Recent Posts

551

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: BruteKill hotkey

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 11, 2007, 09:01 AM »

Hmmm... CTRL-ALT-DEL on my XP system brings up a dialog with a big shiny "Shutdown" button.  Yours doesn't do that?

552

Living Room / Save the Earth! From evil parasitic power packs...

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 11, 2007, 08:58 AM »

Via SlashDot comes this press-releasy kind of article:

New technology allows Fujitsu Monitors to consume zero power on standy

Basically, they use capacitors, a small solar array, and old-school relays to restore your monitor after it goes to standby.  Aside from an audiable "click" as the relay triggers, there's no difference in user experience than what we have now.  And it draws zero AC power while asleep.  Cool.

It's about damn time.

Now, consider this... if you were to walk around your home/office/cell and switch off every electronic device you own, how much power would you still be consuming?

Don't forget the little black power-packs plugged into the wall for recharging your phone, Ni-Cads, and everything else portable.  What about your stereo system, with it's lying green "Off" light?  Or your big-screen TV?

Add it all up and I bet it's MORE than the 8% average quoted in the article, since you -- dear reader -- probably have six times as much electronic crap than the average human.  Without conciously meaning to, we early adopters of cool tech are wasting more power than the rest of humanity.  We should probably keep this quiet lest they notice -- pitchforks and burning torches are easily understood low-tech for the masses.

So what can we do?  Let's talk about those evil black power supply bricks first. 

One idea I had: How about a small device that plugs into the AC socket *between* the device and the wall?  It would look like a single-socket foreign AC adaptor with prongs on one side and a plug on the other.

On top of the device would four small buttons: ON, OFF, SMART, and LEARN.

ON and OFF are self-explanitory (I hope).

LEARN mode is used when the device is first plugged in with a host power-brick.  Plug the whole assemby in, then connect your brick to whatever device it needs to power such that it's drawing a full load.  LEARN mode makes a note of the current demand made on the AC socket side of things.

Once LEARN mode does its thing, switch it to SMART.  Thereafter, whenever the brick draws less than the current threshold previously LEARN'd, it shuts off power completely -- basically OFF mode.

After that the user must manually tap the SMART button to reactivate the power.  Sure, it's an extra step and may be inconvenient if your AC adaptor is behind a 500 pound piece of furniture, but this is FOR THE PLANET, DAMMIT!  Also, it won't be applicable to devices that must always be on (medical equipment, security alarms) but for most of the consumer goodies we have it would make sense.

Package the device in garish blue/green eco-friendly recyclable card-stock (pictures of lush green meadows and hippies optional) and label it EARTH POWER DEFENDER (or something) and sell them for $9.99 a piece.  We'll make a fortune. 

So...  who around here can work a soldering iron?

553

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: BruteKill hotkey

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 11, 2007, 08:13 AM »

Right now I am in the need of a hotkey version for the force / brutekill feature one can have in, say, jgpaiva's Shutdown, so I will be able to shutdown my computer even when the taskbar is unreachable and CPU usage is heavy. The hotkey must be editable.

-Curt (November 11, 2007, 02:32 AM)

Um... CTRL-ALT-DEL?  Why wouldn't that work for you? 

It's not an editable hot-key, but if you want to fire up task manager or shut things down, there you go.

554

Mouser's Zone / Re: Mouser - a plea from your users!

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 10, 2007, 06:48 PM »

MouseRun or MouseClip

-Ralf Maximus (November 10, 2007, 04:13 PM)

I like that. But MouseClip and MouseRun already exist. toobad.

-Armando (November 10, 2007, 04:29 PM)

But the *idea* is sound.  Pick a theme and name all the apps accordingy.  RobotRun, RobotClip, MouserRun, MouserClip... it would build a unified "brand" where folks might immediately recognize new offerings that are named Robot* as quality ware from a known quantity.

Beats delving into Norse mythology or selecting names from a random generator...

555

Mouser's Zone / Re: Mouser - a plea from your users!

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 10, 2007, 04:13 PM »

Whatever is decided, a common theme might be good.  Like MouseRun or MouseClip.

556

Mouser's Zone / Re: Mouser - a plea from your users!

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 10, 2007, 12:02 PM »

like a German megaconglomerate (CH+S, AG) that specializes in making precision grommets for Mercedes.

-Ralf Maximus (November 10, 2007, 12:16 AM)

(unless of course you actually make...)

-tomos (November 10, 2007, 11:21 AM)

My apologies to all the legitimate manufacturers of precision grommets.  I did not mean to cause any offense.

557

Mouser's Zone / Re: Mouser - a plea from your users!

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 10, 2007, 12:00 PM »

Some of those companies have done well, but I think its harder for users to naturally associate the weird product name with what it actually does. Unless a lot of marketing to drives it across.

-icekin (November 10, 2007, 05:00 AM)

Yep.  You've touched on a pet peeve of mine: cute product names that by themselves mean nothing.  I would probably have never found Find and Run Robot had it been called  "Yalooby".

It's strictly a personal thing, but I'd be happier if mouser's products ended up with descriptive names, rather than something from a random word generator.

558

General Software Discussion / Re: File synchronization: moving away from incremental backup (HELP!)

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 10, 2007, 11:31 AM »

I've checked out MirrorFolder a bit, and it seems very very very promising.

-f0dder (November 10, 2007, 05:27 AM)

Wow, MirrorFolder looks insanely cool.   And for $39 US it seems reasonable.  I assume buying a single license allows one to synchronize to another workstation/server?  The FAQ doesn't say.  My excitement would diminish a bit if I have to buy a license for the target PC/server also.

This is a heavy duty piece of low-level engineering, BTW.  Installing as a volume filter means if MirrorFolder isn't 100% solid 100% of the time you'll become friends with the BSOD.   I learned this with SuperCache-II, which is also a volume filter.  SC-II is rock solid, except for one feature which, when activated, makes file activity on my system a game of random chance.  So I have that aspect of the program turned off and everything's fine.

Not saying volume filter technology is evil -- far from it -- but unlike application level code, if it tanks it takes the whole system down with it.  It does suggest that it be tested thouroughly in the target environment before making a decision.

559

Living Room / Re: To wide-screen or not to wide-screen

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 10, 2007, 11:16 AM »

Another consideration (and a point in favor of multiple standard monitors): if you play games, then full-screen games won't look stretched.  In a multiple-monitor setup DirectX simply deactivates the auxillary monitors and uses the primary one in full-screen mode.

Not a big deal, but to a gamer it might be.

560

General Software Discussion / Re: Perfect Software?

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 10, 2007, 12:30 AM »

Personally, I think Hello World is the only program that should have ever been created.

-tinjaw (November 09, 2007, 06:41 PM)

I disagree.  "Hello World" is just a ridiculous bloated version of the original "Hi World".

I never botherd upgrading.

561

Mouser's Zone / Re: Mouser - a plea from your users!

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 10, 2007, 12:16 AM »

Instead, how about: "Find Or Run Robot"

Actually, I kind of thought the ACRONYMS were the names for each product.  FARR, for instance, sounds kinda cool.  Institutionally military with a hint of the occult.

"The Land Squid has broken loose!  Grab your FARRs and we'll meet at the containment zone!"

I don't have a personal relationship with CH+S, but that one kind of sounds like a German megaconglomerate (CH+S, AG) that specializes in making precision grommets for Mercedes.

And so on.

562

General Software Discussion / Re: compare text files

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 10, 2007, 12:15 AM »

Even better, you could open the first file and select the first line of text. Go to the 2nd file and search for that text; make a note of where it appears (or not) in the document. Repeat for each line of the first file, then swap files and start over.

563

General Software Discussion / Re: OS Religious Wars...

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 10, 2007, 12:12 AM »

We suggest installing over Ubuntu Christian Edition, but the standard Ubuntu will do fine.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.....!

The wallpapers and screensaver is incentive enough to visit the site.  What fun.

564

Mouser's Zone / Re: Mouser - a plea from your users!

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 09, 2007, 04:54 PM »

I dunno.  The names are descriptive of what they do.  And it's not like there's any marketing going on that requires brand-recognition or product awareness.

Can you elaborate more on your thoughts?  I'm not sure I see the problem.

565

General Software Discussion / Re: Perfect Software?

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 09, 2007, 04:47 PM »

Interesting.  From Abobe comes this news: They're planning to strip down the PhotoShop UI to bare essentials.  "Everything you need, nothing you don't want".

http://blogs.adobe.c...photoshop_as_se.html

Of course, it'll mean a new version... but maybe they're headed in the right direction.  I just hope they don't pull an Office2007 and replace a complicated but understood interface with something "simple" that really isn't.

566

General Software Discussion / Re: Perfect Software?

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 09, 2007, 04:32 PM »

The cure: Use an old 233mhz machine with 64mb ram as your only pc for the next few years.

And sometimes I hit myself in the head with a hammer, because it feels soooo good when I stop.

567

General Software Discussion / Re: Small program i could run to restart a stubborn service?

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 09, 2007, 10:42 AM »

Indeed, it's not on that page. 

But I swear that's where I got it in the past -- the Server 2003 Resource Kit.  I just checked my server's Windows folder and Timeout.exe is there.  Out of curiosity I checked it's version; definitely part of Server 2003.



Fun fact: The screenshot is 40K, about twice the size of the .exe itself.  :-)

568

General Software Discussion / Re: Free util to sound alarm when your laptop is grabbed by thief

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 09, 2007, 10:26 AM »

I foresee a form of urban camoflage for laptops, where the brand new PC you order from the factory comes looking like an old 386 nobody would steal.

Or all corroded and discolored, like it'd been used in medical experiments and never cleaned.

Or melted, burned, and riddled with bullet-holes, with a giant "Forensic Evidence" baggie to carry it around in.

569

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there a way to clean all windows drivers to allow for a change of motherb

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 09, 2007, 10:20 AM »

I've restored drive images from one laptop to another, different brands, different hardware.

Upon startup Windows goes apeshit with "found new hardware" messages.  When it settles down, I give it the driver disc for the target laptop.  Eventually (after a few reboots) the "found new hardware" dialog stops popping up and everything works.

Are there unused driver files on the hard drive?  Yes. 

Bits of old driver crap in the registry?  Of course. 

Product activation?  Naturally.

But all the hardware works and Windows seems happy.  It's not the most aesthetically pleasing Windows reinstalls, but sometimes it's the only option... especially if your backup image is an all-or-nothing kind of thing that doesn't support mounting or browsing.

570

General Software Discussion / Re: File synchronization: moving away from incremental backup (HELP!)

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 09, 2007, 10:06 AM »

Ralf Maximus and tomos: both SyncBack and SuperFlexible seem to be run by a scheduler, instead of doing transparent mirroring... while this could be enough if it's 100% invisible in the background, it still requires checking each file in the "monitored" hierarchy for changes, instead of using filesystem event notifications?

Aye, tis true.  However I am extremely pleased at how fast SyncBack performs its checks.  I routinely synchronize network folders containing dozens of gigabytes, and if there are no changes it takes less than a minute.  Massive changes, of course, incur the time required to copy the files -- standard network traffic, which could take many minutes.

If the file's in use (or becomes in-use) during a copy, SyncBack notes the event in the log and moves on without hassling the user.  This is a configuration setting.

As far as background processing... I believe it can be configured to run silently, with no visible GUI.  I often call SyncBack from .bat files using its command-line interface, and those events generate nothing visible, not even a tray icon.  And it throttles its CPU demand to prevent taking over the user's descktop experience; aside from a chattering disk drive they won't even know it's running.

Not bad for a freebie.

571

General Software Discussion / Maybe Vista doesn't suck?

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 09, 2007, 12:23 AM »

I'm still not a convert, but this short article goes a long way towards explaining what I miss from sticking with XP.  The speech-recognition video is especially intriguing, especially since I've experimented with XP's speech functionality and found it wanting.

Maybe it's because I don't have a cool British accent?

572

Living Room / Re: Coders' Watches

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 08, 2007, 11:42 PM »

Imagine your typical leather watch band with a buckle and little holes. Now imagine the same thing being cotton and not leather.

So, do you fabricate little holes where the metal part sticks in, or does it just kinda poke through between whatever strands of thread are convenient?

(Forgive my inquisitive nature; I won't be able to sleep properly until I can envision this thing accurately...)

573

Living Room / Re: Pet Peeve: I will never buy a rechargeable mouse again for as long as i live

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 08, 2007, 08:30 PM »

Via The RBLog comes news of the amazing trackball mouse from Kensington:

It appears to replace the wheel with a 360-degree roller.  Neat!  Alas, it appears to be wireless only...

Has anyone had experience with Kensington products?  Do they hold up?

http://us.kensington.com/html/13880.html

574

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 08, 2007, 07:41 PM »

I tried Archivarius and didn't like it, because it doesn't have a preview pane. I don't want excerpts from my file with matching highlights, I want to see the entire file and then search for that term in it. This is how X1/Yahoo and Copernic do it and I'm afraid anything else (Archivarius, GDS) just doesn't make sense!

-MrCrispy (November 08, 2007, 03:54 PM)

Yeah, I had the same exact reaction at first.  I came from X1 and for all the things it did wrong, they sure got the preview functionality right.  Archivarius seemed like a step backwards.

But after using Archivarius for a bit I now think of it as a super-advanced GUI grep, pointing me to files instead of handing them to me.  If I want to see more than what's in the result pane I just double-click to launch the hosting app.  Which I usually did anyway in X1 once I found something.

It's not perfect, but at least it indexes all my crap -- something X1 stopped doing a few revs back for some unfathomable reason.

Wait!  I know what I'll do... reinstall X1 and have it process the Archivarius index files.  GENIUS!

575

Living Room / Re: Fun Flash Storefront Site

« Last post by Ralf Maximus on November 08, 2007, 07:34 PM »

Cleanup in aisle 3.

That'll be 4500 euros, please.