Recent Posts

601

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: WinPatrol PLUS: 50% off today at Bits du Jour

« Last post by Steven Avery on July 23, 2011, 11:46 PM »

Yep. Thus another Plus plus.

602

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: WinPatrol PLUS: 50% off today at Bits du Jour

« Last post by Steven Avery on July 23, 2011, 09:32 PM »

Hi Folks,

If my 17.x did not upgrade to 20.5 nicely (maybe I have a lifetime license, courtesy of Bill P) I would have immediately upgraded on the special.

There are some startup organizers that are prettier, and you might end up with two.  However for security consciousness and care (checking all bases) WinPatrol is easily the best. 

And I think the Plus version might have more real-time control, which lessens the possibility of an new startup entry with a forced reboot that could get around a slow time-paging warning, and then try to do some damage on the startup.

Anyway, WinPatrol is A-1 for any layered security system, with the type of stuff mentioned in the posts above.  Nobody else handles the startup issues in anywhere near as strong a manner.

If you just want to view the startup entries, and do some moving around and changing, probably Chameleon Startup Manager or Startup Organizer of Metaproducts should also be considered. Also there are the techie Autoruns types of products.  However, whatever else you get, try to have WinPatrol Plus on your system.

Shalom,
Steven

603

General Software Discussion / Browser CPU - the Firefox perplexity - Chrome threading architecture

« Last post by Steven Avery on July 20, 2011, 05:52 AM »

Hi Folks,

First, I still like Firefox immensely, the extension capability is so good that a smart extension choice goes a long way.  

Firefox separated out the processes on extensions to a separate plugin-container.exe . I think that means that if an extension goes haywire .. you can kill the process (or it can kill itself) and your Firefox windows stay up.

However usually the problem with Firefox is in the firefox.exe CPU.  Which can quickly be in th 30-70% range of CPU, with a few dozen windows open.  (These are not flash-y type pages, normal stuff, Forums, and Groupons and google books.)

Chrome uses a different architecture, I think each window open gets a thread under the windows OS as you see in task manager.  That is nice (especially if you could see what the thread is doing) for killing one aberrant CPU window, it also is Task Manager clutter.  An interesting approach.

Now I wonder why CPU goes so haywire in Firefox (memory usage can also go very high, like 500K .. but that can be reduced with Cleanmem and is not much of a problem anyway).  CPU usage will slow the system tremendously.

However, isn't the internet architecture supposed be stateless .. nothing is really supposed to be happening with open windows .. they are just "there".

btw, Opera does not seem to have any severe memory or CPU problems in my usage, however it is in only moderate use .  It is my #2 browser (e.g I like how it handles PDFs internally, which is good for bookmarks) and very fine, it is just that the wide-ranging extensions do not exist.  It also seems to be a bit less Linkman friendly (sometimes the focus is not there for Linkman on the current window) which for me is a factor.  Firefox is super-friendly to Linkman.

Granted, one way of getting around the Firefox problem is to close lots of windows.  Or simply kill and start fresh with a new session.  However, I do wish it were more CPU friendly.

As an example .. today it was just at some high-CPU (50+). I killed it and allowed it to restore the windows with session manager (usually I start fresh) but it is still at 30 .. quite high.  Now I will go in close.   

btw, I have the feeling that certain sites might be especially CPU unfriendly.  scribd .. a book reading site, I suspect.  If there was a debug-type utility that analyzed the Firefox CPU (and memory too if possible) that might be nice.

Your thoughts ?

btw .. All this is on my XP puter.  
Perhaps switching to my Windows 7 puter for main work would help.

Steven Avery

604

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Superantispyware Pro: Save 75%

« Last post by Steven Avery on July 16, 2011, 07:53 AM »

Hi Folks,

In my experience the last few years, SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes are the two all purpose anti-malware programs that I keep handy in case of trouble.  They have helped at work with other computers messed up and for me I run an occasional scan for that extra layer of peace of mind.  All that is even in an "on demand" mode, they probably have a real-time mode.  Sometimes these programs can fully solve a problem, thus avoiding an OS reinstall, and they are the leaders of the genre.  (Although there are specialty products for specific malwares and many of the big vendors could have similar programs in their arsenals, not as easy to find and work with and depend upon.)

However, it will be surprising if this buyout keeps the program quite as available and helpful to the shareware-freeware user.  For $10, knowing the risk that things could change, it could be a reasonable purchase.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

605

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Vipre Antivirus to offer lifetime licenses

« Last post by Steven Avery on June 16, 2011, 10:51 PM »

Hi Folks,

perhaps malware authors would target essentials harder than others because it is microsoft,

-Bionic71

Definitely. And I believe a layered multi-vendor approach is the most likely to really catch the bad guys and stop zero-day problems too.

Browser protections, a firewall from a company like Online Armor (now owned by EMSI I think) or even Zone Alarm or another, WinPatrol as the security startup guy, a nimble anti-virus, (Eset, Avast, Avira if they dump Uniblue, etc), Zemana I picked up on a sale, plus the great occasional scan by Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware.   Granted, some will have double-coverage and your HIPS approach can vary widely (note: I don't get involved in that shadow-boxing stuff).

Very little cost in all that, and a nice sense that even if there is one point of failure or directed attack, there is a strong likelihood of full protection because of the layers.

And a reason to just say no to suites.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

606

General Software Discussion / Re: Avira - chases Uniblue affiliate scareware $

« Last post by Steven Avery on June 15, 2011, 09:36 AM »

Hi Folks

Wonder if it affects the paid versions or is exclusively limited to the freebie.  

-40hz

So far the paid versions are getting the email solicitations (there may be an opt-out but generally you want to receive auxiliary emails from a company whose security products you are using) not any pop-ups or forced-for-feature crapware toolbox linkage.  

The emails are pretty bad.
http://news.avira.co...kHA35jxL_3s0stRxKOw2

Lots of Avira partnership, endorsement, the name of the CEO and the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner thing that has been ended, yet still used by Uniblue.

Shalom,
Steven

607

General Software Discussion / Avira - chases Uniblue affiliate scareware $

« Last post by Steven Avery on June 15, 2011, 02:45 AM »

Hi Folks,

Many of use have used the Avira anti-virus for some years.  Some new changes make the
question more  who to replace them with, Avast, ESet or somebody else.

================================

The details are on the Avira forum :

[Off-topic] Uniblue scareware ads (hello Uniblue, goodbye Avira)
https://forum.avira....&threadID=131604

[Off-topic] Registry Booster 2011 email from Avira
https://forum.avira....mp;highlight=uniblue

[Off-topic] My shop is no longer recommending Avira
https://forum.avira....mp;highlight=uniblue

[Off-topic] Avira and Uniblue?
https://forum.avira....mp;highlight=uniblue

###Avira’s partnership with Uniblue###
https://forum.avira....mp;highlight=uniblue

================================

Wilders has a good discussion.

Avira Software Has Gone To The Dark Side
http://www.wildersse...wthread.php?t=301198

================================

More at Web of Trust, Calendar of Updates, Security Garden, Softpedia, and more.

================================

This support post from a couple of months ago is an ironic nutshell.

TR Dropper.Gen ; TR Crypt TPM gen Need Help Please - April, 2011
https://forum.avira....mp;highlight=uniblue

... i think i downloaded this files SpeedUpMyPC , registry booster and driver scanner from uniblue i scan the computer using that and found many problem and then i fix all.

... I really dunno what you supposedly "fixed" with the programs from Uniblue, but this may have corrupted your system to the point where we can no longer recover the integrity of the system. ....

================================

Shalom,
Steven Avery

608

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: IObit Advanced SystemCare Pro for just $4.99 (reg. $29.95).

« Last post by Steven Avery on June 12, 2011, 07:38 PM »

Hi Folks,

From Here you can get  copy of IObit Advanced SystemCare Pro for just $4.99 (reg. $29.95). That's a savings of over 83 percent off the regular price and is exclusively available on CNET until 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, June 12, 2011.

-ha14

While this product as a whole likely has a decent history (although most Donationcoder types would use individual tools rather than such a toolkit) IObit has developed a reputation of working in the registry cleaner scareware realm.

Shalom,
Steven

609

Living Room / Re: My Linkshelf

« Last post by Steven Avery on May 21, 2011, 10:16 AM »

Hi Folks,

For saving the data, I probably can copy the HTML to my own website home page as backup.  It looks pretty generic, I'll have to give it a try.

My problem with not loading the Linkshelf page in Firefox .. happening with one user out of two on the system.  So there seems to be something interacting on the user level (it can be the first one loaded, or not, that is not the issue).  A bit strange, maybe there is something to tweak in that user's Firefox file that would help, I'll try clearing the cookie next time there.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

610

Living Room / Re: My Linkshelf

« Last post by Steven Avery on May 20, 2011, 08:00 AM »

Hi Folks,

Linkshelf has been really a great tool.  I probably have close to a 1000 urls on the 9 tabs of one page, under sections like Travel, Software, Bible.  The quickness of modification and grouping is excellent.  Clearly there are extras that could be there, and various enhancements, it looks like there is no development. However it is very fine for all the basics as is.

Note: We have discussed a lot of these start page programs on one or two other threads. Others I have given special consideration include 43marks, symbaloo, and netvibes and I always think of trying to use one of those as well.  However, most such programs (43marks one possible exception) are too interested in a pleasant look and feel at the expense of the ultra-practical day-to-day heads-down usage.

Now, I do run into a glitch where I try to start up a new account under a different user:

"Please enable your cookies, Linkshelf requires cookies"

This occurs with every browser and on more than one puter. When cookies are enabled. I will have to try this on a puter that simply does not have a Linkshelf account at all and see if takes then.  Like at a library.  Or maybe if I wipe out the existing Linkshelf cookie ?  Yet it happens even on a clean browser that does not load my account.

Another problem is that occasionally the Linkshelf server is down (rarely).

Or it does not load my Firefox 3.6 properly.
"Loading Linkshelf 2.0 Please wait.."

Right now that is occurring, yet the other browsers load fine !  Donationcoder is all I have found for Linkshelf discussion and support so far.

What would be really neat would be a -->

Linkshelf --> (my web pages)

converter.  I still would use Linkshelf, since that would have my latest modifications and there is no need to use my homebase version (Linkshelf has no lag in normal use).  

However in a pinch I could load my own pages and I never would have to be concerned about the longterm viability of Linkshelf.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

611

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Bookmark Docs

« Last post by Steven Avery on April 23, 2011, 03:59 PM »

Hi Folks,

This is on Bits du Jour today, 4/23/2011

Bookmark Docs
http://www.bitsdujou...tware/bookmark-docs/

The idea of linking to a spot on a webpage, or a PDF or DOC is nice. In the longer run, hopefully Linkman will consider this as a future feature request, even on a more basic implementation, PDFs being a possible starting point.  I wonder how Bookmark Docs knows where to go .. by a word search ? ... since webpages change so frequently.

Anyway, I plan to try it and see if it has a good auxiliary use.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

612

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: (another) Linkman Review

« Last post by Steven Avery on April 06, 2011, 11:02 AM »

Hi Folks,

Also very impressive with Linkman is how they consider each recommended improvement.  And bounce off ideas. When they recently added a little delay on the search it was a huge improvement for my usage, as I can finish typing without the search starting.

My emphasis with Linkman requests will be enhancements on reporting that will make it more PIM-like-friendly, especially a single-line output (truncate description to fit page) mode.  Also that the sort lines up to the current view sort.  Right now I am still using screen capture for printing.  Then I would probably use the user-defined fields as well, which have some extra potential.

And I can imagine perhaps a smidgen of quick syntax help on the search might be helpful  .. occasionally I print out the help page but then it goes under the rubble.  The old Boolean Shuffle, involving starts with, not, and etc.  Maybe even one of those Eudora-like search things from a pop-up ?

My other thought is more complex, having to do with "on-disk" functionality, where web pages are copied to your disk and a link added to point to that new page.  (Think Scrapbook, Surfalator etc.)  The idea needs some refinement and expression, (I think the generic Firefox "Save Page as" is sufficient conceptually) but I think it has great archiving capability, against the one bane of web pages, those that disappear, and are not on archive.org.  From my point of understanding, this is mostly the text and basics, not the flash and pomp.  Make any sense ?

Shalom,
Steven Avery

613

Found Deals and Discounts / 1 Sale a Day - OfficeWork Multimedia - PagePlus, Roxio Burn, Digital TV

« Last post by Steven Avery on March 14, 2011, 12:29 PM »

Hi Folks,

Software is unusual on this site.

Any comments on the bundle ?

Syncables Desktop, PagePlus Essentials, Roxio Burn, Digital TV for PC 2 & Imagic 5 Kit + $10 eMusic Gift Card!
http://1saleaday.com/

"The OfficeWork Multimedia Essentials Software Bundle gives you all the tools you'll need to create print projects, edit photos, record shows, and more! Need to sync two computers? Syncables Desktop allows you to transfer data from one computer to another and easily sync all your files, media and browser bookmarks. Edit your photos and images with STOIK Imagic 5, which offers a powerful combination of photo album, organizer, media viewer, and image editor.

But that’s not all. With Digital TV for PC 2, you can watch and record your favorite shows right on your computer. PagePlus Essentials offers a wide range of templates and designs to let you produce amazing brochures, pamphlets, calendars, cards and other documents. And last but not least, Roxio Burn Software enables you to effectively record files onto different optical discs. A bonus $10 eMusic gift card comes included."

Your price turns out to be $10.

CompUSA sells this bundle for $30 in their stores.

OfficeWork Multimedia Essentials Software Pack - Syncables Desktop, PagePlus Essentials, Roxio Burn, Digital TV for PC 2 and Imagic 5
http://www.compusa.c...947&sku=O26-0015

Shalom,
Steven Avery

614

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: AllMyNotes 2 Deluxe/Portable

« Last post by Steven Avery on March 09, 2011, 09:38 PM »

Hi Folks,

Thanks for this lead.  My notes have been generally Keynotes, KeynotesNF, and TreeDbNotes3, all free editions. 

The chatter on Donationcoder was strong enuf to give this a go, without a trial, busting forth with the big $4.95 plunge. And I should be the #20 tipperoo.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

615

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: 62% Off Linkman Pro Ver 8 at Bits Du Jour - Monday 3/7/11

« Last post by Steven Avery on March 07, 2011, 07:57 AM »

Hi Folks,

And this is a great deal.

The direct link to today's special

Linkman Pro 8 (2 Computer License)
The Ultimate Bookmark Manager!
http://www.bitsdujou...tware/linkman-pro-8/

Here is their new Linkman web page.

Linkman
http://www.outertech.com/en/linkman

Link Manager
http://www.outertech.com/en/link-manager

And I do not see the Pro differences listed, suffice to say I remember it is enough to easily justify the Pro purchase (3 years of upgrades, their might also be a lifetime mode available to consider), even more so on the price today, for those who are not registered.

Linkman is the centerpiece of my research, daily. Every time I place a link, I consider the appropriate keywords (10-30 seconds of thought and typing) and set up the name field for a proper sort display.  By so doing I eliminate the need for many other possible tools and can refind those pesky pages with info easily.  No hierarchal placing needed (I operate in what we call "Powermarks mode"). And a page that might be referenced for five different items will show up in all five searches, simply set up the keywords as you like, short form (e.g. pw=password hw=heavenly witnesses) or full spelling long form.

And I have a couple of suggestions for Outertech after the 8.0 is stabilized. They are very responsive. One glitch on a lag in searching was recently fixed excellently.  Opera was added. The new 8.0 added the time to the date, and some other niceties.

And I will be informing research friends, as well.  

Two earlier discussion threads.

Someone MUST make a new PowerMarks program -first post 10-2008  
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=13754.0

MiniReview of Linkman URL Organizer and Search Tool  - first post 3/2008
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=12687.0

Shalom,
Steven Avery
Queens, NY

616

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: [Giveaway] PDF Decrypter Pro

« Last post by Steven Avery on March 02, 2011, 10:47 PM »

Hi Folks,

Extended for the month.
http://www.pdfdecryp...er.com/giveaway.html

neato !

Shalom,
Steven

617

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Advanced System Optimizer 3-87% Discount

« Last post by Steven Avery on February 16, 2011, 09:29 PM »

Hi Folks,

The FolderSizes program looks interesting, to compare with WinDirStat and others.

FolderSizes - Last Freeware Version
http://www.321downlo...ge2.html#FolderSizes

As for ASO, I have most of those functions with dedicated programs, usually freeware.

Shalom,
Steven

618

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Paragon Partition Manager 11 Personal and novaPDF Professional

« Last post by Steven Avery on February 04, 2011, 01:19 AM »

Hi Folks,

Plus the original excellent

   1. 1 x Paragon Partition Manager 11 Personal license (32-bit and 64-bit)
   2. 1 x NovaPDF Professional Desktop license

bundle has been reinstated for 24 hours

https://sites.fastsp.../bundlelyticfiresale
"Please share it with the Donationcoder community and help to spread the word. Thanks!"

This is on for about 48 hours (was written Thursday night) at $10, then up to $15.
I had made a couple of requests to try to reinstate that one and Jackson was very responsive.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

619

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Revo Uninstaller Pro 50% OFF

« Last post by Steven Avery on January 29, 2011, 04:56 PM »

Hi Folks,

Revo has always been a class act, always a helpful program

It looks like the free is not ruinning  Windows 7 ?  Maybe.
Anyway, comparison page here.
http://www.revounins...r_free_download.html

And "Real-Time monitoring of system changes - during install of programs" sounds like a nice feature, plus a couple of other features look decent.  At $20, unless you have a preference for Total or another one already, it is a good deal, or at least try it out, probably our little special find will be there for awhile.

There are some programs that are so good, like Linkman or Revo, that you almost feel that an occasional $10 or $20 is proper. As long as it does not become too much of a habit. (Linkman has been very good that way, Revo's big problem is that the free is so good.)

====

mwb .. I think Curt was talking about how he originally found the page.  That it came up during from some normal use, without a crack in the house.

However, Revo seems willing to keep it available for those who have found it by word-of-mouth, at least for awhile.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

620

General Software Discussion / Re: setup alternatives on blogger and wordpress

« Last post by Steven Avery on September 12, 2010, 11:05 AM »

Hi Folks,

The plugin looks nice, and will help a little. Plus I use Eudora as my Notepad equivalent and if there is no carriage return workaround I may compose first in Eudora (either fulll or just those small sections where the carriage return issue comes up) and then bring over to WLW before publishing.  It is surprising that the carriage return issue comes up .. I have seen it in other editors as well in the past.  

However the main double-step is the clipboard pics .. apparently they have to go directly into WLW as clipboard-->Eudora works and clipboard-->WLW but not clipboard-->Eudora-->WLW.  

> Insert images. (select text wrapping I want, tweak margins, set border, set "link to" target, resize image by either dragging or setting size on "advanced" tab, set alt text on "advanced" tab.)

That I will have to play with.

> And I do not edit previously published posts in Blogger's editor. I only edit in WLW. Even if you don't see it listed in the "Recently Posted" you can still access older posts by clicking "more" at the bottom of that list.

So it will re-edit to the same location I presume, ie. it knows the post. Understood. I was just hoping to do very small tweaks directly in blogger but if it don't work, it is as it is.

> So, if you have 100 posts, you would like post #1 (your oldest) at the top of page 1 and post #100 (your most recent)

I was only thinking within the month actually.  Or perhaps the last week, as one page of seven posts, something like that.  I thought I saw a setting in Wordpress.  Now I realize that this is always problematic, yet when you have a series of blog posts (say 5 posts on one topic) .. it sure would be nice to have them rightside up !   Granted you could bring them over to a webpage and then put them in order.  I guess you would have to have hand-control, series by series, to make this workable, and that is outside blog-city.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

621

General Software Discussion / Re: setup alternatives on blogger and wordpress

« Last post by Steven Avery on September 12, 2010, 04:52 AM »

Hi Folks,

Here are a few things I have noticed on the Blogger - Windows Live Writer combo.

Some of this I can probably try the WLW forums, perhaps these two.
http://social.micros...ritergeneral/threads
http://www.windowsli...ums.aspx?productid=9

And the blogger forums, however the blogger help forum looks only so-so.
http://www.google.co...utm_campaign=blogger
And blogger tricks is a bit specialty but seems pretty helpful.
http://forum.bloggertricks.com/

1) The default of WLW seems to double-space on a carriage-return.  I can get around this by combining Eudora and WLW, is there a direct method ?  I did just find in Blogger Setting->Formatting "Convert Line Breaks", perhaps changing from Yes to No is worth a try, however the concern looks to be in WLW, not Blogger.

2) Similarly, I do not see a WLW toolbar item for "remove formatting" .. again I can work that through Eudora, but if it is doable directly ?

3) Sizing the image properly in WLW seems to require some caution.  I did not find the "Image Size" setting that I read about, referenced above... yet that might be "Default Picture Size" .. presumably you set that up so that the default is a nice width without going over onto the "right bar" with names of posts and such. ie. whatever makes sense for your current template. And then this could need tweaking if you have a lot of pics and then change the template ?  (My next post will have a pic, using Abbyy Screenreader, not super-sharp but sufficient.)  I noticed that there is a setting->formatting called "Enable float alignment" (Default = Yes) that may be relevant to try.

===========================================

And, importantly, it looks like Blogger immediately loses a lot of the spacing (e.g. blank lines that create a paragraph effect) the moment you go into Blogger to do editing of a post that was created in WLW.  The workaround is to delete and republish, or to add spacing in various ways, neither of which is elegant.  Am I missing something ?  Perhaps Quick Editing does not lose ?  This was surprising.

And I think I would like to try the initial blog posts, month-by-month, to be top-down rather than the more-common upside down most-recent-first within blogs.  Is this sensible ?  I think I saw that in Wordpress but perhaps it is not available in Blogger ?

=======================================

And I started live today with:
Pure Bible blog - http://purebible.blogspot.com/
while still maintaining the test forum.
And I am also considering the blogger template situation, suggestions welcome.

Shalom,
Steven

622

General Software Discussion / Re: setup alternatives on blogger and wordpress

« Last post by Steven Avery on September 11, 2010, 05:14 AM »

Hi Folks,

A quick thanks for the great help.  This weekend I plan on doing some test work (e.g. emailing .jpg is a big issue to see, or using the editor recommended) on both environments, more a bit later.  It does seem that a good blog can be the central point for other aspects (special web pages, forums, mild discussion, etc) with less muss and fuss.

Exactly the type of feedback needed.  More laters .

Here are my two test-only blogs .. In blogger the Eudora pic did not take directly, I added it by hand by Abbyy-->file and then Blogger upload.

http://heavenlywitne...stest.wordpress.com/
http://purebibletest.blogspot.com/

So far I have been testing Eudora and Windows Live Writer.  I can see that WLW has a major advantage in pic-to-blog .. one that alone is enough to make it the standard.

Big surprise .. Wordpress took the Eudora inline .jpg pic perfectly ! .. hmmmm .. and a nice large size ... but .. wait .. the color and maybe font size was lost so far.

The decision between WLW and Eudora now leans strongly to WLW.  Oh, it looks like WLW also has an "Image Size" option, that can avoid the later adjustment.

Next .. compare BlogDesk (no Blogger though) and anything else interesting to WLW.  I see that WLW surprises a lot of folks for the quality of the MS app so it is clearly acceptable from the get-go.  A bit shocked ! shocked ! to actually maybe like a specialty MS app.

Wait .. more important now ... email control of commenting .. Disqus .> I tried to install on blogger . it shows up in the Page Elements but not on the page.  Hmmm.. Comments are enabled properly.  So testing this out is the next project .. after that I can probably post immediately  .. haven't tried Wordpress-Disqus yet .. also have not decided on the redirection issue (that can wait a few days anyway).

Ok.. Disqus works fine Blogger.

Disqus install on WordPress says it is for "WordPress (self-hosted)" and I do not see PlugIns on the Dashboard site. So for Disqus on WordPress I think .. ? .. it only applies after the hosting is switched.

Apparently there are three main players in email control, and other comment enhancements, of WordPress comment:

a) WordPress plug-ins
b) Disqus
c) Intense Debate

With Disqus holding a "cutting edge" edge over ID .. especially in interface and stuff that does not matter to me like social networking  .. while ID has a slightly closer integration with WP (owned by the same company maybe ?).  

.  I can see how in a mixed environment of blogs of more than one type (WordPress and  Blogger) Disqus has an immediate advantage.   So do I try to switch away to self-hosting WordPress quicker ? .. or wait .. (not looking for complicated comment threads in the beginning anyway).  And do I understand this properly.

Now I number of people consider external comment systems:

 "a solution in search of a problem"

.. that for many environments the built-in systems work just fine, thank you.  
http://www.wptavern....-intense-debate.html

Since I have easy, quick access to the net pretty much wherever I am, I may go the internal comment route, initially, and then maybe only switch on Blogger, where the variables are less (ie. you are on their platform anyway, so you do not think of the problem of moving the lock with the stock and barrel) and because WordPress is strong on native plugins anyway.

One possible conclusion .. if your blogs are going to be 1, 2, 3 .. and comments is auxiliary (e.g. you direct intense discussion to a web discussion forum) these external comment forums may be overkill .. they may shine more on a real multi-blog setup .. to avoid a lot of ins and outs between blogs, one-point control.  

So far the score is :

Wordpress and Blogger - a bit of both .. Wordpress looking more neato hefty for certain long-term usage, Blogger looks like fun, both are very nice and the way to tell more is to use one from Column A and one from Column B.

Windows Live Writer
   leader of the pack (e.g blogdesk did not handle pics internally, a major aspect for me, as simply)

Commenting
   Wordpress .. native system plus plug-in, if available on WP host, or later when self-host if not available now
   Blogger - Disqus a possibility, close call, probably start clean for the first weeks using standard Blogger

Shalom,
Steven

623

General Software Discussion / Re: Stupid question time, "Any way to *prevent* crapware loading on new box?"

« Last post by Steven Avery on September 05, 2010, 09:18 PM »

Hi Folks,

I will mention that one reason I like the PowerSpec puter was that it came with very little crapware on 3-4 different systems over 5 or so years.  However sometimes Dell is the best deal, or wanted for support or company reasons and this or that.  However my puter at work is a PowerSpec (MicroCenter - I buy the returns, although the deal is only marginally better, it used to be more better) while everybody else has Dells and it does seem quite a bit heartier, neater, kewler.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

624

General Software Discussion / setup alternatives on blogger and wordpress

« Last post by Steven Avery on September 04, 2010, 04:21 PM »

Hi Folks,

In this thread I really want here a little discussion of the basic alternatives on blogger and wordpress, both of which seem to have excellent blogging facilities.  There are dozens of worthwhile alternatives, they may be mentioned, however it seems the prominence of the big two is justified by features, simplicity, etc. so they will be the primary focus for simple "get-up-and-running-and-share-away".

Earlier we were discussing setting up server environments on your PC, however it seems these two can be set up in 3 different ways.

1) running on the web, hosted by wordpress or blogger  (www.yourname.wordpress.com www.yourname.blogger.com)
2) running on the web, hosted by your own url
3) running on your local (pseudo)-server, uploaded to your own url (or hosted on your pc as server)

Offhand I am not sure what the advantages to 3 might be .. unless there was some intensive stuff going on where a local connection is faster. Or, more simply (3) is simply for "set-up" then upload to your (2)?  .. then continue from there with web management ?  Rather than ask your web host to do the install ? Which simplicity will vary from host to host. I'm a little perplexed.

The simple fact of email posting to the blog, even pics and stuff (testing needed to see if inline .jpg will work on both, an important question), seems to tremendously simplify the actual blog posts. I played with the Wordpress editor and was not impressed, so Eudora, or an alternative if it words better, comes to play. Of course you have to go online for comment moderation, dashboard tweaking and stuff like that.

One major first question is simple .. in initial days, is there any disadvantage in starting with the wordpress or blogger link ? Are they special efforts or costs or difficulty when you later try to port the blog en toto over to your own domain ?  Should you try from day one to have your domain as the host ?  And, if you start with their hosting, should you first set up your host with a URL redirection to where you might think you go later, so that you have a permanent path ? I know there is a possibility of a fee when you transfer stuff out, like with forums, $50 or so would not be a big hurt, but I really wonder about all this.

Also I am thinking about the best way to handle the issue of unusual name or topic blogs, one account or multiple accounts.  Clearly you could set up one account and have multiple blogger blogs (not sure about wordpress, presumably so). Another alternative seems to be to set up a gmail account [email protected] and the blog with the corresponding name ..e.g myunusualblog .. and then have gmail keep a copy of the mail and send one down to your home inbox too. This way you have nice coordinated control, blog by blog (I will likely end up with about 3, on related yet distinct Bible topics) .. where you sign in to the gmail accounts, one by one, and see the blog activity when not home, and simply filter properly at home.  Make sense ?  

Note: It would be nice if gmail had a url method to pass the user name and password, but that might be asking a bit. Then the url would go right into linkshelf.  

However in my proposed method the gmail username wll be the blog name anyway, making it fairly simple even if the three blogs are distinct.  The only significant loss is that a "blogger" looking at "your blogs", a nice feature, does not see them all together.  Your thoughts ?

I'm not sure if all this is sensible, feel free to drift afield, and share away.  I'll hopefully invite you to my new blog or two tomorrow, to compare and share.

(One glitch already, I set up a blogger account under the wrong name, deleted it hoping to set it up under the right name, freezing the name as unavailable, I am asking about that on blogger forum.)

Thanks.

Steven Avery
Queens, NY

625

General Software Discussion / sharing archive research email - URL capability - CMS ? web forum-email group ?

« Last post by Steven Avery on July 05, 2010, 08:03 AM »

Hi Folks,

Trying to explain the goal. You have a large email correspondence that is research, not public because it is raw form, discussion, etc.  

The two (or more) people are always searching their email folders for the best methods of study and checking. However, that does not allow a simple URL to access email-by-email.  (Maybe there is some Mailbox program that does something here, making each email to a file, I am using Eudora with the .mbx format.) You are always referring to subject and date, or cutting-and-pasting.  A bit clunky.

You can put the emails into a Yahoogroups or Google groups.  The big difficulty (beyond some privacy concerns, wanting this to be unseen by non-members, but at least Yahoogroups, probably Google also, seems to be pretty good on private groups) is that inline pictures are handled very awkwardly, if at all.  They go through to the receipients, but not to the forum post online (in google they are morphed to .jpg attachments, YG simply strips them, dunno about any other forum alternatives).

Possibly there is a private blog idea that would work (cut-and-past) or you set up your own website with a CMS (content management system).  The quick and easy CMS is possibly the solution, but it has to allow a quick and easy cut-and-paste, including the pics .. then you can Linkman keyword the urls.

Similarly, possibly a private VBulletin (or one of the other forums) section would do the job.  Would this be as good as a CMS ?  Dunno.  I have a VBulletin forum, but have not tried this yet, one problem is that you are not really trying to create a forum thread, so each email would become its own thread.  You normally do not think of web forums in that manner, that might only be a rethinking issue.

Anybody using something that they think would do this no muss, no fuss.  Assume a quantity of about 1000 emails to be archived !   As I wrote this up, I realized I should try the VBulletin method, and see if the inline pics take and if it works good.  

Shalom,
Steven Avery