, 07:43 PM »

Xara, which was recently acquired by Magix, has released a paid upgrade to their vector graphics illustration program, Xtreme. Xtreme comes in both standard and Pro versions. The Pro version was released to great fanfare in December 2006, immediately before the Magix takeover. One small bug fix update was released on Jan.17 and now version 3.2 has been released. This release includes a number of feature enhancements and bug fixes along with an apparently "Xara tweaked" version of Magix' Graphic Designer which is included to allow the user to manipulate digital photographs. More important is the newly added feature of being able to select the photo editor of one's choice. The Pro version also comes bundled with Xara 3D. I *believe* that this also heralds a price bump to $249 US (I am pretty sure it was either $179 or $199 before the release, but could be wrong).

Overall, I'm still smarting from paying to upgrade to the Pro version (a brand new app) in December and being expected to pay to move up 2/10's of a version to get what to my mind seems to be largely bug fixes and feature enhancements with two new apps tossed in, neither of which I have the slightest interest in. No one has a gun to my head to upgrade, as has been pointed out repeatedly on the talkgraphics board, and while I'm downloading the trial as I write this (still debating whether to bother installing it), I doubt very much that I'll be doing so. Xara itself advises prospective upgraders to evaluate carefully before upgrading and note that many users may wish to skip this upgrade and wait for the next. Almost like they're saying "our new corporate masters are forcing this on us - read between the lines and take our advice: hold onto your wallets until something more substantial comes down the pike".

I really don't know whether to be ranting about this or not. I've held off in the past - there has been considerable angst on their users' forum since this was announced in February - as I've been waiting to see what wound up being offered in 3.2. I guess I still haven't had time to absorb what it contains and whether or not this is worthwhile. I will say this: Xara Xtreme is a fantastic vector graphics package in either standard or Pro form and I love it. The issue isn't really about the product being good, it's more the "bad taste in the mouth" factor associated with a paid upgrade so soon after release. At any rate, an indepth look at the changes is being released this Friday by one of the Xara-user's gurus Gary Priester (his workbooks and tutorials are awe inspiring) and I guess I'll reserve final judgement until I've had a chance to read what he has to say.

Info-rant over.

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Living Room / Re: Very Good (Printed) Book Search Site

« Last post by Darwin on June 11, 2007, 06:55 PM »

When I was an undergrad I discovered during second year that a good 50% of the books I needed were at the Goodwill (a chain of charity shops in Canada and the US that sadly pulled out of my region about 15 years ago - once got an 18k ladies Rolex for 99 cents. I kid you not; paid $70 to get it running and my sister is still wearing it. A couple of years later I got my own). My best "score" was a very slender, and flimsy, volume on anthropological research methods that was available for over $80 in the University bookstore. I paid 10 cents for it. Ditto a book for a different class but in the same series. It's price was $75 and I paid 10 cents for it as well.

Half the fun of being a student if figuring out how to beat the extortionate book costs!

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Living Room / Re: DoCo Reading Week June 8, 2007 - Join In!

« Last post by Darwin on June 11, 2007, 06:39 PM »

Crud. I'm failing miserably in my bid to read an hour a day - I'm not doing anything near that! Does accumulated time on Donationcoder over a 24 hour period count?

5391

General Software Discussion / Re: Safari 3 for Windows

« Last post by Darwin on June 11, 2007, 06:34 PM »

PCMag is promising an indepth review tomorrow.

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General Software Discussion / Re: The great defrag shootout

« Last post by Darwin on June 11, 2007, 06:32 PM »

Personally I think that once you have found a setup you are happy with it is probably best to stick with it - or move wholesale to a new system.

Sage advice - I'm curious about how PD does, but won't be rushing to implement the "winning" app. In many ways, a lot of this comes down to user preference. I'm happy with PD on my notebook and DK on my wife's... And so it goes.

5393

General Software Discussion / Re: The great defrag shootout

« Last post by Darwin on June 11, 2007, 02:08 PM »

Yes - I read the Diskeeper comments with interest. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I have it installed on my wife's notebook and it seems to be doing its thing without offending her! I've occasionally analysed her disk with it to see if it's doing it's job and all seems well. Perhaps I'd have a different perspective if I was using it all the time. Just to note, I've been impressed with its speed when I've run analyses and on the odd occasions where I've had it defrag. Interesting. Might have to look at it a little more closely.

PS She's running Diskeeper 2007 Professional Premier, so has i-FAAST and the "on the fly" defragging features.

I'm running PerfectDisk on my own machine and am quite curious about how it will fare. I'm guessing that it's not going to do that well - middle of the pack, anyway. Bets anyone?

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General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by Darwin on June 11, 2007, 08:43 AM »

Sorry to have sent you off on a wild goose chase, Grorgy - I hadn't realised that the offer had expired.

Aramando - I've heard back from the developer of archivarius - notes and annotations in pdfs are not supported yet, but he's added them to his to do list. No indication of when they'll be added, but I'll keep you posted!

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General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by Darwin on June 10, 2007, 05:59 PM »

Grorgy - hope that gets sorted out for you.

Armando - I got a reprieve (3 year old fell asleep) so tried out Archivarius on notes added to pdfs using Scansoft's Note function. Couldn't get a hit when googling for it after reindexing my harddrive. I'll write to the developer and ask about this because he's likely either to tell me how to do it or to add it to a future build!

5396

General Software Discussion / Re: DivX Pro for free

« Last post by Darwin on June 10, 2007, 05:31 PM »

Simplest solution then is to use some imaging software to backup the old hard disc (something like Acronis TrueImage will do that from a bootable CD so you don't need a working windows - in fact you can use that to back up at file level too - though it would be incredibly slow).

You could head over to vnunet.com and download Paragon Drive Copy 8 Personal SE. It *looks* like the links are still active (if not contact me off thread as I took advantage of this offer and have never had any use for it - I have Acronis True Image 9 Home and 9.1 Workstation so never even installed the Paragon product). These imaging apps are really quite easy to use...

Two other alternatives for you (that shouldn't require an IT person to sort it out for you): 1. bung the old drive into a free bay in your new XP machine and access it that way (you can probably just delete all of the program files and windows installation while leaving the files that you want, and use the disk for storage) or 2. buy a cheap 3.5" external enclosure and connect it to your new machine. Then all you need to do is navigate to it in Explorer and copy over whatever data you want. It's REALLY EASY (I've done this both ways!).

Good luck - Mike

5397

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by Darwin on June 10, 2007, 05:19 PM »

RE: archivarius and comments in pdfs... I'll have to test that tonight and get back to  you - I'll have to annotate a pdf and index it before I can confirm this functionality or not and I'm on my way out the door for the afternoon and dinner.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Making the Switch-03: First impressions and first problems after installation

« Last post by Darwin on June 10, 2007, 05:17 PM »

Armando that's the way it looks to me, too. Still nice to have - would have made installing WINE a lot easier, for example. I'm glad I've got it as it supplements the native installer really well.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Making the switch-02: Which Linux distro to choose?

« Last post by Darwin on June 10, 2007, 12:31 PM »

Of course, if you have to open a terminal to get something installed this quickly becomes far more complex than a casual computer user will be able to deal with. However, this is just a learning curve as I imagine that the first time one opens a CMD console in Windows to be pretty daunting too

-Darwin (June 10, 2007, 09:09 AM)

I recently guided a 70 year old buddy of mine, who is trying to switch from Windows through a more complex installation process over the command line, after which he made the comment:

"All this linux stuff 'LOOKS' complicated, but once you start getting some grokking of it, it really makes sense."

-Gothi[c] (June 10, 2007, 12:03 PM)

There's hope for me yet !

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General Software Discussion / Re: Making the Switch-03: First impressions and first problems after installation

« Last post by Darwin on June 10, 2007, 10:35 AM »

Thanks for the automatix link, Zaine. I'm checking it out now!