Recent Posts

551

Living Room / Re: DC Front Page

« Last post by nudone on February 14, 2011, 03:02 AM »

The one thing that attracted and held me to the site way before I discovered the awesome forums  was the Coding Snacks section.
This was something NOBODY else was offering at the time and NOBODY has matched since; therefore I think the Coding Snacks should be a highlight and gateway/introduction to the many other things DC has to offer.

While the blog has taken center stage since the last revamp, I don't think it needs to go away, because it too is very different from most site's idea of a blog.
Most blogs (like, ~99%) are just a posting of news links or short opinion pieces that folks join in and comment on, but DC's is more like an open invitation to eavesdrop on and even join in with a private conversation amongst a gathering of friends, which is another thing NOBODY else does.

So, IMHO, I think Coding Snacks and the Blog (as it is) are two things that should stay on the front page, but definitely MUCH more love needs to be shown to the Coding Snacks and Software sections.
I say keep the software update section, put Coding Snacks front and center, and downsize but don't eliminate the blog.

Double helping on the Humble part of that opinion...

-Edvard (February 13, 2011, 05:50 PM)

If that's how DC is perceived, and it sounds right to me, then Coding Snacks and Friendly forum sound like the things to focus on. If it's not obvious what DC is all about, or its main purpose, then you won't have improved anything.

552

Living Room / Re: Newspaper Article: The Dirty Little Secrets of Search

« Last post by nudone on February 14, 2011, 02:49 AM »

I must say I'd forgotten about Wolfram|Alpha, and I admit it's still not something I'll be using any time soon. This Guardian article was published over the weekend: http://www.guardian....pha-interview-google

It does make me believe that, one day, Wolfram|Alpha could be the true meaning of search on the internet. Well, that is, if you are searching for a "factual answer".

553

General Software Discussion / Re: eType - nice free auto spell checker word suggestion (and basic translation)

« Last post by nudone on February 13, 2011, 04:36 PM »

i see. so, i assume it would take quite a lot of time to create all the regex variations for the most common words - or maybe not; i don't know how large the list is.

554

General Software Discussion / Re: Alternative .chm readers?

« Last post by nudone on February 13, 2011, 12:58 PM »

i'm not at my work machine but i think i've got UltraCHM on there - after the trial it just has a nag screen on start up (and maybe exit). not sure about tabs though.

555

General Software Discussion / Re: eType - nice free auto spell checker word suggestion (and basic translation)

« Last post by nudone on February 13, 2011, 12:53 PM »

that would be useful if the dictionary was already done, ready to load. probably something that a user would eventually create and "donate" for everyone else to use.

maybe there's an open source dictionary file that could be used somehow?

556

General Software Discussion / Re: eType - nice free auto spell checker word suggestion (and basic translation)

« Last post by nudone on February 12, 2011, 05:29 PM »

i like FarSpell (and everything related to FARR) but it's a different kind of tool as it doesn't allow for automatic on-the-fly correction as you are typing. the whole point of TinySpell and eType is that you don't have to move away from the text you are typing.

FarSpell is something to use occasionally, if you aren't too bad at spelling or if you need more detailed solutions. for my own use, i need something that tells me immediately that i'm an idiot for spelling something wrong in almost every sentence i type.

557

General Software Discussion / Re: eType - nice free auto spell checker word suggestion (and basic translation)

« Last post by nudone on February 12, 2011, 04:51 PM »

hmm, no. it isn't fantastic, i just thought it was good for a free tool (maybe there are better ones).

i use TinySpell http://tinyspell.numerit.com/ for everyday use. it isn't free, but it's pretty cheap. best spell checker/correctrion tool i've tried that works in all programs.

558

General Software Discussion / eType - nice free auto spell checker word suggestion (and basic translation)

« Last post by nudone on February 12, 2011, 01:24 PM »

Thought this was quite nice for an on-the-fly spell-checker, thesaurus, translator too.

http://www.etype.com/

559

Living Room / Re: Firefox 5 to be released only 5 months after firefox 4 goes gold

« Last post by nudone on February 12, 2011, 04:01 AM »

yeah, definitely to do with extensions and not the machine. you can test this yourself using a clean profile of FF; start it up instead of your usual extension filled profile and there's an obvious difference.

560

Living Room / Re: Firefox 5 to be released only 5 months after firefox 4 goes gold

« Last post by nudone on February 11, 2011, 11:53 AM »

i hated Firefox for a long time, simply because of its start-up time. well, not strictly true, i couldn't see the point of it when Maxthon loaded quick and had loads of options built in.

but, eventually (not until Firefox 3.5) i saw the light. i still hate how long Firefox takes to load - so much so, i make it autostart after my machine has booted, and then i use ActualWindowManager to prevent me from closing Firefox prematurely, i.e. i get a dialog popup asking if i really want to close FF when i click the "X". this makes me think twice about whether i really want to close it - sometimes i do, most of the time i don't, i just click on it by habit.

so, FF automatically opens at the beginning of the day and stays open all day. doing it this way makes it feel like the fastest browser there is - obviously because i never see it loading.

i really have way too many FF extensions to contemplate using any other browser. which also means i probably won't be using FF4 for a long time, let alone FF5. not unless the extension developers are quick to update their stuff.

561

Living Room / Re: NoteSlate - mono color tablet, nice price

« Last post by nudone on February 09, 2011, 08:01 AM »

that's not quite the same kind of tablet, i.e. it doesn't have an LCD (or whatever) screen built into it. instead it's a bit like the standard type of drawing tablets that Wacom does.

562

Living Room / Re: NoteSlate - mono color tablet, nice price

« Last post by nudone on February 09, 2011, 01:50 AM »

i'll confess i didn't really read the site before posting, i was just excited by the price and pictures.

if it does, miraculously, go into production it will be interesting to see just how different the final product is - and if it doesn't double in price.

563

Living Room / NoteSlate - mono color tablet, nice price

« Last post by nudone on February 08, 2011, 12:39 PM »

I'm not too bothered about the iPad-like tablets, NoteSlate is a bit different as it's all about keeping it simple - and with a pen. Looks like a good price and could well be the machine to use instead of a sheet of paper and a pen.

http://www.noteslate.com/

564

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Using a cracked version of DU Meter?

« Last post by nudone on February 08, 2011, 05:41 AM »

looks like DU Meter is $9.95 (single, and $19.90 for family) for everyone at the monent. so don't worry if you aren't using a cracked version.  

(maybe it's because, NetWorx pretty much does the same job, i think, and it's free.)

565

Living Room / Re: Porn for Geeks (Kind of SFW)

« Last post by nudone on February 07, 2011, 10:38 AM »

I can only dream of such por..., erm, I mean speeds.

566

Adventures of Baby Cody / Re: Baby Cody arrives in Berlin, Germany

« Last post by nudone on February 05, 2011, 01:29 PM »

marvellous. quite an adventure by the looks of it and how wonderful for Cody to get such a special jacket.

567

General Software Discussion / Re: Simple Photo Resizer - Please Give Feedback

« Last post by nudone on February 05, 2011, 01:06 PM »

cool. i look forward to seeing the other super simple programs in the range. 

568

Living Room / Re: What would Cody's music sound like?

« Last post by nudone on February 05, 2011, 01:04 PM »

ah, right. interesting. not as impressive as you playing it but i appreciate how getting the right blend of samples isn't necessarily a simple task either.

if there's ever a DC podcast again - i can imagine this to be a good tune to use as the intro (or something).

569

Living Room / Re: What would Cody's music sound like?

« Last post by nudone on February 05, 2011, 12:53 PM »

(you mean this is your recording/playing? very impressive.)

it wouldn't be out of place for Cody; i've heard all sorts of music coming from his nest. very apt for a Cody, kicking-back type of weekend.

570

Living Room / Re: Let's face it: the ebook market is FUBAR, thanks to pure greed

« Last post by nudone on February 04, 2011, 03:05 AM »

Sorry, I ought to know, but I don't - just burying my head in the sand as usual. There are a group of doctors trying to petition the UK government about the problem - honestly can't see what they can do to be honest. It's all to do with "unlicensed" drugs and how large companies buy them, license them, and add a few noughts onto the price for good measure.

Anyway, let's get back to ebooks...

571

Living Room / Re: Let's face it: the ebook market is FUBAR, thanks to pure greed

« Last post by nudone on February 04, 2011, 02:49 AM »

Not wanting to sidetrack things, but talking of greed, here's a little story in my family at the moment...

my mother requires a specific type of medication (she has a muscle and nerve wasting desease, so it's kind of essential). this medication has been available for the past twenty years at a cost of about £1000 per year to the NHS.

This drug has now been bought and relicensed by a "big" company. Their new price for the drug is set to be between £40,000 and £70,000 per year. In other words, this medication is not going to be available anymore, the company has obviously decided that they'd rather people suffer and die a slow death. Like, erm, wow that's kind of odd.

And you thought Satan was a fictional biblical character? No, he appears to be advising the world how to do business.

But, yeah, there is something definitely not right about ebooks. I hope they don't destroy the real book market - eventually.

Sorry for going off topic. I just wanted to say, there's nothing that would surprise me about getting ripped-off now. It almost appears to be rule No.1 for some companies.

572

Living Room / Re: preparing for an expedition to the treacherous land of Drupal

« Last post by nudone on February 03, 2011, 02:32 AM »

oh, oh dear. that doesn't sound good at all, housetier. perhaps that explains why people actually use Joomla! and Fabrik - as it's the only way to do such things without bespoke design.

thanks for the generous offer, mouser. i was hoping Drupal was going to do everything i wanted with everything that's already there. coding a module for it may as well mean getting someone to sort out the troubles i've got with joomla! and fabrik.

i'm pretty much ready to cancel my expedition right here, i think. i'll see what other Drupal info i can get from there forum and then decide.

573

Living Room / Re: preparing for an expedition to the treacherous land of Drupal

« Last post by nudone on February 02, 2011, 05:30 PM »

I'm not a coder, vlastimil, so can't go the code my own way - not sure I'd want to try that anyway, reinventing the wheel (or wheels) and all that. I see your point about spam but I think the usual methods are okay for me. Maybe that's something for me to worry about when it happens and the spam is out of control.


housetier, thanks, I'll keep in mind about outside services. Currently, this Drupal adventure is more of a personal project and may never result in a live site. I just want to see how Drupal compares to what I've been trying to do with Joomla/Fabrik. If it appears that Drupal really would have been the better cms to use, then I'll make the effort to learn as much as I can about it. If it looks like I'm going to get just as much stress from Drupal then I'll not bother with it. I'm not a coder and don't understand good database structure. I'm hoping using Drupal means I don't have to learn lots of coding and mysql too - if that's the case, I may as well stick with Fabrik and start learning how to customise it.

I'll look into the Apress Pro books. That sounds like a good place to start.

Maybe I should ask a question about Drupal before dipping my toe in...

I need "members" to a site to be able to enter about 20 items into a form. The items will either be hidden or visible to the member depending on their role. Each member does this by logging into the front-end of the site and is presented with a form specific to their role. The majority of this data is then searchable, by anyone, on the front-end of the site - some of the data will not be available to the public.

Now, to me, that all sounds perfectly reasonable to expect something like Joomla and Fabrik to do. AND it does. But it does it in a terrible way. I want to be able to control the size of photos and data displayed in specific layouts - this is where it all falls apart. It simply means having to look for custom coding solutions - which I don't want.

So, my understanding is that Drupal is the perfect machine for the above task. That's it's raison d'être - exact and minute control over every element going into the system and then coming back out.

If it can't do that without getting my hands dirty with coding, etc. then it's not for me. I'm expecting all the work to be done with ready made modules, people will have solved all the common problems already, the modules will just need setting up.

Am I right?

574

Living Room / Re: preparing for an expedition to the treacherous land of Drupal

« Last post by nudone on February 02, 2011, 04:31 PM »

oooh, that's good. I had no idea about them. Thanks, 40hz.

Whilst I'm here. Is there any essential Drupal literature I should look for - maybe a must have book for starting out. Though, is version 7 going to mean a lot of (old) books just aren't going to make any sense now.

575

Living Room / preparing for an expedition to the treacherous land of Drupal

« Last post by nudone on February 02, 2011, 01:35 PM »

I really have no idea about Drupal, other than mouser hates it and has made a cogent post about why it should be avoided. I know it's "powerful" whatever that may mean. It sounds tantalisingly mysterious - perhaps not unlike an illicit drug; I want to know what the Drupal experience is - must be quite a high when you make sense of it all - or, you just have a bad-trip and vow never to touch it again.

Well, I've been working with Joomla! and the database whiz-bang thing called Fabrik you can stick inside it. All this has been to get it to do a job that now sounds like Drupal should have been used for. I wouldn't have known that but I've just read this blog post by Tom Arah: http://www.pcpro.co....a-1-6-vs-drupal-7-0/ and the user comments section describes exactly the job I've been trying to do with Joomla!

I have been so frustrated with Fabrik; tantalised by the promise of what it can do and then finding it the most stressful thing I've done on the computer for years - if not ever. So, my reasoning is this can't be much worse than trying to learn Drupal - maybe I'm deluded but I'm telling myself Drupal will be more fun. Drupal does "everything" so I can't go wrong there with too high an expectation.

Anyway, the point of this post is to just say, I'm at the beginning of the Drupal journey. I'll report back if I don't abandon the quest after a few days. I will be careful; I don't want to get my arm trapped under my keyboard like Aron Ralston - and then have to try and chop it off with the blunt edge of my mouse. (I think I'm already delirious - obviously mentally exhausted by the Joomla! misadventure.)