Recent Posts

776

Living Room / Re: Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling

« Last post by cyberdiva on January 01, 2010, 04:41 PM »

Spanish is certainly spelled and pronounced more consistently than English, but it's still possible to make spelling errors in Spanish.  For example, the h is not pronounced.  I remember my shock upon seeing "he hecho" in writing.  It never occurred to me that these words began with a silent h.  Also, s, z, and c (when it precedes i or e) are pronounced alike in Latin American Spanish (though not in the  Spanish spoken in Spain).  I often guess wrong when I consult a dictionary to find a word I've heard.  Still, I've given thanks many times that I'm a native English speaker--I'd HATE to have to learn that language! 

777

General Software Discussion / Re: Apple "blocking" VLC Media Player

« Last post by cyberdiva on January 01, 2010, 08:49 AM »

just remember, all it takes is one house fire or having to move twice in a year to convert the hardcore lp and book collector into an avid supporter of digital media

-mouser (January 01, 2010, 05:30 AM)

Too true.  But a house fire would also destroy my computers, my external hard drive that contains the backups of my digital media, etc.  Yes, I know, I should think about putting a backup elsewhere as well, but though I often have my head in the clouds, I'm not yet ready to put my backups there. 

Happy New Year, everyone!

778

General Software Discussion / Re: Must-have Windows Programs

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 29, 2009, 04:35 PM »

Thanks, yksyks, for your response.  Since I don't have anywhere near the number of icons on my desktop that you did, I guess I won't worry about keeping them there.

And now back to our regularly scheduled topic  .

779

General Software Discussion / Re: Must-have Windows Programs

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 29, 2009, 03:01 PM »

All my computers' desktops are just empty areas filled with a solid color, no icons, no pictures. Since then my systems are more responsive, which was the primary reason to get rid of everything there.

-yksyks (December 29, 2009, 08:20 AM)

Are you saying that simply putting the icons on the desktop slows down a system?  I have a bunch of icons on my desktop, mostly for programs I want to be able to access even if for some reason LaunchBar Commander fails to load.  However, I also have shortcut icons to 17 folders that I access frequently.  If I were to remove the 17 folder icons, would there be a noticeable speedup, or would I simply be shaving a second or two off the startup time?  Is it documented somewhere that icons on the desktop slow down a system?  I'm currently thinking about my desktop computer, which runs WinXP Pro SP2, but I'd be interested in knowing whether this is also true in Windows 7.

780

General Software Discussion / Re: Must-have Windows Programs

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 24, 2009, 10:53 AM »

Interesting list. It might be informative if we all indicate what version of Windows we're running and whether or not it's 64 bit or 32 bit.

-Darwin (December 24, 2009, 10:23 AM)

My list was based primarily on my desktop running WinXP Pro (32 bit).  Thus far, I've put all but three of the programs on my new netbook as well, running Windows 7 (32 bit).

Edit: after I posted this message, I realized it would make more sense to put the information into the original posting.  I've now done so.  If there's a way to remove this second posting, I'd be happy to do so.  I tried, but was unsuccessful.

781

General Software Discussion / Re: Must-have Windows Programs

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 24, 2009, 09:48 AM »

Like app103, I've made a list of the software *I* must have.  I've got lots of other programs I use and like, but in most cases I'd be happy with a similar program.  That's not so true of the following, listed alphabetically:

Beyond Compare
ClipMate
Directory Opus
Everything
Firefox and/or Opera
HyperSnap
LastPass
LaunchBar Commander
Linkman
Magic DVD Ripper
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro
Mulberry
UltraEdit
Web Research
WinPatrol Plus

I hesitated a bit over including Magic DVD Ripper and Web Research.  In both cases, however, I've tried several other programs and found none of them as satisfying.  As for LastPass, I'd agree that RoboForm is just as good, but RF doesn't work with Opera, whereas LastPass does.  Probably the program on the list that I've been most unable to replace is my email client, Mulberry.  It handles my IMAP accounts far better than any other client I've tried (including Thunderbird, The Bat!, Pegasus, PocoMail, Eudora 7 and 8, and Mail Forge, to name those that come quickly to mind).  Mulberry, ClipMate, and a browser are the first three programs I load on any computer (after I've installed an antivirus program and a firewall).

Edit: The above list is based primarily on my desktop computer running Win XP Pro (32 bit).  Thus far, I've also installed all but three of the above on my new netbook, running Windows 7 (32 bit).

782

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

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 23, 2009, 10:14 AM »

Have you installed WDS on Win7 or using the version built in? The Built in version only searches indexed folders by default but you can override that and search all folders.

-Carol Haynes (December 23, 2009, 03:05 AM)

I recently put Everything on my new Windows 7 netbook, and it seems to work very well.  Frankly, I've been so delighted with Everything on WinXP that I never considered using anything else.  I still haven't decided what to use on Win 7 for searches within files, but I find that even on XP, where I have Archivarius, I tend to need to find stuff by file name a lot more often than by content.  That surprised me.

783

General Software Discussion / Re: Eudora 8.0b7

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 23, 2009, 08:58 AM »

Thanks very much, SKA.  I appreciate the information.  However, after trying Eudora 7 yesterday on my WinXP desktop, I decided late last night that it wasn't what I was looking for.  It takes the same ultra cautious approach to graphics that Mulberry does.  While I like that as my default approach, there are also times when I want to be able to see the graphics in a message and am confident I can trust the sender.  With Mulberry and Eudora 7, I have to open my browser to see them.  With many other programs, I can have graphics turned off by default but click "Show graphics this time" or "Always show graphics from this sender" and have the message appear the way the sender intended.  Since Eudora 7 won't do that for me, I decided not to consider it further, and I've now removed it from my computer.

784

General Software Discussion / Re: Eudora 8.0b7

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 22, 2009, 03:21 PM »

Thanks very much, Steven, for your helpful response re Eudora 7.1.  If you learn anything about Windows 7 problems or anything else you think I should know, I'd be most grateful if you'd post it here.  In the meantime, I think I'll give it a try on my XP desktop and see what it's like.

785

General Software Discussion / Re: Questions re Windows 7 Starter on a Netbook

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 22, 2009, 09:25 AM »

I've been using the free version of AVAST on my netbook, which is currently running Windows 7 Starter and 1 GB of RAM (which I'm planning to up to 2 GB, but not because of AVAST).  So far, I've had no problems with AVAST (knock on wood, salt over my shoulder )

786

General Software Discussion / Re: Eudora 8.0b7

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 22, 2009, 08:57 AM »

I am still very happy with the real Eudora 7.1.  Every time I look at the supposed replacements
I go back quickly.  Any reasons to switch yet ?

-Steven Avery (December 22, 2009, 08:11 AM)

Steven, does Eudora 7.1 run on Windows 7?  The web page doesn't go any further than WinXP.  Do you have a paid version (that's no longer available)?

I've been using Mulberry for almost ten years, first in paid versions, now free, and I love it, but it does have a few issues--its not graphics friendly, and it trips over foreign characters if the message doesn't use the correct statements in the full headers.  So I do want a second program to turn to from time to time.  I used to use Thunderbird as the second program, but I'm not liking Tbird 3 (I can't even get it to show me the numbers of messages--total and unread--folder by folder in the left-hand column.  I think Tbird2 did so.)  I also downloaded Eudora 8 beta 7, but it didn't seem all that different from Tbird 3.  Many years ago, Eudora was the email client I was planning to try if Mulberry didn't work out, but I fell in love with Mulberry and so never tried Eudora.  Your statement about Eudora 7.1 interests me. 

I was also interested in SKA's mention of MailForge.  I took a look at the website, and MailForge looks promising.  I don't mind paying for software, but I'd prefer not to do so if I'm just using it as a backup. 

787

Living Room / Re: I'm beginning my experiment with Linux and other OS's.

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 21, 2009, 08:58 AM »

cyberdiva, I didn't mean to sound berating or anything.  I was more talking to myself, sorry.  It's part of the process I'm going through to open my mind up to non-Windows OS's.

-superboyac (December 21, 2009, 12:38 AM)

Hey, superboyac, rest assured that I didn't think you were berating.  I recognized that you were referring to your own thoughts and attitudes.  I just wanted to make it clear that, though I agreed with much of what you said about your experience with Windows, what you said about software didn't really apply to me.

I'm finding this thread very interesting.  Mostly, though, it's reinforcing my feeling that although I have many misgivings about Windows, that OS is probably the best one for me, given my needs and limitations.

788

Living Room / Re: I'm beginning my experiment with Linux and other OS's.

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 20, 2009, 11:38 PM »

Superboyac, I don't feel that I choose software because it's Windows-compatible.  I choose it because it does what I want.  I don't think I've ever had to settle for a different program because the one I wanted wouldn't run on Windows.  Perhaps if I were heavily into graphics design, I might well have had such experiences (or I might be using a Mac). 

While I haven't felt constrained in my software choices, I know several people who switched from Windows to a Mac, and none of them found equally satisfactory software to replace the Windows programs they could no longer run.  Indeed, Scot Finnie wrote about this issue at some length in his newsletter when he made the switch to a Mac.  So no, I don't agree that I'd find equally satisfying programs if I were to move from Windows to a different OS.  It's not a matter of having a closed mind or of being irrational.  Quite the contrary.  Paying attention to what's available for other operating systems--and what's not--seems to me quite rational. 

So while I share your frustration about Windows, I don't see myself making the switch to another operating system anytime soon.  And software is one of the main reasons I'll stay with Windows.

789

Living Room / Re: I'm beginning my experiment with Linux and other OS's.

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 20, 2009, 10:01 AM »

Hi, superboyac.  Your message really resonated with me.  I too have been very frustrated with Windows' sluggishness, vulnerability to malware, and wastefulness (in terms of how many resources and how much power one needs to get it to work well).  However, in spite of having heard good things about Linux for quite a while, I've never given it a try.  Yeah, I'm a coward, but it's not just that.  There are two other reasons for my staying with Windows.  One is the software.  I love the wealth of programs available, the number of people who use them and can thus be of help, and the fact that many of the programs have documentation I can understand.  I can't imagine giving up programs such as Linkman, Directory Opus, Clipmate, and HyperSnap, to name just a few.

In addition to the software issue, there's also something about the Linux world that really puts me off.  When I read explanations of how to do something in Linux, I tense up.  The terminology, the assumptions about what a user knows and is comfortable with, seem very alien.  They remind me of the experience I had back in the early-to-mid '90s when I was doing most of my work on mainframes and was trying to read man pages to understand Unix.  With enough work and patience, I could often decipher what I needed to know, but I hated it.  Perhaps if I immersed myself in Linux for five or ten years, I might eventually feel more comfortable and capable, but frankly, I just don't think it's worth it--life is too short.

Anyway, I'll be following your experiment with great interest and admiration.

790

General Software Discussion / Re: Questions re Windows 7 Starter on a Netbook

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 19, 2009, 08:27 AM »

SKA, I've been using the free version of Avast, first on an old laptop (now retired) and now on my new Toshiba netbook.  It seems to be doing a good job.  It updates its database frequently, doesn't hog my computer's resources, doesn't waste my time with frequent false positives, and doesn't pester me to buy the paid version.   I also have a firewall (Agnitum Outpost Pro), and I run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro as well.  They all seem to play nicely together.  I've also heard good things about the free version of Avira, but apparently it keeps nagging about buying the paid version, or so I've read.

As for which flavor of Windows 7 to run, I'm still running Starter and am hoping that it will prove adequate for my limited needs (the netbook is NOT intended to be my primary computer).  As it turns out, I'm able to get either Professional or Ultimate/Enterprise from the University at a moderately decent price, but I'm not sure that I'd be able to simply use Windows 7's upgrade anytime feature but rather would have to do a fresh install that would wipe out all the programs I've been carefully installing and tweaking.  That's strong motivation to stick with Starter  .

791

General Software Discussion / Re: Questions re Windows 7 Starter on a Netbook

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 17, 2009, 03:05 PM »

Yes, steeladept is right--in a rare moment of sanity, Microsoft abandoned the three-program limit.  I now own a Toshiba NB-205 netbook with Windows 7 Starter, and I've found no such limit. 

Right now, I'm thinking that I'd have preferred WinXP on the netbook, but I suspect that as I become more accustomed to Windows 7 and learn how to work around the things I don't like, I'll probably be very glad I made the decision I did.  I won't say much more now, since I'm still feeling my way around.  One thing that has pleased me is that, so far, all the programs I've wanted to use seem to work fine (knock on wood    ).

792

General Software Discussion / Re: Questions re Windows 7 Starter on a Netbook

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 13, 2009, 11:47 AM »

Josh, thanks VERY much for your very prompt and helpful response!  You addressed the things I was most worried about, and I now feel much more optimistic about buying the NB-205 with Starter and then, probably, upgrading to Enterprise.  I guess I'll put both KMPlayer (my current favorite) and VLC (which had been my favorite before I found KMPlayer) on the netbook.  I might add that I don't plan to watch HD video (at least, I haven't done so up 'til now), so the lag problem may not be an issue for me.

Again, MANY THANKS!!

793

General Software Discussion / Questions re Windows 7 Starter on a Netbook

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 13, 2009, 10:36 AM »

I've been eager to get a netbook for some time now, but I wanted to wait until Windows 7 became available.  Now that it is, I find myself uncertain what I'm getting or giving up with Windows 7 on a netbook. I'm hoping some of you have had some experience with Windows 7 on a netbook  and can help.

Almost all the netbooks seem to come with Windows 7 Starter, including the Toshiba NB205, the one I'm most interested in.  I'm most interested in using a netbook for the following, especially when I'm traveling:

1) reading and sending email (I use Mulberry as my main email client, and Gmail for some personal email)
2) going to web sites (like Donation Coder :-) )
3) playing large video files, some downloaded from the web and others converted from DVDs I own.  I currently play most of these files with KMPlayer 2.9.4.1435.  I'd definitely want to be able to continue to play these files--e.g., when I have a long plane ride.  What I've read about Starter is very unclear concerning its capability to play video files.  I don't care at all that it doesn't have Windows Media Center, but I do want to be sure that I can put a player such as KMPlayer on it and play the videos smoothly.
4) playing CDs and DVDs with an added piece of hardware such as Samsung Super-Writer Master.  I don't plan to take this with me on trips, just use it for adding software or watching DVDs when I'm at home but not at my desktop.

I'm planning to increase the RAM from 1GB to 2GB.  I don't care about Aero, nor even about not being able to change the wallpaper, etc., though I do want to be able to put shortcuts on the desktop and arrange them as I want them.  Will Starter meet my needs, or will I find that I've bought an expensive paperweight?  Also, I've heard conflicting things about whether the Intel 1.66GHz Atom Processor (N280) can support the more full-featured versions of Windows 7 such as Enterprise.  I'm pretty sure it can't support XP compatibility mode, since that's very resource intensive, but can it run, say, Enterprise, on a netbook so that I have access to a few other features? (I can get Enterprise through my university at a reasonable price, but not other full versions such as Home Premium.)

So...should I go ahead and buy a netbook with Starter and see how it works out, or are there too many pitfalls?  Thanks very much for your help.

794

General Software Discussion / Re: Lazarus-type program for plain text editors?

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 07, 2009, 04:57 PM »

Duh...thanks very much, f0dder, for your very helpful message.  I didn't want something that would depend on my remembering to hit CTL-S.  All too often I simply don't think about doing that until it's too late.  But your question about whether UltraEdit has such a feature built-in made me take a closer look, and sure enough, it does.  It has an automatic save feature that one can set to save every X minutes.  One can also say how many versions should be saved, where they should be saved, etc. etc.  I'm embarrassed that I hadn't found this on my own, but I'm delighted that it exists.  MANY MANY THANKS!!

795

General Software Discussion / Lazarus-type program for plain text editors?

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 07, 2009, 03:27 PM »

Thanks to some messages on Donation Coder, I added the Lazarus add-on to Firefox.  Now, whenever my computer crashes or I accidentally press the wrong key and lose everything I've been typing anywhere in my browser, I call upon Lazarus and it retrieves it for me.  What a pleasure!  However, much of what I write is composed in UltraEdit, a plain text editor.  As far as I know, Lazarus won't work with such an editor.  Is there another program that will?  Something unobtrusive that works much like Lazarus?

Thanks in advance.

796

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Babylon 7 - Free 1 Year Subscription ( $ 60 Value ) ( key valid for V8 too )

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 04, 2009, 02:27 PM »

- then your Spanish must be as good as my English 

-Curt (December 03, 2009, 12:12 PM)

Oh, how I wish it were!  Not even close, I'm afraid. 

797

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Babylon 7 - Free 1 Year Subscription ( $ 60 Value ) ( key valid for V8 too )

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 03, 2009, 12:09 PM »

Thanks, Curt, for the info re Avanquest.  I've already got a number of similar programs, some of which were very helpful at an earlier stage.  At this point, I like to fool myself into thinking that I've progressed beyond them  . 

798

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Babylon 7 - Free 1 Year Subscription ( $ 60 Value ) ( key valid for V8 too )

« Last post by cyberdiva on December 02, 2009, 04:29 PM »

I have a license for Babylon (5, 6, 7, and 8.), but as time has gone by I have given up on it. New Babylon versions doesn't *improve*, they merely gets different. Today I use WordWeb Pro 6.

-Curt (December 02, 2009, 06:24 AM)

I have been using Babylon 5 and then 6 for several years and like it a lot.  I agree, though, that as far as I can tell the later versions (7 and eight) don't improve over the earlier ones.  I've never been tempted to upgrade.  

I was interested in what you said about WordWeb Pro 6, but apparently that's just for English.  I use Babylon Pro 6, with VOX Advanced Eng-Spanish-Eng dictionary added, to help me with Spanish.  I'm not familiar with any other desktop app that's as good for Spanish as Babylon Pro.   I'm not talking about resources on the Internet (e.g., WordReference.com) but rather those I can house on my computer and can use even without an Internet connection.  

799

Living Room / Re: How would you improve a standard PC keyboard?

« Last post by cyberdiva on November 09, 2009, 07:16 AM »

Better yet, completely do away with the number block like many laptops do

-housetier (November 09, 2009, 03:35 AM)

This would really make my life difficult, since I use the ALT+4 keyboard combinations to type a number of characters, especially those not found in English, such as ñ (ALT+0241), é (ALT+0233), ¿ ALT+0191), etc.  Without a numeric keypad on my laptop, I find typing these characters exceedingly cumbersome, since I have to go to some bother to make some of the regular keys function as numeric keys.  (As a result, I've added a third-party program, AllChars, to my laptop.)  On my desktop, which DOES have a numeric keypad, there's no problem.  I don't need a separate program for typing these characters, and I don't need to resort to the built-in and very cumbersome Character Map (useful only if you type such characters only rarely).  Moreover,  I can type these characters on just about any keyboard, since they're not dependent on a third-party program. 

All this is just a longwinded way to say that I would NOT want to get rid of the numeric keypad.

800

General Software Discussion / Re: Webresearch

« Last post by cyberdiva on October 11, 2009, 10:19 AM »

I have installed webresearch's firefox add-on but it doesn't work at all.....

-hkay (October 10, 2009, 04:08 AM)

Hmmm....that's strange.  I've been using WebResearch's Firefox add-on with no problems.  Do you have the right add-on?  It should be version 1.05, I think.