Recent Posts

726

General Software Discussion / Re: xplorer2 at Bits Du Jour soon....

« Last post by mwb1100 on January 04, 2012, 01:05 PM »

Ah - I've often heard of VAT before, but never heard of MOMS before - I thought it was some kind of joke about having to pay the 'nanny state' (a term conservatives in the US use for government programs that they consider too far reaching) it's share.

727

General Software Discussion / Re: xplorer2 at Bits Du Jour soon....

« Last post by mwb1100 on January 04, 2012, 11:57 AM »

moms 25.0%

-Curt (January 04, 2012, 02:29 AM)

What's that?  Is that some sort of jokey line item tag for a tax?

728

General Software Discussion / Re: xplorer2 at Bits Du Jour soon....

« Last post by mwb1100 on January 02, 2012, 05:52 PM »

It doesn't look like there's going to be a 50% discount for the lifetime upgrade option on BDJ.

The 'lifetime upgrades' is normally $40 (this is an add-on - you still need a base license first).  If you buy the lifetime upgrade bump when purchasing xplorer2, there's a 25% discount, so it's $30.

If you purchase a license for xplorer2 with the BDJ deal, you'll be offered the normal 25% discount for the lifetime option.

Per the developer, Nikos Bozinis, on the BDJ discussion:

Regarding the lifetime cover, it is not part of the promotion but you can purchase it as a bundle for the reduced price of $30

-http://www.bitsdujour.com/software/xplorer/#comments

So a lifetime license for xplorer2 would be a total of $45 on the day of the deal.

729

Living Room / Re: 2012 WARNING! I'm here and... cough... gack... ZAP! Argh!!!

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 31, 2011, 04:39 PM »

Scared ya~!

-Renegade (December 31, 2011, 07:52 AM)

I thought there were no worries until December 2012?

730

Living Room / Re: If you had a medical implant would you rather it be closed or open source?

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 30, 2011, 12:01 AM »

I haven't followed any of the links in this thread so far, but I do want to say that I used to work for a medical device manufacturer (our site made defibrillators and ECG monitors) and I do want to say a few things:

  - I can understand that patients might like to have the firmware source made available
  - keep in mind that there are in fact trade secrets used in the firmware that could be damaging to the manufacturer if made easily available to competitors
  - the outfit that I worked for took safety *very seriously*.  I have no qualms saying that safety was the primary concern. Reliability was held to a high standard as well.
  - while the FDA didn't directly inspect the code (as far as I know - I imagine that they could request it, and maybe even did), they did hold testing to a high standards. And the FDA could and would perform intensive audits - unannounced - that sometimes took more than a month to complete.
 
I'm not trying to say that the current system is perfect or that it cannot be improved, but I do want to say that there are valid, reasonable arguments for why device software can't necessarily be easily open sourced and that the regulatory environment isn't useless.

731

Living Room / Re: The Christmas arms race

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 29, 2011, 02:17 PM »

A nice bottle of Lagavulin 16 year old single malt with some nifty 'rocker' glasses (so your glass can be as tipsy as you are).  I haven't tried it out, yet.  I'm a little skeptical that it'll beat out my current favorite: Talisker 10 year old. But it'll be nice to find out, I'm sure.

The kit also came with some 'whisky stones' to use instead of ice - I don't drink my scotch with ice, but it'll be interesting to try with the stones.

732

Best E-mail Client / Re: E-mail client recommendations

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 28, 2011, 05:43 PM »

Am I the only one who actually likes Outlook, even though I'm not using Exchange?  Is there a reason I shouldn't that I'm clueless about? (that's certainly a possibility) 

Or is the problem with Outlook because of the cost?

733

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Vipre Antivirus to offer lifetime licenses

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 28, 2011, 05:38 PM »

it seems they gave up the lifetime concept.

-Curt (December 28, 2011, 04:55 PM)

Not if you're buying from the normal "buy now" link - it looks like the option is only gone from the promo(s).

734

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Actual Tools 40-75% off

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 20, 2011, 10:05 AM »

Actual Window Manager is kind of like their 'suite' - it's the whole set of functionality.

Product comparison: http://www.actualtoo...products/comparison/

Note that if you want the Actual Window Manager package, there's a DC Member discount of 50% that's supposed to be non-expiring, so it would be worth while to check if that's still working.

735

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Listary Pro for $9.95 on 17 December

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 18, 2011, 06:30 PM »

Shoot, missed this.  I'll have to check it out after the holidays.

736

Living Room / Re: Minecraft Pocket Edition (Android): 10 Cents (US) on Google today

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 07, 2011, 01:47 PM »

there are modded versions of the market app out there...

-Eóin (December 07, 2011, 12:34 PM)

Do you have any pointers - particularly ones that might work with the Amazon Fire?  My wife has found an app or two that she'd like but aren't offered in the Amazon App store for the Fire.

737

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Google market promo: $0.10 apps

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 07, 2011, 10:03 AM »

Another option might be to download the Android SDK and buy the apps with an emulated device.  I'm not 100% sure it'll work (and it's a big download), but it doesn't cost anything except your time to try.

738

General Software Discussion / Re: Easy Remote access to another PC?

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 28, 2011, 02:50 AM »

For the occasional remote support situation, I've used Fog Creek's Copilot: https://www.copilot.com/

I'm honestly not sure how it compares feature-wise with other solutions, but it has a few attributes that make it work well for me (I only need to do this kind of thing a couple times a year):

  - it's drop-dead simple for the other person to get it going. When I need to use this, the other person I'm helping is generally a completely non-technical user. They just want their printer or whatever to work, and opening an email is about all that I can ask them to do (and have done correctly).  And that's about all I have to ask them to do to get Copilot working.  And if email is the problem, there's a relatively simple code that can be given over the phone.
  - it's free on the weekend.  Since I'm typically doing this for friends and family, the weekend is often when I need this anyway, and if not it's usually OK to wait until then.  If the problem can't wait, it's only $5 for a day-pass, and either party can pay.
  - it uses a server to mediate connecting through a firewall - essential for what I need to do.

739

Found Deals and Discounts / PowerArchiver BF weekend promo

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 25, 2011, 08:53 PM »

PowerArchiver 2011 Toolbox Edition is on sale 'for a limited time' (the email makes it sound like it's good through the weekend):

  - 1 license: €14.95  (about $20.00)
  - 3 licenses: €19.95 (about $26.50)

http://www.powerarch...-international-sale/

If you only need English language support, the non-International version is slightly less expensive:

  - 1 license: $17.48
  - 3 licenses: $23.95

http://www.powerarch...011-toolbox-english/


PA itself has a lifetime license (which is a per-user/multi-machine license if only one user uses the software), the Toolbox Edition also includes a 1 year license to BitDefender Internet Security.

PA has a very active and responsive tech support forum; some of the things you might find of benefit over free archivers:

  - an Outlook plug-in.  When you attach files to an outgoing email, they can be automatically zipped up into an archive if the attachments exceed a configured size threshold.
  - a backup system
  - FTP/SFTP support
  - CD/DVD burner and ISO image virtual drive support

740

Living Room / Re: Hard drive shortage

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 22, 2011, 03:09 PM »

Has the demand really increased, a this author claims?

-superboyac (November 22, 2011, 03:02 PM)

My guess (and it's just a guess) is that if there's been a spike in demand it's due to panic buying and/or speculation.

741

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Afterfall: Insanity $1(US) Pre-Order Benefits Amnesty International

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 06, 2011, 05:43 PM »

I think the only thing you're misunderstanding is what Vashed wrote.

-Deozaan (November 06, 2011, 04:34 PM)

Yes, after rereading I see that now.

742

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Afterfall: Insanity $1(US) Pre-Order Benefits Amnesty International

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 06, 2011, 02:57 PM »

I think that - I can spend 1$ for taht game - even if it will not work I can help charity organization And Afterfall InSanity looks really good ^^

-Vashed (November 06, 2011, 12:50 PM)

My reading of the 'deal'/'special' is that if they don't reach the $10 Million mark then you don't get the game (but the proceeds do go to the charity).  What you'll get in that case is to be able to apply the $1 to the game purchase.

Or am I misunderstanding something?

743

General Software Discussion / Re: Why I stand up for Stallman

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 06, 2011, 02:41 PM »

Both Canonical and Red Hat are bad examples of making money creating GPL software. As they make money not of their work, but of the projects (and work) of other people. If at all they are an example of how to make money exploiting the people that released their software under GPL.
ate.

-rxantos (November 06, 2011, 12:24 PM)

I don't know about Canonical, but doesn't Red Hat actually employ several important contributors?

744

General Software Discussion / Re: Why I stand up for Stallman

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 05, 2011, 08:53 PM »

And rather than having a hissy fit about The Stallman Dialogues, a website carrying made-up conversations based on his "info packet", Stallman has linked to it from his humor page.

-http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/jacks-blog-10017212/leave-richard-stallman-alone-10024721/

"The Stallman Dialogs" has to be about the least humorous thing I've ever read.  It's not funny.  It's not really insulting or offensive.  It's not interesting or clever.  It's just boring - not worth anyone's time.

745

Developer's Corner / Re: Herb Sutter's brief look at C++11

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 01, 2011, 02:09 PM »

Also, "auto" has been in C# for a while now (is it in Java?) - as far as I know, it's been pretty well received.  I don't hear a lot of people saying that it shouldn't be used, that it's been a mistake, or that it's caused problems.

746

Skwire Empire / Re: SFV Ninja (Simple File Verification application)

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 31, 2011, 01:14 AM »

Find me a free, stand-alone commandline executable that will spit out an SHA-256 checksum and, sure, I'll add it.

-skwire (October 30, 2011, 11:06 PM)

I haven't tried any of these, but they may work (they're standard GNU tools):

I have compiled native (no Cygwin, no other dlls) Windows versions of md5sum.exe, sha1sum.exe, sha224sum.exe, sha256sum.exe, sha384sum.exe and sha512sum.exe. Download binaries here, and source (as required by GPL) here.

-http://blog.nfllab.com/archives/152-Win32-native-md5sum,-sha1sum,-sha256sum-etc..html

You might have to pass the `-b` option to force the programs to read in binary mode.

747

General Software Discussion / Re: Product Key Finder (Excellent & Free)

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 28, 2011, 06:31 PM »

most of the above mentioned programs are amateurs, compared to the $25 Recover Keys

-Curt (October 28, 2011, 06:24 PM)

I believe that Recover Keys is the outfit that bought Magic Jellybean and re-closed the source.  Looks like it supports an impressive list of software.

748

General Software Discussion / Re: Product Key Finder (Excellent & Free)

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 28, 2011, 02:30 AM »

Magic Jellybean was forked to another Sourceforge project when it went back to closed source:

http://sourceforge.n...projects/ekeyfinder/

Some history:

http://ekeyfinder.so...ng=en&page=about


I don't know if anything much is being done with it, but there it is.

749

General Software Discussion / Re: SoftMaker Office 2012 BETA testing

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 27, 2011, 01:57 PM »

EDIT/ their comparision page leave a lot to be desired
http://www.emclient.com/pro-vs-free
(link is given on the BDJ page as "the comparison with Outlook, Thunderbird and others")

-tomos (October 27, 2011, 01:19 PM)

The correct link for the competitive comparison should be:

    http://www.emclient.com/how-we-compare

750

Found Deals and Discounts / Acronis Home 2012 and Malwarebytes PRO for $25

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 26, 2011, 11:57 PM »

I got a kind of unusual offer notice... a "pre-order" for Acronis True Image Home 2012 combined with Malwarebytes PRO for $25 total.  You have to pre-order before 31 Oct 2011 and the license keys will be sent on 31 Oct:

    http://www.acronis.com/promo/halloween/

I have no experience with True Image Home 2012.  Like most backup software some people seem to like Acronis a lot, but others seem to hate it. 2012 looks like a very new release.

Malwarebytes seems to be nearly universally well-regarded.  $25 is the regular price for Malwarebytes.