Recent Posts

676

General Software Discussion / Re: Total Commander: Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks

« Last post by tranglos on June 08, 2009, 05:07 PM »

WDX (content)

Average knowledge: Find files tool, Multi Rename tool and files colouring feature;
Hidden stuff: files tooltips, information File overwrite dialogue, Custom filters, thumbnails labels, File attributes dialogue;

-fenixproductions (June 08, 2009, 04:21 PM)

One great example: the "anytag" plugin. Reads tag data from mp3 and other media files. You can create a custom column layout in TC with columns to display artist, track #, title, duration, etc. This of course lets you sort the file listing by these attributes.

The only missing piece here is that I don't think you can confiogure TC to automatically switch column layout based on the folder contents (or have pre-selected layouts for specific folders). You still need to click Show -> Custom column mode -> pick your mode (or assign a keyboard shortcut).

677

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by tranglos on June 07, 2009, 07:02 PM »

Ahh tranglos, good list, but misogynists could be added i think

-Grorgy (June 07, 2009, 06:45 PM)

Oh, the list is totally open-ended You are right, of course.

678

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by tranglos on June 07, 2009, 06:05 PM »

Okay now, let's see... Airlines, banks, the whole advertising industry, and


(Fair warning: Do not click the button lest you be annoyed yourself!)

Spoiler

right-wingers (all of them), centrists (a.k.a right-wingers in sheep's clothing), authoritarian leaders, authoritarian followers, multinational corporations, media conglomerates, middlemen, murderers, women-haters, wife-beaters, rapists, child molesters, bullies, homophobes, xenophobes, wars, warmongers, chickenhawks, anyone who owns a functioning firearm or whose job description involves handling one (unless responding to a direct physical threat also involving a firearm), the stock market, the apostles of the stock market (frauds all), workplace mobbing, fencing off land, pharma corps, fast food joints, privatization of water (what's next?), sweatshops, institutional churches, any and all secret and special services, the so-called "national security" and "national interest" (always the security and the interest of those in power only), state secrets (there should be none), predominantly but not exclusively, not necessarily in that order.

Nothing that shows up on my computer could ever begin to approach any of those.

679

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: One (1) Total Commander license to give away

« Last post by tranglos on June 03, 2009, 05:29 PM »

Aaaand it's gone!

-tranglos (June 03, 2009, 03:00 PM)

haha...South Park.  So funny. (see attachment in previous post)

-superboyac (June 03, 2009, 04:50 PM)

Scary! I wasn't thinking of that when I posted, but the fact is for the last three weeks or so I've been watching  back episodes of South Park at nights, including the one where the banks do what they do. And I was quoting that line to my wife just a few days ago. Scary and fun!

680

Found Deals and Discounts / Aaaand it's gone!

« Last post by tranglos on June 03, 2009, 03:00 PM »

The license goes to dev/null, who was the first to PM me. Apologies to everyone else who sent requests; there was only 1 license to give away...

681

Found Deals and Discounts / One (1) Total Commander license to give away

« Last post by tranglos on June 03, 2009, 02:44 PM »

Ed: the license is already gone - it took about two minutes!

Lady Luck seems to have picked me for one of the free Total Commander licenses given away by DC (See this thread). Since I have a TC license already, the one I've won is up for grabs.

First come, first served - the TC license key will go to the first person who'll PM me with a request. You don't need to be a supporting member at DC, but you need to have post count greater than 1.

Thanks Fenixproductions for the contest, and thanks to Mr Christain Ghisler for the generous giveaway - and for developing my favorite piece of software ever!

682

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AntispamSniper For The Bat!

« Last post by tranglos on May 30, 2009, 05:17 AM »

Fantastic review, Innuendo. I've been using AntispamSniper for over a year now, and it definitely generates less false positives and false negatives than PopFile, which I had used before - and PopFile was already pretty good. The toolbar is nice to have, and the configuration really needs very little maintenance.

Without ever tweaking the weighting, AntispamSniper gets almost everything right. Sometimes it's a bit hard to teach it very short messages (one-liners) as spam, and it takes a few of those before AntispamSniper learns to recognize them - but like I said, I've never bothered to tweak the filtering options.

My favorite feature of the shareware version is the automatic whitelisting of recipients in outgoing mail, really handy. Other than that, the freeware edition is probably fine for most uses.

683

General Software Discussion / Re: Mozilla Contest: How Would You Improve Tabbed Browsing?

« Last post by tranglos on May 19, 2009, 06:52 PM »

My first thought when I read this was: OMG, they're going to spoil the tabs!. And so were my second and third thoughts.

Tabs are a very specific visual metaphor, based on a specific physical interaction known from the real world. They have a few advantages over MDI windows, in that you can see all the available workspaces at once, and that selecting a tab is a one-click operation. They have disadvantages, too - you can't show them side by side (so drag and drop operations between tabs are no longer obvious), and only so many will fit on screen.

There are a few ways you can enhance the usabilty of tabs, like color-coding them or making the current tab a little taller than the rest. I don't think you should mess around with tabs beyond that. For example, grouping tabs like buttons on the taskbar would kill the two defining features of tabs: you could no longer see all the workspaces at once, and selecting a workspace would no longer be a one-click action. It'd be like going back to the list of windows under the Window menu in an MDI application.

They're out to spoil the tabs!

684

General Software Discussion / Re: What are my options for editing a PSD file

« Last post by tranglos on May 18, 2009, 04:20 AM »

2tranglos

It seems I am too late but… have you ever tried Artweaver?

-fenixproductions (May 17, 2009, 08:51 PM)

Not too late Justice kindly separated the layers for me and sent me files I can open in PaintShop Pro, but since my OP I haven't had time to work on the design. I'll try Artweaver, thanks!

Right now I basically need to add my own text to a header image for the page. The original template uses a sweet glow effect that I liked a lot, but can't hope to reproduce it. I installed Photoshop Elements trial, but can't figure out how to use it effectively. I can add text as a new layer, but there seems to be no way to move it around the image - strange. I can move text around in Paintshop Pro, but it lacks good blending effects, so the text looks ugly and out of place. I've always found image editing programs very awkward to use - sometimes it's downright malice!

(For example, what's up with the font drop-down menu in Photoshop Elements? If the list of fonts doesn't fit on the page, the only way to scroll the menu is with the keyboard. The interface is all glossy black and gray, and so is text on the UI controls - incredibly hard to read. And the license sells for how much again? I'd never pay for this program, ever! Is the full edition of Photoshop equally bad?)

685

General Software Discussion / If you ever pay for software in Euros...

« Last post by tranglos on May 17, 2009, 04:56 PM »

If you ever pay for software in Euros, always switch the basket to US dollars first and compare the amounts. Most of the time the payment processor converts between dollars and Euros using whatever exchange rate is current. Since they often add a surcharge for currency conversion, occasionally you may be beter off paying in EUR if the company is located in the EU.

But sometimes they don't bother to do any conversion at all - and you may see this:

Basket with price in Euros:



Basket with price in US dollars:


At the current rates, the difference is nearly 25%.

(And I'm still not buying this upgrade, I don't think. A worthwhile object lesson though.)

686

General Software Discussion / Re: What are my options for editing a PSD file

« Last post by tranglos on May 17, 2009, 03:23 PM »

Ok I'm uploading a zip with versions in TIFF format, Photoshop PDF format, and maximized compatibility PSD (all layered) in variations with and without the logo text you are wanting to replace. More info in PM

-justice (May 14, 2009, 03:49 AM)

Thanks so much! I've replied via PM.

687

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: For Developers - Today - 12MAY09 - Visual Build Pro v. 7 60% OFF

« Last post by tranglos on May 13, 2009, 12:47 PM »

Although I purchased Visual Build Pro, I haven't used it so I can't tell you if it does the things you want. If I had see your postings soon enough I would have suggested making the purchase and asking for a refund if it doesn't meet your needs. OR asking via email to be allowed to try the demo for a week and then get it at the BdJ price. But alas I am too late.

-tinjaw (May 13, 2009, 08:38 AM)

No problem, Tinjaw. I wasn't ready to part with over $100 anyway. I got engaged in my own idea meanwhile - and I need that kind of substitution engine much more than automated uploading or checking in. Things like compiling help can be plugged into Delphi build process now.

688

General Software Discussion / Re: What are my options for editing a PSD file

« Last post by tranglos on May 13, 2009, 10:31 AM »

If you PM me the file it will be a few minutes work for me to return it for you into a layered tiff file that you can open in most editors.

-justice (May 13, 2009, 10:18 AM)

Will do, thank you kindly!

689

General Software Discussion / Re: What are my options for editing a PSD file

« Last post by tranglos on May 13, 2009, 10:31 AM »

IrfanView surely can save it in adifferent format keeping the layers intact? Seeing as it can display the file?

-justice (May 13, 2009, 10:19 AM)

IrfanView saved it as a tiff, but it looks like there's only one layer. I really know nothing about editing graphics :)

690

General Software Discussion / Re: What are my options for editing a PSD file

« Last post by tranglos on May 13, 2009, 10:06 AM »

OK, Gimp dies on that file too: "unsupported or invalid layer height: -1". Meanwhile, IrfanView displays the image just fine.

691

General Software Discussion / Re: What are my options for editing a PSD file

« Last post by tranglos on May 13, 2009, 09:57 AM »

Gimp should open it too, unless you are hit with the same error.

-nudone (May 13, 2009, 09:41 AM)

Thanks nudone, I'l try that.

692

General Software Discussion / What are my options for editing a PSD file

« Last post by tranglos on May 13, 2009, 09:35 AM »

...without buying PhotoShop, which I sure as heck can't afford and don't quite need?

I've bought a template for my wife's website and will need to modify a psd file to change the text on the logo image. The file is an 8 MB psd, from which I assume I can extract the logo section and change it. I thought I'd be able to do so in Paint Shop Pro 8, but PSP says "Not enough memory to complete this operation" (which is clearly BS; most likely the file format is too new or too complex for PSP to handle).

There is a psd plugin for Paint .Net, but it also throws an error when opening the file. What are my other options?

693

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: New program: ActiveHotkeys (freeware)

« Last post by tranglos on May 13, 2009, 07:44 AM »

I thing Tranglos will get back to Keynote eventually, it will haunt him

-kartal (May 12, 2009, 12:02 PM)

It does haunt me, but honestly, not in a good way. Long ago my wife and me decided we we never going to live on credit, so thankfully we have no loans to repay in the real world, but the feeling I have about KeyNote is like a huge unpaid debt. Or unfulfilled promises, which is really the same in a way. I guess that's why I registereed a new domain to publish any new stuff I do - but trying to forget an unapid debt is rather futile!

694

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: New program: ActiveHotkeys (freeware)

« Last post by tranglos on May 13, 2009, 07:40 AM »

I only wanted to give you thanks for your KeyNote program and tell you that as I am a very active user of that program, someday I decided to download your source and added some funcionality I missed. I did share that new version (fork) in SourceForge and finally in Google Code as "KeyNote NF"
http://code.google.com/p/keynote-nf/

-dpradov (May 12, 2009, 01:07 AM)

Hi Daniel, thanks a lot for posting! I've seen the KeyNote NF thread at DC, but I don't think I ever got your email. It's great to hear that you are continuing KeyNote. I'll add a link on my site to your project right away.

695

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« Last post by tranglos on May 13, 2009, 07:23 AM »

Ok it is looking good however its hits were less than my Eclipse internal search. Eclipse hit the 81 for the same word, Archivarius hit only 21. What do you think about its searching features.

-kartal (May 12, 2009, 10:04 PM)

I haven't found a reason to complain, but then again, it's hard to be sure you got all the hits that there are. The differences you're seeing can of course be casued by different option settings (whole words vs substring, etc.), but you probably checked for that.

The two times I tried Google Desktop Search, OTOH, it was blindingly obvious that its indexing was way off the mark. For some terms it would find no hits at all. It refused to index certain files, even though I specifically included them (or tried to; their configuration was always a little simplistic). Archivarius seems to find whatever I'm looking for, but whether is finding all the matches, I haven't checked.

696

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: New program: eStopWatch (freeware)

« Last post by tranglos on May 12, 2009, 04:53 PM »

out of curiosity, just what is 'Ethervane'?

-lanux128 (May 12, 2009, 03:38 AM)

It's a weathervane for the Internet

It's a domain name I registered two years ago almost to the day, where I eventually want to publish any new apps I write, and make the tranglos site more related to my work, as it was origially meant to be.

I realized I couldn't come up with good names for new apps that weren't already taken. So instead of resorting to Web 2.0 contortions such as Zhaaz or Glurgr, I decided I would just prefix each app with Ethervane, so that I can go back to using good old words from the English lexicon: Ethervane Word, Ethervane Excel, Ethervane Publisher, Ethervane Access... 

(Actually, Zhaaz.com is not so bad! Get it while it's hot, no record on internic as of today!)

697

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« Last post by tranglos on May 12, 2009, 03:57 PM »

(Meanwhile, I'll check for *.py on my own system.)

-tranglos (May 12, 2009, 03:38 PM)

Seems to work fine for me. I created an index of a library of *.py files from ActiveState Komodo Edit distribution. Archivarious appears to have indexed them and finds text in them correctly.

Do email the author, or possibly check other settings of your index (double-click an existing index). Perhaps you have an option set  (size, compression, language, etc.) that unintentionally excluded those files.

698

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« Last post by tranglos on May 12, 2009, 03:38 PM »

I did exactly what you said and it is not indexing *.py files at all. I am not sure if it is a limitation with trial version  or not

-kartal (May 12, 2009, 03:27 PM)

Okay, that's strange. It's a well-known extension and should be included in the presets anyway. My suggestion would be to ask the author - the contact page is at http://www.likasoft.com/contacts.shtml

(Meanwhile, I'll check for *.py on my own system.)

699

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« Last post by tranglos on May 12, 2009, 03:15 PM »

Hmm., I was playing with it and I actually do not see a way to add custom formats

-kartal (May 12, 2009, 02:30 PM)

It's somewhat obscure. Archivarius could do with a bit of overhaul in the usability department, but it's simple once you know where to look

Start creating a new index and follow the wizard to the "Select documents for indexing" page. This is where you pick known file formats. Uncheck the "Inherit settings" at bottom to enable the list. Select "plain text" here, and add anything else you need. Click Next and arrive at "Select file name masks". Again, uncheck the "Inherit settings". There are several lists of extensions here, some very long, in desperate need of filters or incremenetal search, but *.py is not in any of them. So just check "Custom extensions", expand it, and you'll see "Add extension (double click)". Take it from there.

Or, to make things quicker in the long run, in the main window click More -> Settings -> File extensions, and add anything you need. That way you won't have to uncheck the "Inherit settings" whenever defining a new index.

700

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« Last post by tranglos on May 12, 2009, 02:17 PM »

...and the ability to index various mailbox formats is really useful. I have a large collection of downloaded Delphi docs on disk, which any search program would index. But I also have years of Borland newsgroups archived in Agent, and various mailing list archives in TheBat. Using Archivarius I can search them all in one go, without trying to figure out whether the answer I'm looking for is most likely to sit in a disk file or in one of the newsgroup or email archives.