Recent Posts

5976

General Software Discussion / Re: wanted: ($3 bounty) Automatic Stitching of Screenshots (freeware)

« Last post by Darwin on March 30, 2007, 09:43 AM »

What about Autostitch?

I've no idea if this will work on a screenshot (but can see no reason why it wouldn't) but am "throwing it out there". If it does work, keep the three bucks (generous offer though!).

5977

General Software Discussion / Re: backup question: how to backup/sync my HD and USB HD #1 to USB HD #2?

« Last post by Darwin on March 29, 2007, 09:22 PM »

There's also File Commander, which is freeware as well and is quite configureable. I haven't used it recently, but I found it very flexible and well thought out when I was using it. I'm not 100% sure that it will automate the process of syncing files for you though, though it will automate the process of backing things up.

PS I now use DOpus to do this for me - its file sync feature is very robust.

5978

General Software Discussion / Re: Can you disable XP's Recovery System partly?

« Last post by Darwin on March 29, 2007, 09:16 PM »

Thanks Carol (and everyone else) - this high CPU issue associated with svhost has been driving me crazy. I just visited Microsoft Update and selected "Change Options" in the left hand side and then scrolled to the bottom of the page to disable Microsoft Updates and revert to Windows Updates. Too soon to tell if this will cure my problem, but I'm hopeful...

5979

General Software Discussion / Re: Alternatives to Google Groups for Usenet?

« Last post by Darwin on March 29, 2007, 09:33 AM »

Should have mentioned - the only use I have for Outlook Express is as a newsreader - does this very well (well enough for me, anyway!).

5980

General Software Discussion / Re: Alternatives to Google Groups for Usenet?

« Last post by Darwin on March 28, 2007, 10:22 PM »

My Canadian ISP (Telus) provides me with access to over 94,000 newsgroups. Like f0dder, I am amazed that your ISP doesn't supply newsfeeds as well.

5981

Older Newsletters / Re: --> Newsletter for March 23rd, 2007 - Codename "Dinner and Drinks"

« Last post by Darwin on March 28, 2007, 11:32 AM »

Just need to do the mini-review... but what to review? 

5982

Find And Run Robot / Re: Key Launch - the indexed farr we want?

« Last post by Darwin on March 28, 2007, 09:48 AM »

I use FARR on my own computer and, because I can't bear not to get use out of apps that I've paid for in the past , I have appRocket loaded on my wife's notebook. Of course she doesn't use, but I do when I'm messing arou tweaking it for her. On her computer it works flawlessly and with no perceptible hit on resources, while it kills mine! The difference is that I'm on three year old centrino with a gig of RAM and she's on a year old AMD Athlon 64+ with a gig of (much faster) RAM. Anyway, candylabs' website is promising big things in an upcoming update to appRocket, so I'm keen to see what they've got up their sleeves (the promises are somewhat empty in that they are only alluded to, not detailed)...

PS I think adding optional indexing to FARR will make it a killer app. I've long advocated keeping FARR simple and lightweight, but indexing is a reality and it's a feature that many people want. Keeping the core functionality of FARR available without indexing will allow people to choose how they use it. With massive harddrives and lots of RAM the norm these days, an index will hardly be a liability in terms of size and user-controlled indexing (over dinner, perhaps) should be almost imperceptible, if the user chooses to use it at all.

5983

General Software Discussion / Re: how tidy and complete is your music library?

« Last post by Darwin on March 28, 2007, 09:33 AM »

Today's Bits du Jour offer is Melomania, which is a "great music organizer". I haven't tried it as I have mp3 and Music Collector by Collectorz.com to handle what I need/want, but it looks impressive for anyone looking for such an app to keep their music collection tidy:

Automatic adding the digital tracks - No manual input of track titles and related information is needed - Melomania will get all the information right from the media files.
Information loading from Internet - Internet Finder allows you to find and download the comprehensive information about your music items and save any part of it to your music database.
Where's your media? - Lend your CDs to friends without worrying about forgetting who you've loaned anything to.
Instant cover download - A few clicks and the CD cover is added to your music database!
Instant and accurate search - Find any music items by any part of their names in seconds.
Support of any media formats - from vinyl to MP3s. Melomania helps you more with digital formats like MP3, M4A, WMA, OGG, WAV and others, but it also lets you organize music on your old albums and tapes.
Track compilations - Make track compilations for any kind of event, from parties to romantic evenings. They're easy and fun to make and easy to use.
Track filters - Make track lists that match any combination of criteria. Want to see your favorites of 2005? No problem!
Customized item grouping - Group your music database by any category, or combination of categories. See your music collection in whole new way.
Multi-format export - Easily export to Excel, Word, HTML, or plain text. You won't need to know HTML to be able to turn your music collection into a website.
Customized views and ratings - Make your lists look just how you want. And include your ratings on any track or album.
Printing, playlists and much more - Make your music info make sense, and use it just how you want.

5984

General Software Discussion / Re: Lightweight alternatives to FeedDemon

« Last post by Darwin on March 27, 2007, 06:15 PM »

Sorry, f0dder in my haste I neglected to label my screenshot. From left to right the numbers are cpu - % utilized, RAM usage, peak RAM usage, and finally Private Bytes. So, short answer, the number at the far right of the picture...

5985

Find And Run Robot / In depth look at Quicksilver

« Last post by Darwin on March 27, 2007, 01:32 PM »

This article from Lifehacker is the first in a series looking at Quicksilver (OS 10.3 and up only), how to configure it and utilize it. This might prove interesting reading for mouser with respect to FARR development (actually, I'm making the assumption that you don't have access to a Mac, mouser - I probably shouldn't do that!). Anyway, most people that have used Quicksilver seem to agree that it is the gold standard in its category and I, sadly, have never seen it action. I'll be reading this series with interest (and lust in my heart?! - bring on the Windows clones!)...

PS I note that "ninetailedfox" in the comments section gives a nod to FARR when discussing analogues to this on the windows platform. Note though, that he concludes that both FARR and SlickRun

fall far short of what can be done with Quicksilver.

5986

General Software Discussion / Re: Lightweight alternatives to FeedDemon

« Last post by Darwin on March 27, 2007, 12:56 PM »

Hmmm.... Interesting. Absolutely no arguments from me: this is a very impressive application. However, I don't sense any real difference in performance in comparison to FeedDemon.

I exported my FeedDemon feeds and cleaned out the default stuff that GreatNews ships with and then imported my feeds. Shut both FeedDemon and GreatNews down and then started 'em back up again. This is what I see in Task Manager immediately after they have finished loading, and while they are updating feeds:



So, the numbers suggest that GreatNews is somewhat lighter on resources (most significantly VM), but the seat of the pants test (in my case) has them neck in neck. I suspect that this all has to do with the small number of feeds that I follow (18)... I guess I'll just have to play around with it for a day or two and see how I feel then.

FWIW I am on a 1.4 Ghz Centrino notebook with a gig of RAM and 64 MB shared video memory. I tested Great News 1.0.0.379 alongside FeedDemon 2.1 with Outlook 2003 minimized to the system tray and Maxthon 1.59 minimized to the taskbar.

5987

General Software Discussion / Re: Lightweight alternatives to FeedDemon

« Last post by Darwin on March 27, 2007, 12:10 PM »

All right, Nosh, stop twisting my arm! I'm off to download it, too... 

5988

General Software Discussion / Re: how tidy and complete is your music library?

« Last post by Darwin on March 26, 2007, 08:55 AM »

I'm with app here... what seems to matter most is making sure that the tagging is correct and consistent; how it's organized on disk is of secondary importance. At one time I was quite obsessive about album art but don't care anymore. Thus, organization starts and ends with tagging for me. I use mp3Collector from Collectorz.com to catalogue and tag and XMPlay to play it all. In the past I've used MusicMatch Jukebox, WinAmp, and iTunes. I used MMJB for years as my exclusive mp3/digital music cataloguer and player, ditched it six months ago for iTunes, and transitioned to XMPlay about a week ago, courtesy of urlwolf!

5989

General Software Discussion / Re: Lightweight alternatives to FeedDemon

« Last post by Darwin on March 26, 2007, 08:09 AM »

Wow! I usually have a hard time finding what I want via the search feature (I always have such a vague idea of the term or name that I'm after) but "RSS" yielded what I was after as the second hit:

GreatNews

and then a bunch of others, two of which seem semi-relevant:

ALertBear (sounds like it's more hungry than FeedDemon, though...

People also discussed Omea Reader in the fall - there are both free and Pro versions available. There seem to be some resource issues with it as well, though, and it's NOT a streamlined, mean RSS reading machine but a VERY full featured app.

Hope something here bears fruit!

5990

General Software Discussion / Re: Lightweight alternatives to FeedDemon

« Last post by Darwin on March 26, 2007, 07:58 AM »

I use FeedDemon as well, though I don't have it running all the time. I monitor 18 feeds with it and just fired it up. While it was checking the feeds CPU usage varied from 0-4%, RAM utiltization peaked at 41,760 K before settling at 30,640 K and VM is steady at 22,556 K. Footprint has never seemed a problem to me and these figures don't alarm me. However, as noted, I don't have it running all the time. I *think* Zaine started a thread here long ago about an open source feed reader that he, and a lot of other people, loved... Right, off to find it!

5991

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« Last post by Darwin on March 26, 2007, 07:51 AM »

Thanks, guys and sorry for getting maudlin in here... Old Blue is a great song, though I haven't heard it in years, I must go find it.

5992

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« Last post by Darwin on March 25, 2007, 11:58 PM »

Yeah, me too. I'm horribly squeamish about killing anything. Yes, I realise that this makes me a hypocrite every time I eat meat, but c'est la vie...

I had to have my dog put down yesterday and miss him desperately. I couldn't help thinking that 100 year ago I would have been out back with a gun and a shovel (or just the shovel) and have done the deed myself. I guess compassion for someone or something that we love can make us do the unthinkable... We've divorced ourselves so much from life (and death) we don't know how to deal with it.

PS you can read "we" above as the royal we - I really shouldn't generalize as I'm talking about myself!

5993

General Software Discussion / Re: Paperless Home: Need document management software

« Last post by Darwin on March 25, 2007, 05:30 PM »

Oh, an update (of sorts) too: I downloaded and installed the trial for PaperValet 2.16 (thanks for pointing that one out, Brett). Very impressive for such a small download. One thing that I like about it is that it doesn't take an "everything AND the kitchen sink" approach but is instead a straightforward, simple, and easy to use scan manager. Of course, I don't think that I *need* it but thought I'd post to say that I like what I see anyway...

5994

General Software Discussion / Re: Paperless Home: Need document management software

« Last post by Darwin on March 25, 2007, 05:27 PM »

Thanks for the tip tomos - I'll give that a shot.

5995

General Software Discussion / Re: Startup manager

« Last post by Darwin on March 25, 2007, 03:49 PM »

I might have to give Chameleon a look-see. I'm attracted to what I perceive to be a "set it and forget it approach" and enough people here have raved about it that it must be GREAT! I used to use Mike Lin's Start Up Control Panel and then moved to WinPatrol Pro (the free version is very good as well). In its latest incarnation it features a delayed start feature with more functionality planned for this feature in upcoming releases. WinPatrol's developer is very approachable as well and is very open to feature requests, suggestions, and criticisms. WinPatrol Pro comes with a lifetime license, which is becoming increasingly rare these days.

Another good tool that includes a very easy to use (though not as feature rich) startup manager is The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Hmm... I hit post and walked away - probably an hour ago - and this didn't get posted because while I was typing (and subsequently away) Nighted, Ken and TucknDar posted their missives as well. Well! Good thing is that it gives me an opportunity to welcome chinablue32uk to the board as well!

5996

General Software Discussion / Re: Which software can extract pictures out of pdf ?

« Last post by Darwin on March 25, 2007, 01:58 PM »

I'm with you on that one, Krazy Hawaiian. I'm not a big fan of Adobe products either - overpriced and bloated. Not that they're alone in that... Scott (another member) used to have a signature that read: "shitty software with a good license is still shitty software" and I'd like to paraphrase that by saying that bloated software with a good (and/or cheap) license is still bloatware!

5997

General Software Discussion / Re: Paperless Home: Need document management software

« Last post by Darwin on March 25, 2007, 11:57 AM »

A thought/request: as noted above, I was very impressed with PaperPort 11 Pro's toolset for cleaning up scans (actually, any image file) and wonder if anyone knows of any standalone app that will accomplish the same thing? I'm using to Paint Shop Pro to achieve the same thing but it is not nearly as easy and, at least where the colour correction/replacment feature is concerned, seems more "lossy".

PS am editing jpgs that someone sent me from their scanner. I save that as psp files and then work on them - this does, to a degree cut down on "loss"...

5998

General Software Discussion / Re: I found a jewel of a program: XMplay

« Last post by Darwin on March 24, 2007, 10:38 PM »

Two things... first the second one:

Welcome KrazyHawaiian! You've been all over the place here today and no one (that I've seen) has yet given you a big donationcoder welcome, so let me be the first! Hope to see a lot more of you here.

Now for my other point, looks like I'd better start a new thread with my comparisons. I'll try to get things organized and post later tonight or tomorrow.

5999

General Software Discussion / Re: I found a jewel of a program: XMplay

« Last post by Darwin on March 24, 2007, 06:00 PM »

urlwolf, I have to agree with you about the sound quality in XMplay. I don't know if it's just the blindness (deafness?) of love (I'm rather smitten with XMplay...), but it sounds crisper and cleaner to me. Anyway, CMS is Creative MediaSource, the player and manager that ships with Creative Soundcards. It's just possible that you can download and install it without having a Creative card installed (I'm not sure). I quite like it, but prefer XMplay because it's so light and quick. I've also managed to install DFx for Winamp (I own a license for the Master Pack for DFx 9) and port it into XMplay, so it sounds better than ever (though on balance, I have to say that its sound quality unaugmented was superb). I've just made XMplay my default player for everything. I'll be interested to see what 3.4 has in store.

6000

General Software Discussion / Re: I found a jewel of a program: XMplay

« Last post by Darwin on March 24, 2007, 03:30 PM »

Hi quantumrider,

I downloaded and installed Quintessential Player - very nice. I rebooted my computer and then fired it up and played an mp3. I recorded CPU usage, RAM usage and VM usage and then repeated with XMPlay playing the same mp3 (Deus' "There is nothing impossible"):

Quintessential: 00-21% CPU/ 9468K RAM/ 21248 K VM
XMPlay: 00-18% CPU/ 6432K RAM/ 6368K VM


Quintessential certainly qualifies as light, particularly in comparison to the other players I tried. It's heavier then XMPlay but does have the advantage of being more intuitive in terms of the layout of its controls. I'm going to to stick with XMPlay for now because I like it, but I'll keep my eyes on Quintessential Player.