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General Software Discussion / Re: Brillant Text Editor (search functions)

« Last post by Darwin on February 14, 2007, 12:35 AM »

OK, I'm obviously out of my depth here. I thought that reg ex searching would allow one to do just what the OP is asking. However, given the fact that I find reg ex to be somewhat mysterious (ie, I have a vague idea of its power and an even vaguer idea of how to write reg ex searches), smart searching would be wonderful 

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General Software Discussion / Re: Brillant Text Editor (search functions)

« Last post by Darwin on February 14, 2007, 12:23 AM »

Won't EditPad do this? It's got built in reg expression searching...

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Living Room / Re: What was your favorite saturday morning cartoon?

« Last post by Darwin on February 13, 2007, 01:45 PM »

Er... I'm dating myself here, but it was Mr. Dressup and The Friendly Giant for me. Later, when ma and pa kettle weren't around to tell me not to, I really liked afterschool cartoons. My favourites were the Fantastic Four and some space thing that had Kasey Kasem doing to voice of Mark, the leader. Was it G-Force? OK - just confirmed that it was Battle of the Planets.

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Word Processor Roundup / Re: 3rd Party Tools like Bibliography Addins

« Last post by Darwin on February 12, 2007, 11:27 PM »

Yeah. Even at "academic" pricing, unless the institution has a site license covering students, many students are expected to pay in excess of $100 for Endnote. I know that a lot of Universities provide site license coverage for grad students, but mine didn't... So I've got a chip on my shoulder about having coughed up the full price for it (couldn't prove that I was a student as Uni is in England, I am in Canada, and my student card expired long ago, though I'm still (barely) on the books). Anyway, it's a pet peeve for me, too, but I fully understand why you're not in a position to code it by yourself without some funding.

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Living Room / Re: Top 10 Worst Portrayals of Technology in Film

« Last post by Darwin on February 12, 2007, 03:21 PM »

You think the acting in that is good, you should revisit the early 80's tv series...

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Word Processor Roundup / Re: WPS Office should be in list

« Last post by Darwin on February 12, 2007, 11:06 AM »

Hmm... I've tried Maxthon, Firefox and Opera and neither the download link (for the trial) nor the purchase link (which I had hopes would enlighten me about the availability of an English language version) work. So, we'll have to leave it to one of our Chinese reading colleagues to assess its worth! From reading the wiki, it sounds really impressive.

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Word Processor Roundup / Re: 3rd Party Tools like Bibliography Addins

« Last post by Darwin on February 12, 2007, 10:54 AM »

Mouser, if you did code a bib package and made it a reasonable price you'd be a hero! If you made it donationware as defined at donationcoder you'd be a God! Given that you're a ProCite user yourself (if memory serves), you already know what people are looking for in this kind of application. I suspect that you haven't done it already because it's a big, big job, but just thought I'd add a note of support for the idea    I meant to mention it in my above post, but overlooked doing so...

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Word Processor Roundup / Re: WPS Office should be in list

« Last post by Darwin on February 12, 2007, 10:46 AM »

This looks nice. From reading a wiki about it, it *looks* like there are localized versions available, but the free version is available only in simplified Chinese. There is a trial download available... Might try it, though I've alreay got StarOffice 8, MS Office 2003 Pro, and SoftMaker Office 2006 installed...

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General Software Discussion / Re: WIndows Vista Ultimate ... worth upgrading ... CNET say no!

« Last post by Darwin on February 12, 2007, 09:45 AM »

I've actually thought about testing win2k on this machine, but never really gotten around to it.

I'd be interested in hearing how this works out, if you go ahead with it. This is something I am considering doing myself - when I get a new machine. I expect that I'll have trouble getting a new notebook with anything BUT Vista on it (unless I spring for an Apple, which is not going to happen) and will need to dual boot it. Win2k is the latest version I own that isn't on an OEM (Gateway and Compaq) disc and I can't see myself buying XP unless I can find Pro at an amazingly low price.

PS I've such a large amount of Windows based software that I use for work that I can't see going the Linux route, though with the 200GB harddrives now shipping with notebooks I'll be playing with it anyway. The other issue for me, with respect to Vista, is compatability - I've a fair number of applications that I absolutely cannot justify spending a penny to upgrade but can't live without. My GIS package, ESRI's ArcGIS (9.1 - the new version is 9.2), for a start. I had to buy my copy myself and fortunately qualified for an academic license - $450 (instead of $1500)  for the main program and $450 for the plugin that I use as well (rather than $1500). The latest version (9.2) is not supported under Vista, either, and won't be until after ArcGIS 9.2 Sp-2 is released (and they've not yet released Sp-1!). So I'd have to spend the same again to get to a version that will run under Vista at some vaguely defined point in the future. Right... People are furious with ESRI because they switched 9.1 to "extended support" within a month of starting to ship 9.2. Of course, this doesn't GUARANTEE that I can't run 9.1 under Vista, but it doesn't guarantee that I can, either. It does guarantee that if I can't I'm SOL unless I want to ante up more cash.

OK rant over. Sorry folks.

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Living Room / Re: Rebuilding My Laptop

« Last post by Darwin on February 11, 2007, 10:11 AM »

upgraded that notebook from 64 to 128 to 512 MB RAM but the biggest performance boost came AFTER I upgraded the RAM to 512 - I installed a 20GB harddrive and put Win2k on it instead of Win98SE. The difference was profound.

Cripes! This is gibberish and it's too late to edit the original as the thread has moved ahead -who will read the edit 

I meant to say, and hope it was implied anyway, that I had Win98SE running with 128MB of RAM and didn't notice much of a difference when I upgraded to 512MB RAM. When I upgraded Win98SE to Win2k, it was like I had put my notebook on nitrous...

tinjaw - the avatar is Amud 1 from Israel. A Neanderthal male. Might look good with a tin jaw! Too bad Win2k won't work for you. I'm dithering about installing it on my next notebook as the only XP discs I have are OEM and no doubt the next notebook will be Vista. I'd like to be able to dual boot it, just in case...

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Living Room / Re: Will Wikipedia Run Out of Money and Disappear

« Last post by Darwin on February 11, 2007, 10:05 AM »

Right. Monies donated and we'll wait to see if it made a difference  Well, it made me feel better anyway. I feel kind of funny because I get a fair number of undergraduate papers that have plagiarised wikipedia articles extensively... So, I've helped fund one of my nemeses! Oh well, at least if they are ripping off wikipedia the plagiarism is easy to catch

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Living Room / Re: Rebuilding My Laptop

« Last post by Darwin on February 10, 2007, 10:17 PM »

Sorry Tinjaw. Just noted your comment above about not being in a position to buy more RAM to solve your problem. Obviously, unless you have a copy of Win2k my comments above are not really useful  .

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Living Room / Re: Rebuilding My Laptop

« Last post by Darwin on February 10, 2007, 10:11 PM »

Win2k will sing on 512MB RAM. I just gave my dad my old P-IIIE 600mhz notebook with 512MB RAM and Win2k. It blows away my WinXP Pro Centrino notebook (1.4Ghz) with a gig of RAM in a lot of ways. PaintShopPro loads more quickly, it boots faster, etc. I upgraded that notebook from 64 to 128 to 512 MB RAM but the biggest performance boost came AFTER I upgraded the RAM to 512 - I installed a 20GB harddrive and put Win2k on it instead of Win98SE. The difference was profound. That 7 year old Compaq is still going strong, albeit with an 80GB harddrive...

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Living Room / Re: Will Wikipedia Run Out of Money and Disappear

« Last post by Darwin on February 10, 2007, 10:03 PM »

I use Wikipedia A LOT and should go donate, as I haven't yet. Right, off to do it now...

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Living Room / Re: physmo: I want!

« Last post by Darwin on February 10, 2007, 10:02 PM »

Looks similar, though prettier, to Bridge-Builder, which is a hoot. I've only ever tried the free original but note that there is a free version of a more recent version from 2006. Might have to give it a go...

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Living Room / Re: Poll : What is the most useless key on the keyboard

« Last post by Darwin on February 10, 2007, 09:58 PM »

Like kfitting, if the Right Mouse button key had been an option I would have gone for it (it's what I had in mind as I navigated to this thread to vote). As it is, Scroll lock is a key that I use even less so I happily voted for it instead. At least the Right Mouse Button key has an appreciable function and it's convenient when typing to hit it to invoke the context menu..

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General Software Discussion / Re: Need Program- I need a program to automatically generate notes and reports

« Last post by Darwin on February 10, 2007, 09:51 PM »

You should be able to use the "Print screen" button (PrtScn) anywhere - if you want to take a screenshot of what you're viewing in your web browser, just tap the PrtScn button and then follow the steps above to paste into Paint and save it.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Need Program- I need a program to automatically generate notes and reports

« Last post by Darwin on February 10, 2007, 02:32 PM »

Sorry, Vicki, my fault. You only get the option for uploading attachments when you use the "reply" button at the bottom of a post, rather than the "quick reply" option at the bottom of the discussion.

I'll defer to mouser and others here in troubleshooting your problem with The Form Letter as I've never used it. Looks like cranialscopical (love that name!) has a similar problem. I suspect that if this does have anything to do with your context menu, you'll need to try a few files/folders before you see the culprit. As the name suggests, the context menu is context specific so the offending add-in (if there is one) will only reveal itself when the context is right. You could install Nirsoft's ShellExView as a way of looking at all of your context menu add-ins in one shot. If you did that, and then were able to post a screenshot of what it reveals, it might help mouser determine if there is indeed a shell extension conflict issue to be resolved.

Good luck!

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General Software Discussion / Re: Need Program- I need a program to automatically generate notes and reports

« Last post by Darwin on February 10, 2007, 10:49 AM »

Vicki - context-menu items are those that appear when you select a file or a folder (anywhere on your computer - start menu, desktop, Windows Explorer, Word, Internet Explorer, etc.) and then click the right mouse button. When you do that, what sort of options are you presented with? If you are able to, a screenshot would be the easiest way to convey this information and I'd suggest right clicking on a word doc file as a start.

PS To take a screen shot, right click on the word document (from within Windows Explorer) and when the context menu appears, press the "PrtScn" button on your keyboard - usually upper right in the same row as the Function keys (F1, F2, F3, ...). Then go to the Start Menu - Accessories - Paint (ie open Paint). When Paint is open select the keys CTRL-V to paste the screen shot. Now you can save the screenshot anywhere you want and then post it here as a jpg file. To post the jpg, look below the text area for the message you are typing and select the "Browse" button next to Attach. When you've located and uploaded your screenshot, all you have to do is go to the insert "Link Inline Image" above, make a selection (inline thumb attacment is usually the best way to go) and your screenshot will appear below:

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General Software Discussion / Re: What Is That Program Called? I Forget!!!

« Last post by Darwin on February 10, 2007, 01:08 AM »

Sorry Nighted, I've failed. Without knowing the name of the app, I can't figure out if I have it or not! I'm beginning to suspect that I had the utility on one of numerous magazine cover cd/dvd's that I collected when I lived in the UK in 2000-2003. Sadly, I got rid of them all some time ago.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Need Program- I need a program to automatically generate notes and reports

« Last post by Darwin on February 09, 2007, 04:25 PM »

Just out of morbid curiosity, why won't the Form Letter Machine run on your machine, Vicki? Or is this one of those questions that warrants a "Duh, if I knew why it won't run on my machine, I'd be running it!" response?

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General Software Discussion / Re: What Is That Program Called? I Forget!!!

« Last post by Darwin on February 09, 2007, 01:21 PM »

Er, no. I was barking up the wrong tree. I did come across this pcmag app, File Tip, but it doesn't appear to display txt file contents when the mouse cursor is over the folder containing it, only when the cursor is over the file itself...

Somewhere I have about the ten years worth of utility downloads and if I can dig out the dvds that they are saved on I'll take a look...

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General Software Discussion / Re: What Is That Program Called? I Forget!!!

« Last post by Darwin on February 09, 2007, 01:03 PM »

You're not alone, nudone. I am sure I remember using a utility that did this back when I was using Win98SE. I wonder if it was a pcmag utility (he muses, and dashes off to check...)?

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Word Processor Roundup / Re: 3rd Party Tools like Bibliography Addins

« Last post by Darwin on February 08, 2007, 08:01 PM »

According to their website, TextMaker has a built in bib feature... I use Endnote X myself. Endnote 5 (which was the previous version that I used) used to ship with a WordPerfect plug-in, but this is not the case with later versions (not sure when they dropped it). X supports a host of Wordprocessors via RTF formatting but only supports Word for CWYW (Cite while you write).

From the helpfile in Endnote X.02:

Use Format Paper (formerly called RTF Document Scan) to cite references and create bibliographies for documents that can be saved as RTF, including documents created with:

Microsoft® Word

WordPerfect®

OpenOffice

Adobe® FrameMaker®

StarOffice™

Microsoft® Works

WordPad

Almost any application that can
save as RTF (Rich Text Format)

To format references and create a bibliography (Cite While You Write) with Microsoft Word 2000, XP, or 2003, see How to Cite While You Write. While you can use the Format Paper feature to format Word files, it is much easier and more efficient to use Cite While You Write.

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Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.45 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - February 6, 2007

« Last post by Darwin on February 07, 2007, 09:19 AM »

Click on the mail (envelope) button underneath mouser's avatar and send him a private message to get a link for the alpha version. Nothing wrong with posting here, just that you'll likely get a quicker response and the thread won't get gummed up with requests...