Recent Posts

5476

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by Curt on August 05, 2008, 04:49 AM »

http://rickardandersson.com/ Right-Click-Link 1.1.3

-cathodera (May 13, 2008, 03:44 AM)

- https://addons.mozil...S/firefox/addon/1472 is a better link.

Did you notice that he stopped writing, from the day he got married? Makes you wonder...

5477

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by Curt on August 05, 2008, 02:31 AM »

Finally someone has more extensions than I do.... 

@ alexey_r:
And how much RAM do you have? 


Thanks for telling about Mr Uptime! Haven't heard of that one before.

5478

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Liquid Story Binder (2.91) on GiveAwayOfTheDay

« Last post by Curt on August 04, 2008, 03:37 PM »

New tutorials for Liquid Story Binder

Black Obelisk Software is proud to announce the release of several new Liquid Story Binder XE Tutorials.

Three Basic Steps
Planning, Writing, and Building -- the three keys to Liquid Story Binder XE. This tutorial expands the `Quick Start Guide' tutorial with usage examples and full-sized screenshots.

Associations
Learn how to create and access like-named files quickly.

Project Goals
View word count totals, set target dates, calculate goals.

Terminology
Building, Associations, Statusbars.

Please view the new and updated tutorials here...

http://www.blackobel...e.com/tutorials.html

Jesse Wall
Black Obelisk Software

http://www.blackobelisksoftware.com

The program is constantly updated, and is now at version 3.11

5479

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: InstallSafe $7.50

« Last post by Curt on August 04, 2008, 05:51 AM »

I am unable to tell how it performed, because it didn't! Despite a reboot, I never was able to get any further than this:




Before I came this far, I was thinking "it is good that my friends (here in CPH.DK, not on DC) not are to install this program. If possible, they know even less than I do about IT, so they would for certain loose track of the program already during installation!" You download a downloader, which downloads a zip container, both default directories are some deep down hidden "temp" folders. My friends would say "I downloaded it and clicked a button, but now I cannot find it!"

After installation to \CADENCE, I found a shortcut in "Start > All Programs > InstallSafe > Install using InstallSafe" only - no shortcuts were created on the desktop or in the Quick Launch area.

There is no writing to the context menu.

The author has tried to make the program nice looking, by using fonts created for documents, but I think it is a little difficult to read:




The program's major feature should be the ability to "roll back". Nevertheless you cannot tell it to create a backup restoration point, without installing a program at the same time. There is no "create backup point now!"

You need to activate the program yourself every time you want to use it. And then you will need to navigate the program to the new installer in the traditional way. But at least it will remember the directory.

I am not sure if $7.50 is a bargain - I will will not purchase it.

5480

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by Curt on August 04, 2008, 04:31 AM »

How I like numbers like this: 1111    congrats, urlwolf! 

5481

Found Deals and Discounts / InstallSafe $7.50

« Last post by Curt on August 04, 2008, 03:51 AM »

I didn't know about InstallSafe, until today's newsletter from Bits du Jour told about it.

Deal Available: 7 AUG 2008, THURSDAY = $7.50 (against the normal $14.99)

InstallSafe allows you to take proactive, pre-emptive steps against this inevitability by making it as simple as possible to 'roll back' your system to point in time when it was stable.

With razor precision, InstallSafe minutely tracks every teeny-tiny thing that gets changed between the installation start and the installation end. This means that every change is tied to a particular application, so if and when you need to roll back, InstallSafe will only undo the changes it needs to, minimizing the chances of rolling back any other installation.

Best of all, InstallSafe only makes backups of your system files,

-Bits du Jour

My problem with the other programs that I already have for the same job   is, that they are handling this job fine but utterly  S L O W  - I can literally take the dog for a walk both before installing a new program, and after installation! Did any of you try this InstallSafe and can tell how well / fast / slow it is performing?
 

Well, at $7.50 it should be affordable to test it out, I guess. But InstallSafe doesn't yet seem to have a homepage of its own; and how can $14.95 then be a "normal" price, if the program not yet has been offered for sale anywhere? (Edited: I can now see it has been offered via the traditional big sites, download.com, etcetera.) Did you ever come across this program before?

5482

General Software Discussion / Re: Your most used SPECIAL programs

« Last post by Curt on August 03, 2008, 02:26 AM »

Amazon Unbox may be fine and cheap, but is only available to USA residents.

-Curt (August 02, 2008, 05:38 PM)

The question was what I enjoyed using, not what the world enjoyed using, right?

-allen (August 02, 2008, 11:59 PM)

- forgive me for the unintended curt tone. I was merely informing the public in general. I should of course have added the rest of the sentence >"- so unfortunately I am not able to try this app. Sigh!"< to give the intended meaning.

You are all most welcome to tell about programs unavailable to parts of the world.

Thank you for pointing out my authorial shortcoming! 

5483

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Truspace 7.6 Available for free download

« Last post by Curt on August 02, 2008, 06:31 PM »

All 3 files downloaded. Average: 1.4 mbps, including NOD32 scan.

5484

General Software Discussion / Re: Your most used SPECIAL programs

« Last post by Curt on August 02, 2008, 05:38 PM »

What a thrill it has been for me tonight, coming home after 7 hours of train travelling, and read all of your answers. Really exciting! Who would have dreamed that April is playing subsonic noise non-stop, merely to stay connected?!!  I sure hope more people will post & tell. 

-
Amazon Unbox may be fine and cheap, but is only available to USA residents.

-
f0dder was of course right: My only reason for systematically destroying hundreds of images, is for the sake of making desktop wallpapers out of them.

Curt, this is an interesting topic but you may have to include a clause to exclude system diagnose tools as well.

-lanux128 (August 01, 2008, 10:09 AM)

 

I have a lot of the kind, but only keep Process Explorer open & visible (in sys-tray). Everything else is on demand only, when 'something' happens.


I will use the occasion to tell about the little but very fine ClickOff. It doesn't work too well on Vista, which the author doesn't have, so it may take a while before it fully will be Vistable. But I am running XP and have ClickOff placed in Start, and I like it a lot. After installing ClickOff you only need to answer questions like "are your sure you want to exit the program?" once! 

5485

General Software Discussion / Re: Your most used SPECIAL programs

« Last post by Curt on August 01, 2008, 09:07 AM »

It was really uplifting to read your post, f0dder. 

You are of course also welcome to tell what kind of special programs you are using a lot, and for what.

5486

General Software Discussion / Your most used SPECIAL programs

« Last post by Curt on August 01, 2008, 05:57 AM »

We have had some threads before, about which programs we use the most, but this time I was hoping we could tell each other about the more specialized kind of apps we use. Could we exclude Internet browsers, e-mail clients, launchers, PIMs, Calendars, Clipboard, Clocks, etcetera, and instead include the more special kind of programs. Maybe you don't use them every day all around the year, but for seasonally kind of jobs...

As an example, and as the first post:

I have recently taken interest in HDR images from Flickr, so at the moment I use Bulk Image Downloader every day. It was merely $17.95, but makes it so easy for me to download all original sized photos by any photographer at Flickr's (and of course many other sites), in just a couple of clicks.

Some of the photographers at Flickr don't care to give their visitors the large dimensioned files, but merely uploads big thumbnails... (in my opinion, 500x375 pixels is not an image, but a thumbnail, if you know what I mean). For this reason I also use Image Compressor 2008 Pro - obviously not for compressing, but for enlarging. It gives a very fine quality, but if I hadn't received it from Giveawayoftheday, I wouldn't know about it, because the listed asking price is $99 - so I cannot afford to update... Well, they offered me to update for $50, but that is still a lot of money to me when I only want half of the program, so to speak. But as I said, it gives a very fine quality.

A lot of the downloaded photos are equally named, "beautiful_sunset.jpg" etcetera. The easiest way to handle this problem is to bulk-add the photographers name, "Beautiful Sunset © Photograher's Name.jpg", so yet another important program to me at the moment is the $20 [now FREEware] File Renamer Deluxe Turbo, from Kristanix Software. It is really good looking, and easy to operate - and more importantly, it doesn't confuse me the way some other renamers will do.

---

Passing on the torch... 

5487

General Software Discussion / Re: Convert to tiff (lzw)

« Last post by Curt on July 31, 2008, 05:01 PM »

Your IrfanView can do it without any problems at all, in the way you told us (you wrote "folder"; singular) - only, you don't need to open it. All you need is the little free BAxBEx DLL Shell Extension for IrfanView: http://www.baxbex.com/products.html (scroll all down). Then click 'type', mark, right-click, choose 'tif', wait, click delete. End of story. If I understood the situation.

5488

Living Room / OneLaptopPerChild also for XP

« Last post by Curt on July 30, 2008, 09:35 AM »

[Original headline changed]

Copyright © 2008 CyberNet |

XP for the OLPC is Ready to go!

Posted: 29 Jul 2008 04:09 PM CDT

It’s hard to believe that Microsoft is still working on XP so many years after it originally launched. Their latest work with the operating system involved making a version that worked well with the XO Laptop (One Laptop Per Child project). Over 40 engineers were involved with the project, and as Ryan mentioned back in December, their hardest task was to get the operating system on a small drive and writing drivers that would work with the laptops’ specialized hardware.

Those engineers completed the task, and as they say, a new Windows XP has gone gold! According to BetaNews, Microsoft wasn’t the only one who had work to do to get XP to work on the XO laptop, the OLPC organization had work as well. They say, “Microsoft spent a year modifying XP to ensure it would work on the XO laptops without problems. But OLPC had work to do as well, including boosting the memory and making hardware adjustments. The switch from Linux will increase the production costs of the XO from $188 to a little over $200. XP itself will cost $3 per each XO shipped.”

Unfortunately, for those who already bought the XO laptops, like all of the people who participated in the Give One - Get One program, they will not have the option of switching from Linux, which their computers came with, to XP. This is likely due to the hardware adjustments that were made so that the laptops could work with XP. Part of the reason that XP is such an attractive option is that many more people are familiar with it than they are Linux.

Windows on the XO laptop is expected sometime in September.

Copyright © 2008 CyberNet |

5489

General Software Discussion / Re: Dumb question re Website Watcher

« Last post by Curt on July 30, 2008, 09:14 AM »

   yes, ironi is not as hard as sarcasm...

I have to admit that I haven't used the program for more than half a year, so maybe the program itself would tell me that the license was about to expire? I don't know. So, in reality, my request may have exposed my ignorance!

5490

General Software Discussion / Re: Dumb question re Website Watcher

« Last post by Curt on July 29, 2008, 05:59 PM »

Curt, you should contact the developer of UpdatePatrol to get help.

-bitbrain (August 24, 2007, 01:53 PM)

- in the end  he contacted me!

Does UpdatePatrol do what you need?
If you miss something, please let me know!

Bitberry Software    Hello again, Brian from Bitberry Software here.

I'm currently planning what to include in the next major update of UpdatePatrol, and I'd like to hear your opinion.

This is your chance to influence what is included in UpdatePatrol 4.0.

What do you use UpdatePatrol for?
I'm sincerely interested in getting to know what you use UpdatePatrol for. What kind of sites are you monitoring and how is it helping you or your business?

Please help me understand what problems UpdatePatrol solves for you and helps you with.

Getting access to this information will help me improve UpdatePatrol to help you even better.

What do you miss the most?
What is the most important thing you would like to see added to UpdatePatrol? Please let me know!

I cannot guarantee that all requested features are added in version 4.0, but your feedback will help me a lot to decide which ones to include.

Need to upgrade or change your email preferences?
Visit the Customer Portal at http://www.bitberry.com/cc.login.html.

Well, one feature I surely will recommend him to add  is  to warn the customers when their license is about to expire: Mine expired two weeks ago, and I didn't know until today when I tried to update!   

http://www.updatepatrol.com/

5491

General Software Discussion / Re: Where did my "smart quotes" go? (Word 2003)

« Last post by Curt on July 29, 2008, 05:32 PM »

Thanks to both of you.

However, I was wrong from the beginning, wasn't I:
Word 2003 only gives you "_" and ”_” , not “_”

- maybe that was one of the reasons I stopped using it in the first place... 

5492

General Software Discussion / Where did my "smart quotes" go? (Word 2003)

« Last post by Curt on July 29, 2008, 05:53 AM »

Edited:
Come to think of it, I imagine smart quotes may be something else?

Yesterday I installed parts* of Office Enterprise 2007, in order to test out Publisher. I didn't install the parts* I already have in Office 2003 Standard. I didn't tell the installer to update, but to install "alongside". Later, I decided to make Word 2003 my default editor again (was prev. using SoftMaker 2008). When typing, I realized that the smart quotes had gone. By now I have spend too much time looking for them, so I simply have to ask out loud: Where did my smart quotes go, and (more important): How do I get them back? 





parts** = to my understanding you cannot install "parts" of Office. You make them "available" or not, but I believe the entire Enterprise actually is installed, and most parts are then merely "not available".

5493

General Software Discussion / Re: Help! Good flowcharting sw needed

« Last post by Curt on July 29, 2008, 04:07 AM »

Edraw MAX was just major updated into version 4.
- a free update

Edraw Max 4 New Features

   1.      Get started quickly. You can find just the right template by using the new Getting Started window in Edraw. Large template previews Large thumbnail previews and descriptions of each template help you to quickly identify the templates that are best for your diagrams. (See Screenshot)

   2.      The new UI is MS Office 2007 style like. Full ribbon features.

   3.      Added Themes, Color Themes, Effects and Fonts. Easy to change the whole diagram by changing the active theme. With the new Theme feature, you can format the colors and effects in an entire diagram with a single click. (See Screenshot)

   4.      Real-time previews (See Screenshot). When you scroll over the various galleries in Edraw, you'll see your drawings and various objects change to display what they'll look like if you decide to apply those settings. Just click on the thumbnail in the gallery to actually accept the changes. This makes it a lot faster to see, for example, how changing a color scheme will affect your drawings.

   5.      Quick layouts and quick styles. These provide quick formatting options for the object in question, and make it easy to create good-looking slides with just a few clicks. (See Screenshot)

   6.      Put Edraw graphics into Word, Excel, PowerPoint with one-click buttons. (See same Screenshot as #5)

   7.      Text objects supported line space, bullet, Indent, back color, super script, sub script and more.

   8.      Shadows in general are so very nice compared to those in previous versions. We can actually control the transparency, amount of blur, and color now. (See Screenshot)

   9.      Shape and text presets make it really easy to apply a preset look to an object or text.

  10.      It's quicker to zoom in and out now using the zoom slider in the southeast corner of the screen.

  11.      Added the Insert Table function.

  12.      Watermark. Insert ghosted text behind the content on the page. This is often used to indicate that a document is to be treated specially, such as Confidential or Urgent.

  13.      It is now easier to find just the right symbols in the library (See Screenshot) because of the real-time previews.

  14.      Recolor picture, Light and Contrast, transparent PNG support.

  15.      Opened the Shape Sheet function for senior users to create more complicated shapes.

  16.      More 2000 high quality clip arts (See Screenshot).

  17.      Added the background view relative to normal view. In the background view you can modify all background elements.

  18.      Added the dynamic help within the program.

Edraw Max 4, Fixes:

   1.      Improved the Insert Hyperlink function.
   2.      Improved the Print function. Support more page sizes such as A0, A1. You can also print the large size graphics in separate pages.
   3.      High quality graphic export.
   4.      Significantly improved performance of finding symbols.
   5.      Allowed to modify the grid space.
   6.      Fixed some bugs in Geometry dialog.

Product Manual: http://www.edrawsoft...es/edrawsolution.pdf

-EDRAW

5494

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Liquid Story Binder (2.91) on GiveAwayOfTheDay

« Last post by Curt on July 28, 2008, 11:15 AM »

- yes, it is so,
you simply have to be awake if Liquid Story ever comes at Giveawayoftheday again:

Hi Dorene,

Despite their disclaimer, your GAOTD registration key is good for all future versions of Liquid Story Binder XE.

Jesse Wall
Black Obelisk Software

--- In [email protected], "d mariekleba" <dmariekleba@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Jesse,,,
>
> I downloaded your excellent program from GAOTD and have a question.
> do I qualify to get the upgrades...some of the posts here have lead me to
> believe that I would...but according to GAOTD I will not...can you clarify
> this..?
>
> I am so excited about this program and now can really see myself getting my
> book written.
>
> Thanks,
> Dorene

-Jesse Wall, author & owner of Liquid Story

I wish I knew back then!
Well, my money is certainly not wasted, but I too would like to save some money once in a while...

5495

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Statistics for Excel

« Last post by Curt on July 28, 2008, 11:01 AM »

- there is only one installer, meaning you cannot reinstall tomorrow (unless...).

5496

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Statistics for Excel

« Last post by Curt on July 28, 2008, 10:34 AM »

- you might find the  S   L   O   W    N   E   S   S   to be too annoying, Darwin.

---

Thank you for the links, lanux. Most informative! 
- the problem only occured in Firefox (this is written in Maxthon 2).

5497

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Statistics for Excel

« Last post by Curt on July 28, 2008, 09:41 AM »

Is it my browser only, or does anyone else also have this problem with some images?:





The problem only occurs when you don't hit Enter once or twice AFTER the "Link Inline Image" edited: (IF the image is the very last part of the post) - images edited: (ending a post) should always be followed by an extra line or two, to avoid this problem (in my browser).
Or is it my browser only? 

5498

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Statistics for Excel

« Last post by Curt on July 28, 2008, 04:46 AM »

It installed ok for me, but excel 2007 wouldn't close properly and on occasion crashed while trying to close.  Others may fare better.

-Grorgy (July 28, 2008, 03:52 AM)

I too had problems when I was to close Excel 2003, and it turns out that StatFi opens slowly and closes even more slowly - I  had to wait for a very long time, and then hit the close button again, and only then did Excel close properly.


Perry is right, the homepage works okay now.

5499

Found Deals and Discounts / Statistics for Excel

« Last post by Curt on July 28, 2008, 03:16 AM »

Today's Giveawayoftheday, StatFi, is an add-on for Microsoft Excel™ 2000/XP/2003/2007 spreadsheet program only. >>Offering the same familiar, convenient Excel look and feel, StatFi greatly expands the analytical and statistical capabilities of Microsoft Excel. Supporting ISO standards ensures repeatable results of every analysis.<<

It installed on my XP SP3 without problems, and comes with an extremely thorough tutorial to get you started. All you have to do is to start Excel, and StatFi has made a new menu, “Statistics (StatFi)”, in Excel’s menu line. From now on you may also start Excel from Start > All Programs > StatFi 2007 GOTD. The tutorial includes a complete “Overview of Elementary Concepts in Statistics”, but it is written for English students who already knows most of their maths, and was not at all easy for me to understand, as I am either into English or the maths.

But if you already know your maths, StatFi is a very convincing add-on! However, I have not been able to reach the listed homepage, nor www.analystsoft.com, (if the company even exists anymore?), so there *might* not be any updates (to purchase). Last autumn it was offered at a 50% "Christmas" discount.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/statfi/

5500

General Software Discussion / Re: Best free firewall for Windows?

« Last post by Curt on July 27, 2008, 10:29 AM »

Sorry for not making myself clear. I didn't care to download matousec's test report to see why this security suite from Eset presumably is totally worthless. To the best of my understanding Eset Smart Suite may be the best protection I can get at all.


Recent Eset Smart Suite awards: