Recent Posts

751

General Software Discussion / Re: Easy photo editor

« Last post by iphigenie on January 15, 2008, 12:02 PM »

I have always liked ulead photoimpact as an "easy" photo editor.

The edit mode of ACDSee also is nice to use - especially things like the hue/saturation/color and brightness tools are quite nice and easy to use with good results. I had acdsee for ages and never used the quick edit mode, then used it once or twice and it is great for quick image processing.

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General Software Discussion / Re: photo duplicate scanner

« Last post by iphigenie on January 14, 2008, 12:17 PM »

I think you could also use a rename-images-based-on-meta-information feature, i.e. use exif date/time to organise all the images, making spotting duplicates easier.

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General Software Discussion / Re: photo duplicate scanner

« Last post by iphigenie on January 14, 2008, 12:15 PM »

the ones that deal with images specifically have the nice feature of showing potential matches side by side, with a quick "yes/no" way to cycle and delete them.

Comparison usually starts with size, meta information (image info) then binary checksum

754

Living Room / Re: is someone stealing my bandwidth?

« Last post by iphigenie on January 10, 2008, 10:52 AM »

You are right about the security but...

I have several PCs upstairs and it gets pricey to plug them all with wifi cards.

Also I threw away 2 netgear (router and bridge) about a year ago as they just would not work reliably when 2 people played WoW on the network. Swapped for another brand and never had a disconnect again. It took netgear about 12 months to admit that they had a bug with WoW so I will not trust them for a while :S I'd stick with Asus or Zyxel but yes, I get your message. I could spend about £200 upgrading my kit just to prevent someone snooping/stealing my bandwidth.

But my PCs are very secure so all that can happen is them nicking some of my bandwidth for a short while... when my neighbours are much easier to attack (default passwords on routers!!!) so why should I bother? Especially considering I am putting cat6/cat7 cable in the walls and just need to take the time to plug it all in

I would never recommend anyone set up unsecured networks unless their pcs are very secure and they have a good reason. But you do get more performance that way, so there are a lot more unsecured networks out there than people ever expected.

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Living Room / Re: is someone stealing my bandwidth?

« Last post by iphigenie on January 09, 2008, 06:24 AM »

It is pretty easy to spoof Mac addresses so it really isn't an effective security measure. OK it will stop the neighbours unless they are very determined but it won't stop people parked outside you home looking for unprotected WiFi.

-Carol Haynes (January 09, 2008, 04:14 AM)

I agree it is very easy to spoof, but they would have to know what MAC address to spoof. That's a lot of combinations and I can't think of a way to find out the MAC address of my machines since they are in a fixed set up and not broadcasting or searching for other ports (most of the connection is wired except between the 2 bridges, and the occasional laptop)..

Also I live in a quiet suburban street and someone parked outside would stand out like a sore thumb, and besides there are easier targets just next door

I haven't played with bridging but what happens if you enable security with the same security protocol and code on each access point?

-Carol Haynes (January 09, 2008, 04:14 AM)

I did try, but pretty much I can either have the security and 54Mbs (effective about 44), or I can have 125Mbs (more 100 effective) connection between the 2 bridges, but not both. Since I am not in a hugely busy area and I dont mind if someone snoops a packet now and then, I figured 100Mbs was worth it, since it is bridging between my office upstairs with several machines, and the router downstairs.

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Living Room / Re: is someone stealing my bandwidth?

« Last post by iphigenie on January 09, 2008, 03:44 AM »

I can't use WEP/WPA because I am using multiple access points with bridging, and the bridging in the brand I have dont seem to work with a key. :S

It's still the most robust set of kit I have had, and I used 2 different brands before that one.

But I can limit both wifi and network access by MAC which of course means that noone can use my bandwidth.
What they still could do, in the absence of WEP/WPA is snoop on the traffic, but that I don't worry too much about.

757

Living Room / Re: 2007: My 'Best of' list

« Last post by iphigenie on December 28, 2007, 05:28 PM »

Best Film:
Days of Glory (aka Indigènes) - only saw it in 2007 even though it came out in 2006

Best Book I read:
"I can't wait to get to heaven", Fannie Flagg.

Best Book I reread:
"The warrior's apprentice" - Lois mcmaster bujold (an old favorite)
"The bean trees" - Barbara Kingsolver (another old favorite)

Best websites discovered this year:
Bookmooch (bookmooch.com) to feed my book addiction & Librarything (http://www.libraryth...om/catalog/iphigenie) to document it and increase my wishlist
DC was 2006 so cant count

Best new software bought this year:
not bought much besides upgrades/renewals of stuff I already had.

Best new free tools found this year:
aimp2, teracopy,

Best old software in 2007:
my usual list,


Best "mainstream" game bought this year:
Lots of good ones this year but "team fortress 2" just has to take the cookie

Best "indie" game bought:
Depths of Peril, by Soldak

Best "indie" game not bought:
Dominions 3, by Illwinter - I would pay the $40 but the $25 shipping just put it beyond reason. That and how crap I am in the demo. Will probably buy it this summer when i go to the US just to support the developer.

Best new game not played:
The list is too long, I shall vanish for now in shame 

758

General Software Discussion / Re: 11 Top New Web Apps of 2007 - from lifehack.org

« Last post by iphigenie on December 28, 2007, 12:11 PM »

I'd say if you use a particular app hours per day you need a desktop app.

If you fire the word processor (or presentation tool etc.) a few times a week to read a document or whip up a quick short memo, then it makes a lot of sense to use an online app. It will never be worth it to install/learn a desktop app for occasional use, and in that case you will never miss keyboard shortcuts etc.

759

Living Room / Re: DonationCoder.com Yearly Fundraiser for 2007 - Advice Requested Please

« Last post by iphigenie on December 19, 2007, 04:26 PM »

right, off to start lurking now!

760

Living Room / Re: Korean scientists clone cats glowing in dark

« Last post by iphigenie on December 18, 2007, 05:05 PM »

There are plenty of glow in the dark condoms out there - I think it would make me laugh to tears 

761

General Software Discussion / Re: houseforge recommendation December 2007: Protection

« Last post by iphigenie on December 17, 2007, 05:04 AM »

Good encryption IS secure! However, the layman cannot tell if something uses good encryption; they will have to trust others. I can tell you that GnuPG and PGP are good. So good in fact, some countries view them as weapons.

-housetier (December 16, 2007, 11:59 AM)

The problem with all those private/public key schemes is the reliable swapping of keys - if I have met you in person then it is easy for me to be sure that the key I receive is yours etc. but online it is a lot more murky.

You have a lot of people making a business of selling validated keys but I know they usually rely on their resellers to validate keys (and many just sell direct online, no validation), and it gets more and more remote after that - so you can only trust things so far...

Which I suspect is a business opportunity for banks as the intermediaries - my bank knows me and I know my bank, you know your bank and your bank knows you - and our banks can probably communicate securely...

762

Living Room / Re: 100,000 users!

« Last post by iphigenie on December 17, 2007, 04:01 AM »

who is member #100000?

763

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« Last post by iphigenie on December 16, 2007, 07:59 AM »

never mind i found the option. phew.
Cant figure out how i missed it before so many times. 

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General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« Last post by iphigenie on December 16, 2007, 05:46 AM »

I have had total commander for years and it does the basics really well and fast.
I am a bit overwhelmed by the plugins and customisation options, in the sense that they are not friendly enough for me to know how to make a good smooth tool out of it. I use some but I find the fact that most add ons appear in "network locations" quite unsettling and confusing.

I tooked at the TC UP package and it shows what can be done, although I would only want maybe 1/3 of the components... I should spend more time figuring this out, but there is one thing that really irks me in TC and makes me use powerdesk regularly, and that is: sorting never applies to directories. Never has. WHY??? 

Anyway, I have started trying a few others, although it seems to me none of them do the basics (browse, copy) as fast and efficiently as I can get them done in TC - I dont want to drag-and-drop files, reaching for the mouse is slow :S

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General Software Discussion / Re: houseforge recommendation December 2007: Protection

« Last post by iphigenie on December 16, 2007, 05:29 AM »

The key point is that you have to encrypt and protect even mundane information - if you only do it when sending something sensitive, it is like a beacon blinking: "look, something worth trying to crack!".

If people encrypted more things it would be more expensive for criminals and governments to just routinely sniff stuff they have no reason to, just in case...

Not to sound paranoid, you never know when something totally mundane like taking a facial cleanser on a plane might become a suspicious activity. Or when discussing innocent topics with friends in a chat room might become a thought crime (eg: discussing games, i recall some conversations we had back in '99 about assassination maps in counter strike - i wonder whether we could have these discussions in irc or icq chat nowadays without the police beating down our doors within hours)

766

Coding Snacks / Re: CLIPSTEP from Skrommel; Script MOD

« Last post by iphigenie on December 10, 2007, 05:24 PM »

I used it and i like the simplicity.
Now and then i need to copy and past a dozen fields and clipstep is just the thing, and with the search/admin its easy to clean up.
 although sometimes it is quirky (on vista) and wont copy stuff.

767

Skrommel's Software / Re: Clipstep & Clipseek

« Last post by iphigenie on December 04, 2007, 02:13 AM »

This works really well, I have installed the Nov 25 version at work as a lightweight multi-copy multi-paste tool
Although the clips do tend to multiply...

 

768

General Software Discussion / Re: Best password manager?

« Last post by iphigenie on December 02, 2007, 05:52 PM »

I tried roboform a while back and I didnt like it all that much. Now as a form filler it is a good product, but as a password manager I wouldnt really use it - I would have to reinstall it to put my finger on what exactly I didnt like, but in part it did feel quite naggy and it didnt inspire my trust...

769

General Software Discussion / Re: Idea request: "Site discovery tool"

« Last post by iphigenie on November 26, 2007, 10:35 AM »

What I really really dream of is the Copernic Agent but with the extra feature of "hide sites I have already seen"

770

Living Room / Re: Amazon's Kindle eBook Reader

« Last post by iphigenie on November 22, 2007, 05:25 PM »

I doubt it works in the bath... >>> back to books

771

Living Room / Re: Gender Genie!

« Last post by iphigenie on November 22, 2007, 05:20 PM »

It might work better onr people from a particular country/subculture?

772

Living Room / Re: To wide-screen or not to wide-screen

« Last post by iphigenie on November 22, 2007, 05:19 AM »

I recently got a really nice asus 20" widescreen and it is really a pleasure to use. There were 22" quite a bit cheaper but this monitor is just awesome - great screen, every possible connector in the universe (probably not but still...), nice space saving foot... they dont do this model in 22" or 24" yet but i hope they do

I dont think I would want too big a screen, first they get me dizzy in games but also the resolution seems to be the same as you go from 20 to 22 to 24!!! just bigger dots, it looks worse, so what's the point?

I dont understand why they can make 15" monitors with 1900x1620 (or is it 1920x1600? something like that) on laptops but you cannot get a 19" even with 1600x...

Although I have been starting to see more and more people and reviewers say this kind of thing, so thankfully it might happen.

I dont have space for 3 large monitors, but I could have space for several small ones and if the res is high it is a lot of information on screen...

773

Living Room / Re: 'Smart Closet' Tells You What To Wear

« Last post by iphigenie on November 22, 2007, 05:18 AM »

could give busy people the edge to get ahead

lol, this summarises a lot of what is wrong with today's world...

774

Living Room / Re: Gender Genie!

« Last post by iphigenie on November 22, 2007, 04:22 AM »

About a sophisticated then as the swedish chef translator or all the 2 minute personality quizzes.

-iphigenie (November 22, 2007, 04:17 AM)

That sentence has a female score of 0, by the way...

I took many of my blog posts, but because the blogs are mostly about things - games, books, art - they are all male. 80% or more so... I'm off to the hospital to order the gender change right now 

And I guess many blogs by men which I read and which regularly mention people (their kids, colleagues, whatever) would be considered female.

Totally silly, and in a way rather unfair to both genders...

775

Living Room / Re: Gender Genie!

« Last post by iphigenie on November 22, 2007, 04:17 AM »

About a sophisticated then as the swedish chef translator or all the 2 minute personality quizzes.