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7176

General Software Discussion / Re: Announce: AutoPaste - simple source snatcher

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 25, 2009, 01:39 PM »

I used the 'edit' verb because I didn't want scripts to launch and run.  Guess I'll change it to just open the file for .ini and .txt file types?  I'm just trying to avoid a surprise if someone captures a program and it runs when all he wanted was to edit it.  So I'll try this first.

Doesn't seem to be an easy way to change the default program used to edit a file type like there was in XP.

edit: there seems to be no easy solution in Vista to change the default program to edit a file type.  I've put a question on Vista forums.  Maybe what I can do as a work-around is to put an .ini option for default editor.  I'll add an Editor= option and just put the complete path to your editor.  That should work until I find out what's what.  I don't comprehend why they keep fixing stuff that isn't broken.  Sheesh!!

7177

General Software Discussion / Re: easy saving text

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 24, 2009, 05:25 PM »

@kalos I added some features to AutoPaste and I've renamed it SourceSnap.  As it is now, it will perform the initial function you requested. You can select text and hit a hotkey.  The text will be appended to a file, preceded and followed by a new line.  The name of the file that collects the snippets can be changed via the Tray Menu.  Also there's a Tray Command to edit the Snapfile(what I call the snippet file) in the associated editor.  If you'd like to try it you can download from this page:

http://www.favessoft.com/hotkeys.html

Just scroll to the bottom to the SourceSnap link.

As is all the stuff on my site, it's fully enabled and free for you to use at your own risk. 

7178

General Software Discussion / Re: Announce: AutoPaste - simple source snatcher

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 24, 2009, 05:18 PM »

Note that I made some improvements and changed the name to SourceSnap.  I just think it sounds snappier than AutoPaste, esp. since I already have a "paste thing" called Pasty. 

Now it has 2 save methods.  Save selection to a new file, or append snippet to the snap file.  You can open either the last saved file or snap file in the associated editor using the Tray Menu.  There's also a hotkey for editing the last saved file.

It's just a convenience utility, not any kind of snippet database.

To download scroll to the bottom of this page:
http://www.favessoft.com/hotkeys.html

7179

General Software Discussion / Re: easy saving text

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 24, 2009, 11:52 AM »

Also check out sites like Softpedia.com that have a lot of clipboard freeware utilities.
http://www.softpedia.com

also you could check out this site:
http://www.techsuppo...lacement-utility.htm

Also the forums for AutoHotKey and AutoIt3 have example scripts for clipboard apps I'm sure.  You can download the installer for either and then you would be able to compile scripts as stand-alone exe.  Esp. handy for USB keys etc..

Just google programming language and "forum"

An alternative may be a text editor with an integrated clipboard monitor.  I don't know of any but it's hard to believe none would feature it.

7180

General Software Discussion / Re: easy saving text

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 23, 2009, 07:55 PM »

You could use TreePad Lite automatic paste feature. Once done collecting clips you could then use AutoPaste to save the results to a file.  Currently AutoPaste doesn't append, so you would want to have the contents of the file in a TreePad article and let the TreePad automatic paste append text to the article.  Once done, select all the text in the article and use AutoPaste to write out the file. One approach anyway.  There may be a clipboard text saver that does exactly your task but I don't know of it myself.

You can get my AutoPaste here to see if it may be helpful:
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. It's the last download.

http://www.favessoft.com/hotkeys.html

(or you could just use the TreePad Export article to text file.)

7181

General Software Discussion / SourceSnap v. 1.52

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 22, 2009, 04:48 PM »

This isn't a snippet manager by any means.  Just a hotkey utility designed for snatching selected text and saving to a file.  Mainly for saving source snippets from forums.  Select text/source, hit a hotkey, a File Save Dialog is presented.  Another hotkey is available to edit the last saved file in the associated editor.

Also has a mechanism for appending a snippet, preceded and followed by a new line, to the Snap file.  Hotkeys and Snap file name are adjustable via Tray Menu.  Also has Glassy border on dialogs with selectable background color on system with Glass enabled.

See the Readme for issues involving setting the default edit program for file types on Vista/W7.

http://www.favessoft.com/SourceSnap.zip

7182

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 22, 2009, 04:39 PM »

Strange.  I often get results that seem to complete ok but the authored DVD is not complete.  Many times it just seems to be the .ifo files aren't updated properly. I don't understand why it happens.  One of these days maybe I'll figure it out.  I hope Mr Odwin is just taking a sabbatical. I don't see him responding to the usual support forum and people there pretty much assume it's no longer being developed.  I hope they are wrong.

7183

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 21, 2009, 11:59 PM »

If you tried any of the paid encoders you'd be very disappointed. I've tried them all and HC is equivalent or better in every situation.

-Innuendo (June 21, 2009, 09:52 PM)

I've heard good things about HC all around. I've used it quite a bit with FAVC.  Just seems to be a mysterious problem muxing and authoring at the end of jobs sometimes(has something to do with FAVC not HC.)  Can't figure it out.  But since it looks like FAVC is no longer being developed I'll have to get in there and edit the batch files and quit once I have the audio and video output and just author with DVDAuthorGui or something. If I could get the same kind of results with FAVC I get with DVD-RB it would be great.

7184

General Software Discussion / Re: Announcement: Way Simple Folder Cache for Windows

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 21, 2009, 04:55 PM »

Folder Cache 3.5 has been updated to support more hotkey combinations.

http://www.favessoft.com/hotkeys.html


edit: added some error checking code and a few minor bug fixes without upping the v. number so if you downloaded before this edit, I advise getting the latest.

7185

General Software Discussion / Re: Announcement: ReOpen - Folder Cache, only betterer

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 21, 2009, 04:54 PM »

ReOpen 2.9 has been updated to support more hotkey combinations.

http://www.favessoft.com/hotkeys.html

edit: added some error checking code and a few minor bug fixes without upping the v. number so if you downloaded before this edit, I advise getting the latest.

7186

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 21, 2009, 11:32 AM »

On a related topic, if someone's looking for ways to shrink down DVD9 discs down to DVD5 for back-up purposes I have to say there's nothing better than DVD Rebuilder Pro from http://www.jdobbs.com/.

Only reason there hasn't been a new version in such a long time is because at this point the software is feature complete & bug-free. No one's been able to suggest anything that needs adding.

-Innuendo (June 21, 2009, 09:09 AM)

Also Dobbs is busy shrinking BD dics!  

I have DVD-RB and it's great.  Esp. if you have quad core you don't mind using HC with best profile, since it runs 4 copies! I'm too stingy to shell out for the paid encoders at this point.  Maybe if I get a liquid nitrogen cooled TV or something I'll think about it.

7187

General Software Discussion / Re: Announcement: Pasty - pastes highlighted text into an external search engine

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 20, 2009, 06:15 PM »

Pasty 1.3 available:

http://www.favessoft.com/hotkeys.html

I reworked the hotkey selection dialog to support some dual key modifiers like ControlAlt ControlShift, ShiftWinkey etc.. and added some entries to the main key, such as c,e,r,v,x  allowing hotkeys such as Win+R to paste stuff in the Run line etc..

Please let me know if you find any bugs.  Once used in Pasty for awhile I'll recompile ReOpen and Folder Cache to use the new dialogs.

7188

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 20, 2009, 06:04 PM »

All sort of comes back around to mouser's comment.  If you want bells and whistles and motion menus and fancy packaging the software list is likely to be a lot different than if you just want an easy reliable compliant quality VIDEO_TS authored from a straight conversion.

OTOH if you want to take source material and actually mess with it yourself, that's another matter. That I am not into.  Think the most I ever did was take some audio and put fades at the end when the end of a track was too abrupt.

Guess it should break down into

    --   Straight Conversions
-
    --   Video Creation

and on from that divide

7189

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 19, 2009, 01:06 PM »

Sure, but with DVD format you also get chaptering, which is useful when you don't watch all in one session.  Also, fast forward, rewind work nicely, for divx it may depend on the player.

-MerleOne (June 19, 2009, 10:09 AM)

Try to get one that at least has Divx Ultra support. At least on mine, hitting the Stop button works like with a DVD instead of going back to the start of the file.  Also I can FF 32x and it supports chapters and menus if the .divx has been formatted for that.  .wmv still has a way to go, it will play but that's about all.  So I convert with AviDemux to xvid one pass or to DVD depending on the vid.

7190

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 19, 2009, 12:56 PM »

On the .mpg playback, maybe players are better now at handling data DVDs but I've had players that would only play the first .mpg file in the list.

-MilesAhead (June 19, 2009, 12:47 AM)

We have a better class of cheap Chinese imports here in Australia 

Plus I only write ISO9660/UDF format DVDs, (data and video), so the player never has to deal with foreign formats like Toilet...err...Joliet.

The only problem I've ever had is with the player not liking the DVD brand.

-4wd (June 19, 2009, 02:18 AM)

Could be.  Imgburn seems to do the same if I let it have its way.  I haven't tried it in a long time just because of(bad pun on the way) being burned in the past.

7191

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 19, 2009, 12:47 AM »

I've used DVDAuthorGUI over the past few years. It's a bit different.  When I used it often, I had chapter text files with the chapter times, such as 8 minutes apart, 10, 15, and just pasted the times into the chapter window.  It has some quirks.  Adding titles that are demuxed into video and audio is straight-forward, but you can also use .mpg files that have navpacks.  As with subtitles, it looks like originally supported file types were put in first, then later additional file types were added but you have to drop the list down to see them.  A bit weird until you know the other file types are there.  Still, it's an easy way to author esp. if you don't care about motion menus and just want to take .mpg output from QuEnc or something similar.(another free converter btw QuEnc .. based on ffmpeg.)

On the .mpg playback, maybe players are better now at handling data DVDs but I've had players that would only play the first .mpg file in the list.  After that it hangs.  Maybe it's fixed in the new players.  But if you have an .mpg with navpacks, it's easy to author with DVDAuthorGUI or SVCD2DVD(not free but good for some tasks, esp. taking SVCD input and authoring standard DVD from it.. not so much call for that as there used to be, and the author not being dumb added .avi to mpg conversion. The good thing about SVCD2DVD is if the mpg is good as it is, it just authors without reencoding.)

On all these converters there seems to be one or two formats that make them choke and it varies by tool.  So it's a good idea to have 3 or 4.  For fast it's tough to beat FAVC esp. if you have a quad core.  FAVC comes with QuEnc, already mentioned, and another free converter, HC Encode.
You can set it to launch as many video converter instances as you have cores.  It splits up the input file into that many pieces and encodes each piece on a core.  Kicks ass... although at times you can get muxing spikes.  Not sure why.  Seems to work best if you only feed it one input file. The other downer is it looks like v. 1.07 is the last in the list.  Haven't seen Mr Odwin around anywhere.  Maybe he had to actually make some money someplace.

7192

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Enable 'drag+drop' of text into Win7's Start-Menu Search Box

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 18, 2009, 11:55 AM »

@Lefax32, let me ask what you think of this idea.. currently I have code to prevent more than one instance of Pasty from being run.. to prevent accidental start when it's already running in the tray as most tray apps do.  But I'm thinking since the program hotkey and search hotkey are adjustable, several instances could be run to connect to several different hotkey apps.  For it to work, each instance would need to start from its own folder so that the .ini file wouldn't get confused.  Also the program hotkey(and presumably) the search hotkey, would need to be set differently in each instance.  Do you think that's worth doing, or should I just leave it as it is now?

I try to keep my apps simple because I know there are already complex utilities out there with years invested in debugging all that action.  So I try to limit things to one or a few functions at most.  Just curious if you think it has that many applications or is linking selected text to another app pretty limited anyway, where one copy of Pasty running is enough?

7193

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 18, 2009, 11:15 AM »

I would recommend these 2 sites for information:

http://www.videohelp.com/

videohelp has lists of tools categorized by function, also lists of DVD players with user reviews, and info not printed on the box when you buy the player. It's a bit more liberal on what is discussed.

http://forum.digital-digest.com/

digital digest has good info on burning, media, software and computing generally. On this site it's a good idea to read the rules before posting. I think they were threatened with a law suit in the past because some subjects just will not be discussed.  Like if you post "I'm having a problem with DVD Shrink" the mod will just tell you "see Rule 19" and that's it.  But there's lots of good info and helpful people there if you stay in the guidelines.

Myself, I prefer to burn video with Imgburn and do conversions with free software when possible.  See videohelp.com for lists of DVD players that will do .divx. It can save you a lot of time.  Depends what you want to do. If you need it to play on your player you may want to get a player that does .divx. If you want it to be portable and play on any DVD player, then you're talking about conversion to DVD.  Again, videohelp.com has lists where you can select the video conversion from format and to format from a dropdown list and it will display the software that can do it.  Most software has user comments you can read.

7194

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Enable 'drag+drop' of text into Win7's Start-Menu Search Box

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 18, 2009, 11:04 AM »

...
Oh I'm curious, does Pasty run on startup?

-Lefax32 (June 18, 2009, 05:15 AM)

No, it has no settings other than remembering its hotkey, the search hotkey, and the "Vista color" if you have Glass enabled on your system(Vista/Windows7).

To get it to start with windows just drag a shortcut to the Startup folder in the Start menu. A short while ago I was doing installers with all my apps with options for run on startup, put in Quick Launch etc.. but most people seem nowadays to prefer "portable" or "no install" stuff.  Smaller downloads and just delete the folder to take it off the system.  I have to go through all the apps on my hotkeys page and get rid of unnecessary installers and whatnot.. but for the most part, the apps on the hotkeys page save settings to an .ini file in the same folder as the .exe. I don't think any of those use the Registry.

Usually I note it in the readme if it doesn't use registry but that may not be 100%.  One of the chores I have to get back to is making all that consistent. Sometimes getting the readme info exactly right is tougher than making the program work.  Guess that's why a lot of freeware comes with zero documentation.

btw - glad you like the program. It's nice to know someone uses some of my gizmos. If you find a bug or have some other feedback feel free to send email to my site address.  There's a contact button on my page that displays contact emails. 

http://www.favessoft.com/contact.html

7195

General Software Discussion / Re: fully free software utilities for biz use

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 18, 2009, 12:08 AM »

You'll have to winnow these 2 lists as some freeware may not be free for business use, but there must be some in here.  The emphasis is on freeware that works on the particular OS, so there's quite a bit of overlap:

http://www.vistax64....ware-list-vista.html

http://www.sevenforu...ams-windows-7-a.html

7196

General Software Discussion / Re: Announcement: Pasty - pastes highlighted text into an external search engine

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 17, 2009, 07:58 PM »

More than one way to skin the cat.  I took the approach that I don't really want to know what the external app is.  The only exception is XP Run input because XP is still the gorilla share of the PCs out there and it would seem lame if the program did nothing out of the box.

As another example, I just did a few lines of AHK that pops up an InputBox to get a url.  You set which browser to launch via .ini file.  Say I'm running Firefox and want to launch the current url in Opera.  I highlight the address and hit the Pasty hotkey.  All Pasty knows about my AHK script is the hotkey.

I did it mainly in response to a Coding Snack but it doesn't have to be a search input.  You could do a couple of lines of AHK or AutoIt3 that just activates a window in response to a hotkey.  Select all in a page of source code and hit the hotkey.  Editor is brought to front and pasted.  I think clipboard is one of the largest categories on shareware boards.  The idea is to make it the way you want.

7197

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Enable 'drag+drop' of text into Win7's Start-Menu Search Box

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 16, 2009, 12:36 PM »

Lefax32 if you are still reading.. you may want to download v. 1.2 of Pasty just in case you want to use it on XP.  I had forgotten that the Start Menu setup was changed in Vista. In 1.2 if it finds OS < Vista and the search hotkey is Control Esc then it tries to paste into the Run line in the XP start menu.  I think this version of AutoIt3 I'm using doesn't support earlier than XP anyway, so if OS is earlier than Vista I just assume it's XP and send an 'r' to open the Run line before pasting.

All other cases it should act the same in XP, Vista, Windows7.  It assumes the window opened by the search hotkey will have the caret in the input line waiting for text to be typed.

7198

General Software Discussion / Re: personal favourites start page

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 16, 2009, 12:30 PM »

If it funnels stuff in you need to know, then it sounds great.  Guess I'm a foot dragger.  I got into computers way late too.  I'm too skeptical I suppose.  I should try to adopt some things earlier.  About the only thing I caught onto early on was OOP. 

7199

General Software Discussion / Re: Announcement: Pasty - pastes highlighted text into an external search engine

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 16, 2009, 12:25 PM »

Pasty 1.2 now if the OS is earlier than Vista and the search hotkey is Control Esc, it tries to paste into the Run line in the(presumably) XP Start Menu. For any other situation it assumes the window that pops up in response to the search hotkey has the caret in the input line waiting for text.

Since so many XP systems are still out there it seems silly not to try to use the Run line "search" thingy by default on that OS.

Edit: latest version(1.2) now up on Softpedia:
http://www.softpedia...lipboard/Pasty.shtml

7200

General Software Discussion / Re: personal favourites start page

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 15, 2009, 10:20 PM »

I haven't tried the rss feed thingy myself.  But then again, I got bored with being a news junky a few years back.  It was fun for awhile to read all kinds of newspaper's English editions around the world.  After a time it was same crap different day though.