Recent Posts

5626

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Release: Page Countster

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 29, 2009, 01:52 PM »

Okay... (I'll start with the bad news) ...I was unable to refine a reliable method of acquiring the IP configuration method. This is due to one of (if not the) primary objectives of Page Countster being Speed. In that interest any data queried for had to be in a fixed Industry Standard position to eliminate the need for extensive validation/confirmation/triple checking loops to make absolutely sure that we actually did get back what we thought we asked for before going on to the next target. It is still listed as an active (plausible) feature request and may yet be implemented after I have time to do the extensive testing necessary to confirm the type of values returned by the various manufactures devices/models, etc. [/end of bad news]

What I have done is tidy up some of the programs general behavior regarding:
Open report handling so the user has the option of closing the existing report or combining it with the currently displayed data.

Drag-N-Drop has also been added (and should have been a long time ago...) so that reports can be opened by dropping them into the program's window.

Fixed column sorting bugg that would cause the program to freeze if contents was sorted by the toner levels columns.

Made minor changes to scanning engine to mitigate the handle leak issue when running multiple scans on large (5,000+ node) networks. It ain't perfect (yet), but as long as the (currently being scanned) scanned address block is kept at/under 6,000 addresses, it shouldn't hang any more.

Fixed OK button on About dialog - Seems it had developed a tendency to play Peek-A-Boo now and then.

So... Currently there is no plan to integrate (via dedicated page) Page Countster into the company's website, hence any future builds (based on user feedback/schedule permitting) will be released here at DC as development continues. The current (Final for Contest) release build of Page Countster is v1.0.0.175 ... and is available via link in OP.

5627

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Teaser: Crush MCP (Master Control Program)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 27, 2009, 01:23 PM »

I also didn´t manage it till now to run it on XP.

-Crush (December 27, 2009, 10:28 AM)

Hm... So if you can run it, and Perry can run it, that makes me the odd man out... 'cause I still got no (text) luck.

Please bear with me because I'm only thinking out loud hear... But the last time I ran into something that was supposed to run just fine but didn't...was also the first (and only) time I tried doing something in C#. I lost a ton of time troubleshooting the code, when the issue was actually the (new for C# "feature") code level permissions checking. I don't know if the 08 MFC (which I believe you're using) has that "feature" included, but it may be worth exploring later if/when you have time.

5628

General Software Discussion / Re: software to draw network map

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 27, 2009, 12:36 PM »

I found Network Notepad awhile back and its worked quite well for me.

5629

General Software Discussion / Re: Stop Windows from calling home

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 26, 2009, 02:45 PM »

Furthermore ,Windows messenger should be shot down on sight if you ask me, third party software is better,safer and has more features. Hence it is useless.

-Shades (December 26, 2009, 01:48 PM)

Safer? care to elaborate? And can you point out a MSN replacement that supports webcams?

-f0dder (December 26, 2009, 02:36 PM)

I'm curious on that one myself, but I've found Skype to be acceptable for video calls. *Shrug* ...Just a thought.

5630

General Software Discussion / Re: Stop Windows from calling home

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 26, 2009, 02:42 PM »

Granted, the printer tool made by Stoic Joker will likely only work partially at best on my network...but hey, such is life (sorry Stoic Joker ).

-Shades (December 26, 2009, 01:48 PM)

Sorry? Really... For What? ...Making assumptions about a program without having tried it? There is no "polling" cycle, the data is collected, displayed, done. The traffic generated during the (typically 14 second) scan is (with packets that are payload-less TCP overhead only) virtually none.

I have no problem with tweaking utilities (which this is), I even use a few from time to time. I just find the tone of its pitch as a privacy repair tool a bit over the top & foolish. Disabling the time service is absurd. You want to pick a different time server, fine. ...But good luck maintain reliable communication in a Windows Domain environment without it (Hint: Kerberos...).

Some of the noise is necessary, some is not, and blanket assumption/assertions are extremely dangerous if the what & why are not fully understood. ...Just look at nLites track record for leaving people with broken and dysfunctional systems because they didn't quite fully understand what they were being asked while Uber stripping there install.

There are no "Magic Bullets" for Privacy/Security and anything that perpetuates the rumor that there is ... is dangerous.

5631

General Software Discussion / Re: Stop Windows from calling home

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 26, 2009, 12:30 PM »

(To big to quote, but) I'm with y0himba on this one.

5632

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Teaser: Crush MCP (Master Control Program)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 26, 2009, 10:23 AM »

Sorry: I was just able to get back to this (I wasn't sure if you got adequate answers to you question amongst the language debate)... Seems OK on my XP Pro machine...

-Perry Mowbray (December 26, 2009, 03:05 AM)

Now that is bizzar... I've tried it on both the VPC and my wife's (native hardware) XP box (with & without administrative rights), and get no text. ...Any idea what might be different about your rig? The VPC is SP3 & the Wife's is SP2 (oops...)

5633

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Teaser: Crush MCP (Master Control Program)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 25, 2009, 12:37 PM »

I see you went back to linking MFC in a static (embedded) library ... Good man, I hate run-time dependencies.

If you don't want to contend with the size and want to go back to the shared library build, save the link I posted above as it's the one folks will need.

5634

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Teaser: Crush MCP (Master Control Program)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 25, 2009, 12:29 PM »

Ah! the SP1 redistributables work (sort of)
http://download.micr...c03/vcredist_x86.exe
Program loads...but no text.

5635

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Teaser: Crush MCP (Master Control Program)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 25, 2009, 12:01 PM »

Win7 is back to the Side-by-Side error from before, and XP has a new one: The ordinal 9628 could not be located in the dynamic link library mfc90.dll

For some reason it sticks in my mind that the Side-by-Side error has something to do with a missing/corrupt manifest - I ran into this once before but don't recall exactly what/why/how to get out of it.

5636

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Teaser: Crush MCP (Master Control Program)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 25, 2009, 10:27 AM »

Who cares what language is more popular-er ... This isn't helping the guy get his app working.

5637

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Teaser: Crush MCP (Master Control Program)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 24, 2009, 09:24 PM »

Stoic Joker: Please install the runtimes (it´s not very much) and run it again - perhaps the text becomes visible. Without it the prog is rather useless.

-Crush (December 24, 2009, 08:15 PM)

Installed the runtimes & still no text. Not sure if it'll help but here's a screenshot of the XP desktop. If it is (supposed to be) using any of the 08 runtime stuff, it doesn't appear to be calling for it.

5638

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Teaser: Crush MCP (Master Control Program)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 24, 2009, 06:47 PM »

Better, no errors this time (runtimes not needed) ...was fine on Win 7 x64, but got no text in XP.

5639

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Teaser: Crush MCP (Master Control Program)

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 24, 2009, 03:29 PM »

XP was VPC which started to ignore mouse input the instant I ran the program. I launched it using keyboard to get the error:

XP = This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem

Win 7 x64 = The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail.

App Log Source-SideBySide EventID 33

Activation context generation failed for "W:\Documents\= ALL Downloads =\MCP.exe". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC90.MFC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis.

5640

Best Weather Monitor Tool / Re: There aren't many great choices for weather software

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 24, 2009, 11:15 AM »

The program is simply being Objective.

5641

Best Weather Monitor Tool / Re: There aren't many great choices for weather software

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 23, 2009, 06:54 PM »

Well, the weather app is off the hook... Your .Net is borked. I can't find the link at the moment, but MS has a tool out that's designed to fix (those types of) .NET issues (I'm assuming it errors out if you try uninstalling it also ...Yes?).

I'll try to find the direct link later, but I got to the MS download by googling the .NET 2.0 uninstall failure error message.

5642

Best Weather Monitor Tool / Re: There aren't many great choices for weather software

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 23, 2009, 05:36 PM »

Same for me, I have tested many of these apps and been disappointed by pretty well all of them for one reason or another.

But, do you know Meteo Fusion ? I am using it all the time now and I'm really pleased with it - give it a try out...

-joiwind (December 23, 2009, 04:34 PM)

Nice suggestion!  I like the screenshots a lot.  However, I installed it and it keeps crashing all the time.  As soon as I open the options screen, it's crashing continuously.  I'm mad because it looks like just the program I'm looking for.  This is on Windows XP.

-superboyac (December 23, 2009, 05:15 PM)

It's VB .NET 2.0 ...Make sure your .NET is up to date, if the program is using a control whos discription is corrupt it can cause issues (I ran into that last week). Program comes with Source Code ... Interesting.

5643

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Pre-Release: Page Countster

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 23, 2009, 11:25 AM »

I'm still researching the if/how to get the IP addressing method & info to see if it can be implemented (and reconfigured) reliably.

-techidave (December 20, 2009, 11:46 AM)

Have you had a chance to see if this is going to work or not?

-Stoic Joker (December 20, 2009, 03:25 PM)

-techidave (December 23, 2009, 09:27 AM)

At this point I'm being torn back and forth between PC and the office...I'm supposed to be on vacation...but it's not working out that way. *Sigh*

I have found one (QnD) method for getting the Dynamic/Static question answered, but am looking for a bit cleaner way before I commit to anything.

5644

Living Room / Re: Google's Eric Schmidt has a stupid moment on privacy

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 23, 2009, 08:30 AM »

Privacy is often the only tool against tyrants. And that is why they don't want you to have it.

-rxantos (December 23, 2009, 07:25 AM)

Damn Straight! Privacy and personal freedoms are slowly being stripped away in favor of convenient (feel-good) legislation that will allegedly protect "us" (by locking us it smaller & smaller Gilded Cages...).

5645

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone still using WordPerfect?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 23, 2009, 08:22 AM »

Still happily using 6.2 for DOS!

-cranioscopical (December 22, 2009, 09:53 PM)

What, DOS 5.0 wasn't good enough for you, Mr. Elitist, Mr. Early Adopter?! 

-zridling (December 23, 2009, 04:16 AM)

Three Cheers for DOS-Shell! PEdit was a nice editor from back then too.

5646

General Software Discussion / Re: Opening a Window on the Mac

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 23, 2009, 08:12 AM »

The mouse on a desktop Mac looks like it has only one button, and the trackpad on most Mac laptops has no visible buttons at all—the whole pad is a single, large button. These designs send people who usually use two-button mice into a tizzy about how to right click.

-Article

And rightfully so...

Never fear, right click is still near!

-Article

Oh, S**t...this aught to be good...

On Mac laptops, right click by placing two fingers down on the trackpad (it’s easiest with your pointer and middle fingers) and click the trackpad with another finger (like your thumb).

-Article

I...See... (We're up to 3 fingers now... for those that weren't counting)... and this is easier (exactly) than what?!?

New MacBooks also will right click when you place two fingers on the trackpad and press down. Using a one-button Apple mouse, just press Control and then click to see the same right-click functionality.

-Article

....or...or...or... (Dear god...Now I need two Hands..! how-many-fingers-is-that??) This explains why the new ultra secret Apple bases Toyota cars seem to keep rocketing off cliffs & into things. It's apparently do to the insistence that the hyper-velocity, passing acceleration mode be toggled by pressing the brake pedal sideways.

 

On the Mighty Mouse,

-Article

...Here - I - Am - To - Save - The - Day... (Ahem...)

enable right-click functionality in System Preferences, then just touch where the right-click button should be and it will work.

-From Article

Right, so they saved the "Mighty-est" (Their word, not mine...) option for last...which was to do it the way it was supposed to be done in the first place...

If you’re sick of these new shortcuts, just plug in a mouse with a real right-click button and it will likely work on the Mac.

-Article

Absolutely Not! ...The devil I know is an old friend...and you people are crazy.



Yes, I'm in an odd (but playfull) mood this morning.

5647

Living Room / Re: How to stop junk [snail] mail?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 22, 2009, 06:14 AM »

I usually just send company A's junk-mail to company B, in company C's self-addressed/stamped envelope.

This way I get to waste their time too

5648

General Software Discussion / Re: Parallel proxy transfer software

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 20, 2009, 10:35 PM »

The basic idea is, if the server need to send 1000 packets one by one serialized, why not send it parallelized.

-electronixtar (December 20, 2009, 06:12 PM)

Because it doesn't really matter if you have one data stream or fifty. The (ISP Controlled) connection speed (data) pipe is only as big as it is, and trying to force more through it will only cause a flood of retransmits (think turbulence) that will slow down the overall transfer speed.

5649

Living Room / Re: I'm beginning my experiment with Linux and other OS's.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 20, 2009, 10:07 PM »

ok, i can't figure out how to install flash and I'm super frustrated.  What a pain.  i give up.

-superboyac (December 20, 2009, 06:33 PM)

Do tell us you're only giving up on flash and not the entire Linux project!?!

Stay the course man! Flash is crap anyway...

5650

General Software Discussion / Re: The DonationCoder "Superior Antivirus" Award/Certification

« Last post by Stoic Joker on December 20, 2009, 09:22 PM »

What i'm interested in is motivating these companies to stop the deceptive alerting that scares people like the boy who cried wolf, is harmful for developers because of all the false positives, and currently is without incentive to correct.

-mouser (December 20, 2009, 07:16 PM)

Hm... So, you're shooting for kinder gentler heuristics. (or rather...) If the AV companies are forced to (justify) clarify exactly what they're on about and why, they'll start being a bit more careful about flipping (erroneous) messages on the screen (to avoid looking foolish) and much of the other stuff will get ironed out in the resulting ripple effect.

I still think it would be more fun to storm the castle...  ...but your way has a better chance at a lasting (positive) effect.