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6601

Living Room / Re: Hidden Netflix Marathon Gems to Watch Online

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 09, 2009, 03:39 PM »

Looks like a few of the British series I like made the list.  Doctor Who, Good Neighbors, Yes Minister, Red Dwarf.

edit: btw, just thought I'd mention it.  FF 3.6 beta auto updater will update to FF 3.6 beta 2. Apparently one of the fixes is the video.  Netflix is working for me now on both my PCs using FF 3.6 beta 2.

(also for those of you who like to go to TV Guide online to check listings, looks like they fixed the pop down descriptions when you click on a show in the grid.)  Firefox stable 3.5.5 even if you enable both jit settings still seems a step slower than 3.6.  This may be ready for prime time now(pun will be disavowed if I am captured.)

edit2: come to think of it, the TV Guide thing was only broken in 3.7Pre.  I took 3.7Pre off for the time being since I don't see any feature yet that 3.6 doesn't have and 3.6 seems to be getting things working now.  Maybe I'll give 3.7 another week and try it again.

6602

General Software Discussion / Re: Has anyone discovered any cool Windows 7 third-party utilities?

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 09, 2009, 02:39 PM »

The main one I like so far is 7stacks

It will work on Vista and XP but it's targeted at 7. On Vista I use a double height Taskbar with the captions for running programs turned off.  With Taskbar locked that leaves me with a lot of open space.  I also use RocketDock.  But on 7 you don't get the separation between QuickLaunch and Taskbar.  The running app just glows the icon.  I'm not all that thrilled when these giant previews pop up since they obscure RocketDock.

With 7stacks I can create some stacks on the Taskbar of stuff I use most.  Internet stuff, editors, file handling programs, hotkey utilities, etc. to increase the free space in the middle of the taskbar.  On some items it means an extra click but the glass looks cool when it pops up.

Right low it's limited to a total of 10 stacks, but it's free.  I've been using it for a few weeks and I don't see any inherent bugs.  The only proviso would be since you make stacks from a folder of shortcuts, you have to be cautious of creating and endless loop if you put a shortcut inside a folder and it goes to a folder with a shortcut to itself or something.  I tried to use some folders from RocketDock but I think the nesting did me in since when I pressed FARR hotkey I got four explorer folders opening instead.  I put it back the way it was and all was fine.

One comment though, it wants to create a shortcut on your desktop when it makes the stack.  If you are like me and don't want to run with desktop icons anymore, you may want to have a folder of app shortcuts where you can hide stuff away.  Just create the stack, then drag & drop the desktop shortcut to someplace out of sight  To add new items to an existing stack, you just drag a new shortcut into the folder that's the source of that stack.  For example if you created a stack from a folder of Internet program shortcuts and you installed yet another browser, just move the icon to that Internet folder.  It will show up in the stack right away.

6603

Living Room / Re: How would you improve a standard PC keyboard?

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 09, 2009, 02:29 PM »

Not so much improve as go back to something that got changed for no good reason.

1) Reduce the size of the right SHIFT key and go back to giving us a correctly sized (as in vertically bigger) ENTER key.

2) Reduce the size of the BACKSPACE key and put the ESC key back in the 'numbers row' (top-left) where it belongs.

-40hz (November 09, 2009, 02:00 PM)

My first inclination would be, get a hot babe to do the typing.  But to go along with your thoughts, the thing I liked when they switched away from the XT style keyboard, was the separate navigation and number pads.  The thing I hated was the function keys across the top.  On XT style there were 10 function keys on the left.  If you could touch type at all, and were using an app that made heavy use of the F keys, you could reach with the little finger of your left hand and hit the F keys without moving your fingers from the standard typing position or "home row."  On these 101 key variants, every time I have to hit an F key the touch type orientation is gone.  I have to fumble around to get back to position.  It's like Bizarro Ergonomics.

6604

General Software Discussion / Re: VirtualProtect

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 09, 2009, 02:18 PM »

Not sure what happened to the details on VirtualProtect, but good to see Returnil has progressed with their 64 bit support.

-sajman99 (November 09, 2009, 01:33 PM)

I wonder how many layers of the onion they are going to use?  Seems like wearing a prophylactic under your rain coat.  Now they are running av programs inside the protected sphere.  Where will it end?

The thing that makes me uneasy about trying it is hooking into the rebooting process. I don't know how well that's going to work if you get hit with a real nasty.  First thing they target is the boot system.  For now I'm going to rely on image backups.

On the encouraging side I see on their forum that they have come out with some fix builds.  It looks like they make a conscientious effort to get the stuff to work.  I think I'll wait for more 64 bit experiences from others though. Yet another layer of virtualization just slows things down.  Already running most programs through WOW as it is.  So far I have one 64 bit compiler but the libraries for it don't seem very comprhensive.  Everything is still 32 bit running under WOW. Most of my "64 bit programs" are just GUIs that control a bunch of 32 bit command line programs.

6605

Living Room / Re: Hidden Netflix Marathon Gems to Watch Online

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 09, 2009, 02:02 PM »

Looks like some of the MST3K flicks are available to watch online:

http://www.netflix.c...amp;lnkce=acsNoEnhRt

Unfortunately the search/catalog setup seems a bit awkward.  They should probably add a keyword to the search for Watch Instantly Only results. You sort of have to search a list of what they have instead of searching for what you want to watch.

Anyway, I got it set up on my Vista64 quad core as well as W7 32 bit.  The video is the same.  Guess there's a certain bandwidth it uses if your video can handle it, and anything less prolly gets the "streaming square" treatment.

It would be nice if they got some of the TV classics on it.  It's difficult to search except by guessing but I tried a few classics like the Don Adams Get Smart series(not available for streaming.) I rented many of the discs and at @24 minutes with the commercials sucked out, they would be good for watching online.  It's amazing going back to those days and remembering the TV.  Of course if you are too young to have lived through the Cold War(tm) then it's more or less just old Vaudeville jokes(guy who has the secret info is lying on the floor after being shot. Max crouches down to get the info... man whispers in Max's ear.  99 says "what did he say Max?" and Max says "he said, would you please get your knee off my chest."  They used the same punch lines over and over.  Part of the charm was you could see them coming(like anytime someone is on the floor watch for the "knee off my chest" punch line.  Or if someone tries to jump onto a moving vehicle, out a window etc,. look for "missed it by that much!"

6606

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Drive Backup+Recovery 10 Free - good full drive imaging tool

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 09, 2009, 01:11 PM »

Linux has a lot of frustrations for someone coming from Dos/Windows but one thing very cool is the mounting mechanism.  You could boot a floppy or CD, mount your HD partition on a mount point like /tmp to fiddle with it and when done mount the HD partition as root.  Assuming it's a working Linux partition you are now running off it without rebooting.

6607

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 3.5.5 Netflix and Silverlight - watch online

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 09, 2009, 12:55 PM »

When it starts up it checks the video hardware.  I'm curious, so now I have to try it on my quad to see if the video looks any better. I didn't try it earlier because I guess I just assumed it would be one of those little square streaming vids.  Didn't look too bad.

I just wonder how much bandwidth it uses.  When I'm downloading I can see a number but not with this.

Works on Vista64 but the video isn't any better.  Seems okay for preview.  I don't know if I could watch it for more than a few minutes though.  Don't like watching vids on PC except to check 'em out for flaws.

6608

General Software Discussion / Firefox 3.5.5/3.6 Beta 2 - Netflix and Silverlight - watch online

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 08, 2009, 11:04 PM »

Not that I want to sit and watch movies over broadband in a browser from Netflix, but since I have an account and they claimed they wouldn't bill me later(as in no extra charge) I was curious.

I downloaded the Silverlight plugin.  I could only get audio with Firefox 3.6 latest beta, but the new Firefox 3.5.5 seems to work fine.

For those flicks that have the play online option, it can be a good way to sample before renting the DVD.  I've only tried it on Windows Seven 32 bit at this point. If you have a Netflix account it may be worth checking out.  If you google you should hit an MS page with a grid of supported OS and browser combinations.

6609

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Drive Backup+Recovery 10 Free - good full drive imaging tool

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 08, 2009, 05:45 PM »

I am sorry to have to ask you guys to explain to me what it is to mount an image? I really don't understand the expression.  

-Curt (November 08, 2009, 05:05 PM)

The image file Macrium creates when it does a backup can be mounted so that it shows as a read-only drive in Explorer.  Say you backup up to a folder on an external USB drive.  You can right click on the image file in that folder and mount it. It is assigned a new drive letter. If you want to copy a file out you just click through the directory structure as if it was a drive, down the folder chain to the file you want.

6610

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Drive Backup+Recovery 10 Free - good full drive imaging tool

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 08, 2009, 05:43 PM »

BTW, about Macrium, their support forum is only accessible to users that have a paid license.  When you are in the 30 days evaluation method, you cannot ask any question.  Not cool.  Especially since I have one : when I mount a virtual drive from an image, I cannot unmount it, it doesn't appear in the mounted drive window.  Am I the only one to see this ?

-MerleOne (November 08, 2009, 02:56 PM)

On Windows 7 32 bit and Vista64 it works as advertised.  I can remove it from the Restore tab of the program or just leave it until I reboot.  It would be nice if they had an Unmount as well as Mount in the Explorer shell integration though.

edit: I just looked on the Macrium forum and they say an Explorer command to unmount a mounted image is on the ToDo list.

6611

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Drive Backup+Recovery 10 Free - good full drive imaging tool

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 08, 2009, 02:31 PM »

As my lawyer advised me, I can't recall.

-MilesAhead (November 07, 2009, 12:12 PM)

Ahhh, the Political Defense

-4wd (November 07, 2009, 05:06 PM)

Well, I could just admit that I messed up, but where's the fun in that? 

6612

Finished Programs / Re: IDEA: Registry keys monitor - user selectable

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 07, 2009, 12:23 PM »

I noticed this one but it's new to me. Haven't heard of it before:
http://www.devicelock.com/arm/

6613

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Drive Backup+Recovery 10 Free - good full drive imaging tool

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 07, 2009, 12:12 PM »

I can't seem to find it now. In any case I verified that the image is shown in Explorer as NTFS so you must be right.   Maybe I just noticed the image of the dialog box that showed a mounted image as FAT32.  As my lawyer advised me, I can't recall.

6614

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Choose which browser will open a url from external app

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 07, 2009, 02:38 AM »

The proposal to add the feature to BrowserChooser is here:
http://browserchoose...aspx?WorkItemId=2597

It has the same 3 votes it had a month ago.  Evidently there's not much interest.

6615

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Drive Backup+Recovery 10 Free - good full drive imaging tool

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 06, 2009, 07:16 PM »

Just telling you what it says in the help afa Fat32 goes. Likely the docs need an update.

6616

Developer's Corner / Re: What's your Programming Language?

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 06, 2009, 06:51 PM »

...
Modula-2:  www.thefreecountry.com/compilers/modula2.shtml

Modula-3:  www.thefreecountry.com/compilers/modula3.shtml

-40hz (November 06, 2009, 12:46 PM)

Thanks, I'll check 'em out.

6617

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: resize window from centre

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 05, 2009, 05:56 PM »

Ive hacked your code a bit ...

-SteveJohnSteele (November 04, 2009, 09:20 PM)

Nice hack.  I like it.  Doesn't jump around in an annoying fashion like my script.

btw for a "one shot" resize and center there's an exe rw for resize window that I have in a download:
http://www.favessoft.com/RunAndPlace.zip

it's a simple command line
rw [% width] [% height] Title   centers window with Title and sizes to % of work area

default with just Title specified is 50% width and height
Specifying one % sets both width and height the same
Specifying both you can set width and height individually.

Comes in handy mainly for batch files if you want to position a bunch of windows to specific places using rw and some of the other exe files in the zip.  But it doesn't have the bells and whistles of a mature window gizmo.  Just a quick and dirty.

6618

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Drive Backup+Recovery 10 Free - good full drive imaging tool

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 05, 2009, 05:38 PM »

Hmmmm, I never tried the Mount Image feature before.  Just tried it and copied a file out of the image in Explorer.  Pretty cool esp. considering it works in the free version. The docs say it mounts as FAT32 but for a 20 or 40 GB image I imagine that's no problem.

6619

Developer's Corner / Re: What's your Programming Language?

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 05, 2009, 05:26 PM »

Modula-2 (later Modula-3)

-40hz (November 05, 2009, 02:39 PM)

I always wanted to try those Top Speed compilers that had the same back end and had versions for C++ Modula2 I think it was, and some others.  I thought it would be fun to mix a bunch of modules with a compiler where you wouldn't have to constantly fix up the incompatibilities.  I couldn't afford to spring for it at the time though.  It seemed like a good concept.

6620

General Software Discussion / Re: Surprised by Win7

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 05, 2009, 05:21 PM »

I never pin items to the start menu.  If I use it at all it's to uninstall something or to launch something I use so little that the only shortcut is there.

-MilesAhead (November 04, 2009, 01:18 PM)

Oh well...it was a shot in the dark. Sorry it wasn't more helpful.

-Innuendo (November 05, 2009, 10:30 AM)

Not at all.  I figured W7 straight upgrade wouldn't work, but I thought, if I can put it on without reconfiguring all my apps it's worth a try.  I just laid a Vista64 image back down when I found a few things were flaky.  So far the Custom upgrade seems to work well. I haven't tried the clean install yet.  If I go that way I think I'll just spring for an OEM disk instead of messing around with registry hacks or double installs or whatnot.

6621

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: resize window from centre

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 04, 2009, 08:33 PM »

Mouse drag might be a bit weird if you reposition the window while resizing.
I did this instead.  If you hold down the Left Control key while using the Mouse Wheel it should resize and center.  If you are going to resize by a large amount I recommend doing it the regular way at first, until you are close to the size you want, then hold down Left Control and move the mouse wheel up for larger and down for smaller.  It will resize the active window by increments and center it.

The only safety I have built in is it does nothing if the Desktop or Taskbar/Tray is active.  Don't want to mess with resizing those. 

To change to a different hotkey just change the script.  See AutoHotKey forum for compiler if you want to compile it to exe file.

[Select]

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
LControl & WheelUp::
IfWinActive,ahk_class Progman
Return
IfWinActive,ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd
Return
WinGetPos,X,Y,Width,Height,A
Width := Round(Width * 1.1)
Height := Round(Height * 1.1)
If (Width > A_ScreenWidth)
  Width = A_ScreenWidth
If (Height > A_ScreenHeight)
  Height = A_ScreenHeight
WinGetTitle,Title,A
WinMove, %Title%,, (A_ScreenWidth/2)-(Width/2), (A_ScreenHeight/2)-(Height/2),%Width%,%Height%
Return

LControl & WheelDown::
IfWinActive,ahk_class Progman
Return
IfWinActive,ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd
Return
WinGetPos,X,Y,Width,Height,A
Width := Width - 20
Height := Height - 16
WinGetTitle,Title,A
WinMove, %Title%,, (A_ScreenWidth/2)-(Width/2), (A_ScreenHeight/2)-(Height/2),%Width%,%Height%
Return

6622

General Software Discussion / Re: Paragon Drive Backup+Recovery 10 Free - good full drive imaging tool

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 04, 2009, 07:14 PM »

I have an external 2TB WD My Book drive, connected via firewire, single partition.

The trial version of Paragon HD Manager, as well as Paragon Drive Backup Pro 9 both show this drive as having "7,9 GB not formatted" and the remaining space unallocated. Fixed drives are shown correctly, but the nonsensical detection of the external drive makes me rather uncomfortable about this software. (MS management console shows the correct status for this drive, of course)

If anyone is using Paragon software and has an external USB drive, what does it show for you?

-tranglos (November 04, 2009, 08:00 AM)

When I got Paragon Drive Backup I also bought Seagate external USB drives.  But they are only 250 GB and 500 GB.  Also I was using XP Pro SP2.  I suspect the Vista and W7 compatibility is still not there yet. If you have plain vanilla disk controller you may be okay but I would thoroughly test it before relying on it. It seems like the Macrium has more options afa image backup and restore.  For one thing the paid version gets you WinPE.  It so happens the Linux boot CD recognizes my Raid controller, but if it didn't, I have the avenue of incorporating the Windows driver into the WinPE boot CD.  I did it just for grins.  It was a bit of a hassle because the Raid controller also controls the optical drive.  So when I boot the CD all I really have is Bios compatibility boot.  The only files visible on the CD are files inside the boot image.  I had to learn how to load the Windows driver from the boot image.  Then I could see the rest of the CD and my HD.

I guess that's the long-winded way of saying Macrium is more flexible.
Paragon worked great for me on XP with a plain Sata controller.  Made the boot capsule and the whole bit.  Vista and later I think it has problems.

6623

Coding Snacks / Re: can a network get a drive letter?

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 04, 2009, 01:28 PM »

Either cURL or this link look like your best bets:
http://cybernetnews....-a-drive-in-windows/

6624

General Software Discussion / Re: Surprised by Win7

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 04, 2009, 01:18 PM »

Doing the same on Vista64 my start menu was hosed and it was generally unrewarding.

-MilesAhead (November 03, 2009, 02:29 PM)

A friend had start menu trouble & it came to pass that it had something to do with having pinned items on the start menu. Don't know if that's the cause of your trouble or not, though.

-Innuendo (November 03, 2009, 08:29 PM)

I never pin items to the start menu.  If I use it at all it's to uninstall something or to launch something I use so little that the only shortcut is there.
I may have tried the straight upgrade. I don't remember for sure. I think that's what it was.  Even though I only have Vista64 Home Premium with Shadow Explorer I can get old versions of files from Restore Point sets.  Doesn't feel like I'm missing out on anything. I have no use for domains.

6625

What's the Best? / Re: Video conversion: What's the best (freeware or shareware)?

« Last post by MilesAhead on November 03, 2009, 02:41 PM »

Yeah, on my list of "why aren't these features standard?" near the top would be, why can't you perform a firmware save?  Even better, the original should be in ROM or something so you could hold down some controls on power up and it would prompt you to restore the original firmware from ROM.  At least then as long as the thing had working hardware you could get back to square one.

But that might cost like $.03 per unit.