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5401

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 11, 2010, 02:43 PM »

ROFL ... Now you know where I was at when the question first arose ... By default Windows XP, Vista, & 7 all auto sync with time.windows.com every 7 days - which was (a large) part of the justification for dropping the feature to begin with.

But I too have a thing about time ... So I continued to entertain the possibilitys... And Kazubon wrote the time sync code back in 95. Hence with a (slightly major) revamp of the socket handling code it wasn't really difficult to put back in - Where & how were the tricky parts. That and If I make it available to anyone, it has to be available for everyone, including the folks who are running (my all time favorite OS) Windows 2000. So... (hehe) ...Here we are.

The feature isn't at all finished, as I still have to add an auto-prompt for preferred NTP server if none is configured, and I'm just hoping to glean some input on what else (if anything) to add to it, to make it as user friendly as possible - without compromising security.

5402

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 11, 2010, 01:58 PM »

LOL ... You weren't the first (or the only one) to inquire about it.

The sticking point is that setting the time in Windows (Vista/7/etc.) requires administrative rights and/or a UAC prompt acceptance (All roads lead to the SetSystemTime(&NewTime) function). So regardless of what I do with the code, I either have to require the program be run with administrative rights, or saddle the user with UAC prompts ... Which will result in the program being run with administrative rights. That, of course would violate one of the core design requirements that I set forth back in 06 (come to think of it, it was more like 03 when I started the project).

Fortunately, I like a challenge. So I cooked up this little scheme which allows the time to be quickly sync'ed from an administrative command prompt - which I'm guessing most of us tend to frequently run and/or keep handy. It's kind of a Power User Easter Egg if you will...

The primary question, at this point, is whether or not this scheme fits your definition of an acceptably convenient solution to (time Sync) problem X?? ...If it does, I'll continue flushing it out with a UI for server & logging configuration etc..

5403

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: logout when monitor turns on

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 11, 2010, 10:56 AM »

(Forcing a logoff) Sounds like a great way to lose data - Why not just use Win + L to lock the session when leaving the computer?

5404

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 11, 2010, 10:26 AM »

Okay, Time Synchronization: (mouser...) Being that it was stated that a manual sync would be acceptable...It gave me a bit of (~Artistic~License~) Latitude. I did not want to have TC2010 triggering any manner of Administrative Rights/UAC Issues/Prompts. So, The best (Have-Your-Cake-and-Eat-it-Too) solution I could concoct was to (give TC2010 a split personality) run the Time Sync from a 2nd session via the command line.

Hence the TC2010 still does not require Administrative Rights - But the Time Sync (which it now has) does. Navigate to the TC2010 with an Administrative Command Prompt and run Clock /Sync This will partially load a 2nd (hook-less) copy of TC2010 that will synchronize the time with the selected NTP Server and then exit.



Now As I mentioned this is a rough draft, so there is currently no interface to configure the time server with. The registry entry will (for the moment) need to be manually added to the registry here:
Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stoic Joker's\T-Clock 2010\SNTP
Type: REG_SZ
Name: Server
Value: [Your Choice of Time Servers]

You can also add (to the same location):
Type: DWORD
Name: SaveLog
Value: 1 (default of false)

To have it create SNTP.log in its own directory (which currently (unavoidably) tends to fail if it's in Program Files on Vista/7) - Choices for now are either log -or- MessageBox sync successful message.

While I am releasing this (rough-hewn) feature a bit early, the object is to see how well this compromise is received - before I poured a ton of time into something that totally sucks...

Feedback (desperately needed) Appreciated!

5405

Living Room / Re: File Size vs. Size on Disk: Why such a difference?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 09, 2010, 06:26 AM »

I decided to format it and when I went to do that I found out that the default cluster size for FAT is 32 KiB.

-Deozaan (April 09, 2010, 01:41 AM)

...Which is why I mentioned the MS Oformat utility earlier - That's what it's for - creating low cluster size FAT/FAT32 partitions that can easily/safely be converted to NTFS (with Win2k era convert.exe). It was a required procedure back then if you wanted/needed the NTFS compression to work...and were going to be starting with a FAT drive (for whatever reason).

5406

Living Room / Re: File Size vs. Size on Disk: Why such a difference?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 08, 2010, 05:54 AM »

If you use the Oformat utility from a Win2k/XP setup disk (should be in tools - iirc), you can format the disk as FAT/FAT32 with (almost) any cluster size you want/need.

5407

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 07, 2010, 10:46 PM »

Okay, at this point I've managed to create, modify, fix, resurrect, compound, befriend, and finally kill about 15 new buggs that crawled out of the woodwork in the process of addressing the above (Win + A) issue. Seems there was a lurking flaw in the design of the structure I created for handling the hotkey configuration sets, that caused the whole thing to hit the fan on a x64 box (most of my testing is done on a XP VPC).

Anyhow... I've now locked out the Windows Keys and any other combination that may tend to get folks in trouble (i.e. Shift + A-Z, etc.).

So... Since I've now (between here and the office) been coding for 17hrs straight, I'm going to go fall over dead.

5408

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 07, 2010, 05:40 PM »

BTW, I have not succeeded in getting a hotkey with the windows key to work.  Should it?

-ewemoa (April 07, 2010, 06:41 AM)

That is/was one of those I was on-the-fence issues I'd planned to get back to later. The Windows keys do not work reliably because they're a reserved System Key. While I'd toyed with trying to make it work (to see if I could), I suspect it would be a very bad coding practice to foist on the users. The standard Windows Shortcut options block them from being used ...(for a reason)... So, I will also in the next build.

Thank you, for your continued efforts at poking holes in my code

5409

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 Requests

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 07, 2010, 06:47 AM »

Also, FFS, make Notepad detect other line endings than CR+LF.

-Lashiec (April 02, 2010, 05:58 PM)

Now there's one I will happily 2nd! (Damn that's annoying)

5410

Living Room / Re: First iPad Reviews Are In

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 07, 2010, 06:36 AM »

It the other half of the bookends set for this.

It gets worse. There is no way to share the same document with more than one iPad app. For example, a Word document imported to Pages cannot be accessed by any other iPad app, even other apps that can open Word documents. The only work-around is to import the document twice, once for each app. Further, if you ever delete an app from your iPad, any documents stored with that app are deleted as well.

Their (insanely) mandatory auto-saves should greatly assist in making a royal mess of things also.

5411

Living Room / Re: First iPad Reviews Are In

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 07, 2010, 06:20 AM »

Holy crap Apple, seriously? *That's* how your shiny new toy handles data sync? Wow. Just... wow.

-JavaJones (April 06, 2010, 03:35 PM)

Seriously, why the shock? ...This is a perfect Apple "File Sharing" efficiency match for the MacBook Wheel...

5412

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Partition Wizard Business Edition - free registration limited time offer

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 07, 2010, 06:08 AM »

I use to love Partition Magic until Symantec assimilated Power Quest - I just couldn't trust it after that.

I've been (happily) using Paragon HDM for awhile, but their Bootable CD tends to cry (and refuse to load) about Screen Resolution a bit too often (e.g. it burned me on-site once).

This certainly looks clean enough, so I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the tip.

5413

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 07, 2010, 05:14 AM »

Overlapping Schools of thought - error message wise (guess I'll have to pick one... ).

I got one other (bugg i created...) issue I've gota get nailed down before the next update - But it will look like:

5414

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 06, 2010, 06:32 PM »

After the initial (just updated) run can you do it again?

-Stoic Joker (April 06, 2010, 09:07 AM)

Sorry, not sure I follow.  I tried the steps again (after exiting the application once and restarting it) and was able to reproduce, FWIW.  I also re-downloaded (with 2 different browsers) but the hashes came out the same as the original beta -5-.

-ewemoa (April 06, 2010, 04:33 PM)

That's ok I was off in the weeds anyway...

After getting home, re-reading and duplicating the bugg it dawned on me that I had seen that behavior before. But I'd blown it off as me just being (dumb) to tired and forgetting which keys I'd already assigned. The Windows Shortcut Hotkey control I've been trying to emulate, does however handle that very same situation in a considerably more graceful fashion (than ignoring it - which I did).

So, I gave TC a quick behavioral modification - it will now respond appropriately to a sudden loss of focus.

5415

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 06, 2010, 09:07 AM »

Thanks for the update.

I briefly tried the HotKeys feature in beta -5-.
 (see attachment in previous post)
To reproduce, please try:

1. Bring up HotKeys tab in Properties dialog (what, no hotkey for this?  kidding)

-ewemoa (April 06, 2010, 07:56 AM)

In retrospect, it's a hell of a good question (I'll have to work on that).

2. Click Reset button for "Display Timer Watch Hotkey"
3. Enter hotkey: Control+Shift+S
4. Click Apply buton
5. Press: Control+Shift+S (notice window pop up)
6. Click Reset button for "Display Timer Watch Hotkey"
7. Try to enter hotkey: Control+Shift+S (notice that only the text Control+Shift shows up and a timer watch window pops up)
8. Click on Properties dialog
9. Try to enter hotkey: Control+Shift+S (notice that the text field gets additional content)

Hm... (May be an artifact from the old config.) Can't play with that now (I'm at work), but I'd swear that should be impossible (granted the SS differs... ). After the initial (just updated) run can you do it again?

5416

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 06, 2010, 07:11 AM »

I updated the DL last night, but was too fried to post the description ... and now I'm pressed for time. *Sigh*

Configurable hotkeys now available - for trial by fire ...I'm hoping the usage is self explanitory as I tried to emulate the native Windows shortcut hotkey interface behavior as closely as possible. This is with the exception of the added reset button requirement which prevents Ctrl Tabbing through the Tab'ed dialog from borking the config.

5417

Living Room / Re: Deceitful Software Awards

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 05, 2010, 05:09 AM »

Shameful behavior aside...

This is a major part of why I've decided to do any future software releases through DC - Good, Bad, or Indifferent the answers are always honest.

5418

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: New program: ActiveHotkeys (freeware)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 04, 2010, 02:12 PM »

Thank You!!!

Configurable HotKeys in T-Clock 2010 would never have worked without this delightful little program.

...They'll be along shortly now!

5419

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 03, 2010, 03:05 PM »

Dunno if there's much you can do about the time sync issue - unless you're willing to run a background service with admin privileges that t-clock can communicate with

-f0dder (April 03, 2010, 10:51 AM)

Compounded by the fact that there is already an existing time service that I don't want to run afoul of (domain membership). While I could (for simplicity sake and to allow portability) leverage the existing Windows Time Service, it quickly turns into a kludge because of the (workgroup membership) defaults which only update every 7 days, and then there's the issue that most folks tend to use the default time.microsoft.com which fails frequently for a multitude of reasons.

We are on the same page here (privileges wise), I was just hoping you could think of something I was missing.

who cares if a uac prompt comes up?

-mouser (April 03, 2010, 11:42 AM)

I do. ...One of the core premises for the project is that it be (draconian) Corporate Network user friendly ... So administrators need not worry if it was set-off within their realm.

if time sync is a manual action triggered from system tray i dont mind if i have to ok a UAC prompt.  i just want to have easy access to the command.

Understood. point taken, but "we" still have to contend with the proclivities of the rest of the great unwashed masses... that also might be inclined to set this thing off, and spasticly panic of an ominous looking security message is triggered.

Remember I'm working in pure C here, it's all-or-none - I don't have the luxury of the C# style runtime code level permissions checking/validation/prompting. Best I can do is what I hinted at earlier, which is to configure Quicky Menu option to point at a script that fires the Windows Time Service re-sync. That way the script handles/contends with the permissions prompting.

My typical uptimes are measured in months. I know the clock in Windows likes to drift a bit, because it completely ignores the hardware clock (after boot) and keeps its own time going forward during the session (it's a HAL thing). Unfortunately, the only current (reduced permissions) security model safe option is to let Windows handle the time.

The only reason I haven't completely closed the book on this is that I'm a bit of a (die-hard) nonconformist and love bending the rules in an attempt to invent have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too solutions. This one however has me stumped.

5420

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 03, 2010, 10:42 AM »

Glad to see the new features being well received ... as there's always a fine line between being feature rich and junked up (that I don't want to cross).

I had to take a short break due to getting completely fried bouncing between TC and the office projects. That and the configurable hotkey functionality is proving to be as difficult as I thought it would be (to do properly). Also my wife had surgery yesterday (which went well).

There are a couple of things I'm planning, but here are some of the highlights:
 1. I have concocted a rough plan on how to attack the hotkey project which I'll be exploring this afternoon.
 2. There are plans for an .ini based portable version, but they haven't completely gelled yet.
 3. I'm still getting hammered on the Time Sync front - which has me torn on what to do - All research attempts have led back to a (UAC prompt filled) dead end. So f0dder if Ya happen to wander by... I'm open for ideas.

5421

Living Room / Re: Important Information Regarding Changes To The Use of DonationCoder

« Last post by Stoic Joker on April 01, 2010, 05:52 AM »

The key to a good April Fools gag, is that it has to be at least marginally believe-able on some level. So unless there was a substantiating back story regarding Mouser becoming demoniacally possessed ... This is a rather obvious ruse.

5422

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 30, 2010, 07:33 PM »

Now, just one little thing....
I asked for Julian date, but it turns out that what is often referred to as 'Julian date' is, um, really Ordinal date   In other words, what I was really looking for is 'Day of the year' 1-135, 366 on leap years. Please? Pretty Please?

-callethan (March 30, 2010, 09:22 AM)

Luckily (for both of us) the code is strikingly similar - So I got all of the above it one shot. How ever while Julian Date was crystal clear regarding the "Thow Shalt Not Uses Any Other But UTC" part, the Ordinal Date (after an hour on Google) wouldn't break one way or the other. ... So I did both:
 1. OD = Ordinal Date (YYYY-DDD) Using UTC Time (shown in screen shot below).
 2. Od = Ordinal Date (YYYY-DDD) Using Local Time.
 3. DOY = Day-Of-Year in Decimal (001 - 366) format.

Yes, I was playing with the font size before taking the SS - The fonts do seem to scale nicely...

Well, much as I hate to regard silence as acceptance ... I gotta go with it.

-Stoic Joker (March 23, 2010, 06:07 PM)

Sorry for not responding about the week feature request. Totally missed that post as you said, it'll take some time. Thank you for implementing this feature. I think it's perfect the way it is (ISO Sunday, ISO Monday, Simple). 

-wr975 (March 30, 2010, 01:02 PM)

Thank you, I'm truly relieved to know that the function passed muster. ...And Thank You also for the encouragement.

Guess I'll just half to get blind drunk and a dart board to figure this one out.

And yet, I'm sure you'll hit the bulls-eye!

A few Donation Credits coming your way for the indefatigable effort and constant improvement!

-cranioscopical (March 30, 2010, 01:34 PM)

Gees, I hope not - That'll make the bull real mad ... Then What'll I Do...

Thank You.

5423

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 30, 2010, 12:47 PM »

So I sent a hoot out to the void in June of 2008, not really expecting any return, but sometimes you try, you know, just in case. - So imagine my pleasant surprise to find a message in my inbox from that most stoic of jokers. 

Not only that, but he had done the thing I asked for(!) How totally awesome!


Now, just one little thing....
I asked for Julian date, but it turns out that what is often referred to as 'Julian date' is, um, really Ordinal date   In other words, what I was really looking for is 'Day of the year' 1-135, 366 on leap years. Please? Pretty Please?

-callethan (March 30, 2010, 09:22 AM)

I actually quite glad you brought this up. I had to research Julian Date to find out what it was, before having a go at it. But As I recall your Email did mention that you were looking for a YYYY.DDD format ... Which doesn't quite match the JD standard that I found and used. Now I understand why (thank you).

So at this point I'd really only need to add a Day-Of-Year option and then the Ordinal date format you're after would be easily configurable. I can do that - I was actually already on-the-fence about adding the DOY, so I'll just toss it into the next build.

Also, one of the neat features in TClockEx was having 'launch other application' in the Mouse config menus.

Um... TClockEx was Dale Nurden's project ... I'm the other guy...

Gotta say, us power users tend to have a couple applications tied to hotkeys, so you really have to allow users to re-assign or disable them.

Yes, I've slowly been resigning myself to that. The last build was just a test to see if I could do it (add hotkeys) ... Next trip through we get to find out if I can do it correctly...

been using TClock, TClockEX, etc. for about the last 10 years, and it is really nice to see this work and refreshing. THANK YOU! 

I'm glad to see folks still enjoying T-Clock - and Thank You, I truly do appreciate the feedback.

5424

Living Room / Re: New hardware recommendations?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 30, 2010, 07:00 AM »

The new Xtreme N Storage Router (DIR-685) makes networking easier by combining the superior features of a wireless N router, a built-in Network Attached Storage (NAS) and a digital photo frame

Oh goody, a Feng Shui router... *Sigh* ...Sounds like the kind of toy that you'll end up hating (mind you I am a minimalist). I'd much rather things stick to what they're supposed to do - All things, to all people constructs tend to end badly.

NetGear, on the other hand, while not top-shelf, has proven to be quite reliable. I generally go for LinkSys first - But I've worked with some NetGear hardware (on long term projects) that gave results that I couldn't argue with.

What is your current router doing that makes you think it's dieing? If the ping times for both the LAN & WAN ports are stable and low ... There's really not much else the box needs to do. Unless it one of those models with an SPI firewall that cronically tanks the connection.

5425

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (beta - download)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on March 29, 2010, 10:18 PM »

Okay, as it turns out Hotkeys are a hell of a lot easier that I'd originally thought. So...

T-Clock Hotkeys
Ctrl + Shift + S      : Opens the T-Clock Stopwatch.
Ctrl + Shift + T      : Opens T-Clock Add/Edit Timers.
Ctrl + Shift + W   : Opens the T-Clock Timer Watch Window.
Note: Timer Watch will auto-close if it isn’t needed (has no timers being watched).

-Stoic Joker (March 28, 2010, 01:08 PM)

Thanks for adding these.  They seem to work here.

Ctrl+Shift+T happens to be something I use often for Firefox (opening the most recently closed tab).

-ewemoa (March 29, 2010, 08:59 PM)

Shit, I was afraid that would happen.

Given the possibility of conflicting shortcut keys, I wonder if configurability of the specific keys would be helpful.  If that's a pain or too much work or whatever, perhaps you can punt on the shortcut keys for the moment (sorry, I know I asked for them initially).

It seemed reasonable enough at the time (and I like Hotkeys). I figure there are three options:
1. Add the Alt key to the Ctrl + Shift + X combo (and hope that's not used too)
2. Switch to Ctrl + Fx (and hope nobody else thought of that option)
3. Make the keys configurable - which means adding a tab to the properties dialog, in which case I'll have to reorganize all the existing pages (again).

A random thought: if command line options for the functionality of opening (and closing or toggling) the various windows were available, it'd be possible to set up something else (e.g AHK or FARR) to handle the specification and triggering of hotkeys.  What do you think?

If it's gotta be written in something, I might as well write it into the existing app. ...Guess I'll just half to get blind drunk and a dart board to figure this one out.