Recent Posts

6776

Living Room / Re: Looking at Cameras

« Last post by tomos on July 11, 2011, 02:01 PM »

Well, I'm on camera #4 and I better like it cause I've got no return option (private ebay sale, used camera)
And thankfully, I do like it - yeah, I got the Olympus E-PL2

What I've noticed about (digital) cameras, is that no matter what ISO you use, photos will be noisy in low light situations. But the noise in the Olympus is actually almost likeable (naturally that does depend on the extremeness of it) - I mean it can have a nice fine grain to it when it's not too extreme/not too high ISO.

I also tested the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H70 and while it's a lovely little camera - with a good lens (which was very important to me) I'm just too much of a fussy beggar and wanted a bigger sensor camera with better noise handling. Ideally I'd like both but cant afford both.

(PS anyone in Germany interested in buying a Sony DSC-H70 with about 10 photos taken on it - I screwed up on the return, and will be selling it on ebay - but trying to sell it locally first. Completely off-topic, ebay really take their cut, dont they , at a very quick look I estimated €20 for a €160 non-auction sale...)

6777

Living Room / Re: Windows Live Skydrive: Tried Anyone?

« Last post by tomos on July 11, 2011, 01:42 PM »

Whatever you think about Skdrive remember it is MS and personally I don't trust them with my data since they lost a whole pile of community websites after a server failure (and didn't have backups).

I hope they learned the lesson (I certainly did - which is why I will never trust them to look after my files again - and that includes Office 360 or Office Live).

-Carol Haynes (July 11, 2011, 07:21 AM)

who do you trust (?!)
... a sort of a rhetorical question I guess

6778

General Software Discussion / Re: What is Mozilla trying to do?

« Last post by tomos on July 09, 2011, 04:47 PM »

Today I updated my Mozilla Thunderbird to the brand new version 3.1.11, and was surprised to see that version 5 now is available. Even a so-called 5 Final. And here I was waiting for my extensions to be updated for version 4!

https://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/

-Curt (June 29, 2011, 05:05 AM)

my most wanted extension (attachment extractor) now works with v.5 so I took the leap.
Looks a lot cleaner (different fonts?) and fixed a bug here where selected non-tagged item was invisible i.e. all dark, text didnt go bright
(or maybe that was caused by one of the extensions that werent upgraded...)

6779

General Software Discussion / Re: SpiderOak - very nice people =)

« Last post by tomos on July 09, 2011, 10:15 AM »

have you reported the problem to SpiderOak?

Yep. Emailed their support.  Awaiting a response...

-kyrathaba (July 09, 2011, 08:41 AM)

Let us know how you get on!
(btw, I asked that cause it's the kind of thing I would do - complain here but not report it reminds me I've got to report a couple of dopus bugs...)

6780

Living Room / Re: Monitor Choices -- Go For Touch Screen?

« Last post by tomos on July 09, 2011, 01:42 AM »

FWIW, I read a few reviews lately.
Summary was it's important how much & how easily the screen can be tilted (for easier access). But then you may have a problem with viewing angle, depending on your setup. If you pay for a panel with better viewing angles, you're into bigger money.

6781

General Software Discussion / Re: SpiderOak - very nice people =)

« Last post by tomos on July 09, 2011, 01:20 AM »

I'm back down to 8GB, which the SpiderOak app has been telling me is the maximum amount of free space I can have.  That's fine by me.  They had to set the limit somewhere.  My only minor irritation was that for several days it let me have 10GB of stuff backed up.  To me, that's a bug.

-kyrathaba (July 08, 2011, 07:16 AM)

have you reported the problem to SpiderOak?

6782

Living Room / Re: More ammunition why patents are EVIL

« Last post by tomos on July 07, 2011, 04:28 PM »

When it comes to medicine, one has to wonder just how genuine the "we want to help people" thing is. I simply can't stomach it. e.g. http://burzynskimovie.com/ - A very scary thing there... One has to wonder what kind of motivations are behind the FDA's attempts to stamp out a single doctor. Big Pharma with patent concerns?

-Renegade (July 06, 2011, 03:02 PM)

a very impressive film.
Burzynski already had a patent for his findings, yet 11 further patents for the same compounds were given to the National Cancer Institute in the 90's. While that was happening, the FDA were basically trying to bankrupt him with 99.99% groundless court cases and grand jurys. (Theory being: in the hope that he wouldnt be able to afford to fight his patent claim.)
Since then, FDA trials have taken place, and have been approved to proceed to phase III (final phase), dont know how long that takes, but sounds like it's going in the right direction.
Wow, a possible cure for cancer (well worth stealing )

When it comes to medicine, one has to wonder just how genuine the "we want to help people" thing is. [...] But that's an extension from patents to the market, and how things can go horribly wrong in the process there.

Capitalism is very successful in making rich people richer, but almost completely blind to the needs of the sick, most especially if they're poor.

-rjbull (July 07, 2011, 03:44 PM)

seems to be the way

6783

General Software Discussion / Re: alternative to filehamster?

« Last post by tomos on July 07, 2011, 09:12 AM »

FileHamster seems to do a pretty good job when it does its job right.. The problem is i simply cannot afford to roll the dice and have a 25% chance that the file i counted on it revisioning was simply skipped for random reasons..

-mouser (July 07, 2011, 09:00 AM)

agreed

6784

General Software Discussion / Re: alternative to filehamster?

« Last post by tomos on July 07, 2011, 03:09 AM »

It was supposed to be monitoring a set of files, and all the settings seem to show it is, but its randomly ignoring files that changed, grabbing changes sometimes.. ignoring some files revisioning others, etc.

-mouser (July 06, 2011, 09:37 PM)

mouser, what filetype/app was it that had the problems? Generally support for problems is good at their forums.

With file hamster, I always get it to show notification "bubble" (default setting) - that way if there is a problem I would normally notice - it doesnt show if no backup is made.

FH had problems here with an app that saves to "temp0" first and then saves the final file (sometimes it backed it up, sometimes not). There are 'delay' settings you can change that could help, but best ask the developers.

I also had a problem lately where a "Library"/backup just didnt work at all - I find it a total PIA to check the settings (my brain doesnt function with "true" or "false"), so I ended up creating a new backup and copying my backup files over. None of which was very user friendly. Overall though, for the amount I use it (every work day, for a few years now) I'm reasonably happy with it.

6785

Living Room / Re: More ammunition why patents are EVIL

« Last post by tomos on July 06, 2011, 04:47 PM »

Pretty off-topic but just a quick comment on the above -
The other side of the coin is that you get a lot of pretty crazy conspiracy theories.
Which is why I avoid the term "Big Pharma"...
Of course,
I wouldnt trust any big corporation with anything else, so I especially wouldnt trust them with my health.

6786

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge: De-stress

« Last post by tomos on July 06, 2011, 11:00 AM »

^ Tom quakes in his boots

6787

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Pledge: De-stress

« Last post by tomos on July 06, 2011, 10:06 AM »

promise to stress-test it

6788

General Software Discussion / Re: Opera 11.5 Released

« Last post by tomos on July 06, 2011, 06:02 AM »

In opera:config , type   dropdown  in quick search and toggle  "Dropdown Button In Addressfield"

-NigelH (July 06, 2011, 05:41 AM)

that one worked, thanks Nigel

6789

Living Room / Re: nearby lightning skrike kills neighbours computers (and mine)

« Last post by tomos on July 06, 2011, 04:31 AM »

^ sounds really great, enjoy it

6790

General Software Discussion / Re: Opera 11.5 Released

« Last post by tomos on July 06, 2011, 04:22 AM »

anyone know how to show the drop-down arrow in the addressbar - or if it's possible to get it back. I never use it myself, but have Opera installed on someone elses machine and they really miss it...

-tomos (July 06, 2011, 03:23 AM)

OK, I'm sure this isn't the reason, but make sure they have visited some addresses to populate it!  (Hey: it's 5 am here!)

-J-Mac (July 06, 2011, 04:06 AM)

it's always good to rule out the obvious!
thankfully it's not 5am here
Apparently it changed in 11.5 - drop-down arrow is definitely not there now (on my 11.5 install).

Another thing it has always (I think) done is it shows bookmarks before frequently visited sites in the drop-down list. That's not very friendly, considering, as others have complained, it loads up new unwanted bookmarks on each upgrade.

6791

General Software Discussion / Re: Opera 11.5 Released

« Last post by tomos on July 06, 2011, 03:23 AM »

anyone know how to show the drop-down arrow in the addressbar - or if it's possible to get it back. I never use it myself, but have Opera installed on someone elses machine and they really miss it...

6792

Living Room / Re: nearby lightning skrike kills neighbours computers (and mine)

« Last post by tomos on July 06, 2011, 02:58 AM »

More importantly, the 30" monitor has arrived and it's amazing. A dream come true. I've wanted one for years.

-nudone (July 06, 2011, 12:46 AM)

veering off-topic - I'm curious what did you get?

6793

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: WaggleImage on Bits du Jour (Nov 18 2008)

« Last post by tomos on July 05, 2011, 08:42 AM »

I'd even be happy enough if I knew I could extract the files e.g. in chronological order.

-tomos (July 05, 2011, 07:18 AM)

I will get one of the developers to put together an export module for you. Will post a message here when it is up on our site.

-WaggleSoft (July 05, 2011, 07:41 AM)

wow, thanks
For something like this it can only be good - many people want to go paperless so it's a great reasurance if one can export (paradoxically perhaps, it's one more reason to use and stick with the software)

6794

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: WaggleImage on Bits du Jour (Nov 18 2008)

« Last post by tomos on July 05, 2011, 07:18 AM »

...the absence of export is also a big problem for me...

-tomos (July 05, 2011, 07:02 AM)

I'd even be happy enough if I knew I could extract the files e.g. in chronological order.


Like iphigenie, I often use "capture from camera" rather than scanning. Would these images be OCR'd? (I'm not sure from your answer below). Thanks in advance.

I produce most of my documents through writing/printing to pdt/capture from web/capture from camera rather than scanning so I am wondering - are the benefits more on the scan/ocr/index side of the process or are the tag/organise/dispatch features also worth it (of course at 9.99 it is a bargain and I could try, but each software bought does demand time to learn, so I better check)

It mainly about organization, management and fast searching of documents. It can import documents and images from the file system but I am not sure if it will benefit you directly. It all depends on the number of documents you have. There are some nifty features that may be of use such as the advanced printing and the ability to email images as PDF's but it really is touch and go for your situation.

-WaggleSoft (July 04, 2011, 06:18 AM)

6795

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: WaggleImage on Bits du Jour (Nov 18 2008)

« Last post by tomos on July 05, 2011, 07:02 AM »

Thank you to everyone who purchased the product. We decided to extend the special for another 24 hours after receiving a large number of requests for the special after it closed.

-WaggleSoft (July 05, 2011, 06:36 AM)

Thanks, I took advantage of this - I meant to get it yesterday but got distracted.

I'm not sure will I use it - the absence of export is also a big problem for me. The DMS you talk about is an extra piece of software and sounds like overkill for my needs...

6796

Living Room / Re: nearby lightning skrike kills neighbours computers (and mine)

« Last post by tomos on July 04, 2011, 03:03 PM »

I'm beginning to really hate computers. I think I'll just go and bury my head in the sand...

-nudone (July 04, 2011, 02:32 PM)

know that feeling (with sympathies)

6797

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by tomos on July 04, 2011, 10:56 AM »

heard an album from this guy over the weekend (Agadez)
he gets into a groove and just stays there

Bombino, "Tar Hani" Live (just in case - the music starts @ 0:22)

6798

Adventures of Baby Cody / Re: Baby Cody needs a place to visit!

« Last post by tomos on July 03, 2011, 01:36 PM »

Baby Brian won't stop laughing

-IainB (July 02, 2011, 08:54 PM)

 

6799

Living Room / Re: Sita Sings the Blues - A FREE Movie

« Last post by tomos on July 03, 2011, 01:34 PM »

Well worth the download if you have the bandwidth . . . to grab the HD 4Gb version

-40hz (July 02, 2011, 03:20 PM)

dont think it depends so much on your bandwith,
as on your

. . . patience . . .

-40hz (July 02, 2011, 03:20 PM)

in fact I think I'll try again when it's not still the weekend
looking forward to having a look

6800

Living Room / Re: Looking at Cameras

« Last post by tomos on July 02, 2011, 04:19 PM »

@Renegade: After your suggestion (above) about the SLR route, I thought of recommending the Olympus E-620, but then I did a comparison with your Nikon D5000:
Comparison: Nikon D5000 vs Olympus E-620

The Nikon D5000 seems to win hands down with a score of 54:22.

-IainB (July 02, 2011, 05:18 AM)

Olypmus used have poorer high iso performance than the other brands but they have tended to make up for that with much better kit-lenses - actually I have no idea how nikon fares there - I just wasnt looking at SLRs when looking lately...
The 4:3 system has a smaller sensor - advantage is smaller camera and smaller lenses: disadvantage is poorer quality than something like the Nikon SLR.
But they seem to be improving their low-light performance so their cameras are getting more attractive all the time for those looking for a smaller camera...