Recent Posts

8601

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: White Smoke 70% off

« Last post by 40hz on December 19, 2010, 07:26 PM »

Hey Curt:

Not questioning your opinion of the product or your satusfaction with WhiteSmoke.

But I've become incredibly skeptical of "lifetime" licenses. Because there is no generally understood legal definition of what constitutes a product's lifetime. Is it: Yours? Theirs? The OS version it's currently running on? Until they decide to rename their product, pretend it's something totally new, and discontinue the "old" one along with its lifetime license? This last one is an increasingly popular dodge.

Is this illegal? No. Because, right now, it's pretty much up to the company that offered the deal to say how it works.

I've seen enough people get burned on upgrade terms in the last few years (often by otherwise reputable companies) that I have trouble believing in any "lifetime" licensing deal.

Wishing you the best. And very much hoping I'm completely wrong being so skeptical.  

8602

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: Goalscape - Expensive but the best to-do list software I've seen (Adobe Air)

« Last post by 40hz on December 17, 2010, 01:15 PM »

Amazing! Love the visual paradigm they're using. Especially since in my business we do all our project brainstorming/early planning using post-its in a nested circular arrangement very similar to how Goalscape works - sans the dynamic scaling.

It does seem a little on pricey side. (It's roughly twice what I thought it would be going for.) But I guess they're awfully proud of this little guy. And it's always a reasonable price if something gets you where you need to go - and you need its help to get there.

Bloody! One more thing to download a trial copy of and find the time to see if it's something I really need...  

-------

Recently, I've been using a very nice app called Organiser2 by a Dutch company called Dolphinity. One of the graphic designers we work with recommended it highly.

So far, I've been very impressed since it slots neatly into that big divide that falls between a PIM and something like  Microsoft Project. For most of what I do (and the way I work) it's a perfect fit. I could easily see using Goalscape in tandem with Organiser2 for a more complete PC-based planning system.

Dolphinity is a company which has written in-house software to handle tasks that most freelance or small companies will need to handle. Some of these tools are made available for free, in the hopes that it will also be useful for other companies out there.
   ...
Organiser is the successor to Planner below. Organiser gives the possibility to create a tree of projects and subprojects and fill them with a variety of types of items. This enables you to subdivide projects where it matters, to keep an overview of things. Organiser added tasks & Gantt charts and supersedes Planner, being much more flexible.

Organiser allows multiple types of items to be stored in the file, such as Todo items, Facts, Contacts, Tasks, Web locations and Agreements.
   ..
Organiser's strong points:

• A free and less complex alternative to MS Project for projects where require less statistical information (though the projects don't necessarily have to be small).
• Easy grouping of all your actions (with planning) and related tasks into groups that you define and modify as projects grow larger or smaller.
• Supported items include simple todo's, contacts, facts, agreements, actions (tasks with start & end dates), locations (websites, folder locations or even single files), mail, call and payment reminders.
• User-friendly intuitive interface.
• Tasks can be 'Waiting For' to get an overview of things you still require from people (see this tutorial).
• Gantt chart to get a visual look on your planning, including visualization of action progress/overdue actions etc.
• Fits the 'Gettings Things Done' method from David Allen perfectly.

More info here.  Download link here.

Couple of screenshots:

 

 



Click to enlarge:

 


---###---

@PK - Hey Paul! Been a while. Glad to see you're back here - and with another one of your terrific finds!

8603

General Software Discussion / Re: Upgrading RoboForm from v6 to v7: worthwhile?

« Last post by 40hz on December 17, 2010, 10:35 AM »

I'm surprised Mouser hasn't built Robo's same capabilities into FARR yet considering his wunderkind does just about everything else except slice bread and pay taxes.

I'm also surprised he continues to give away licenses for that little software gem when  Siber asks for - and gets - $30+ for a less versatile product.

8604

Living Room / Re: DDOS Ethics

« Last post by 40hz on December 17, 2010, 09:12 AM »

That sounds funny...how can such a black hat technique hav it's ethics?

-PeterRossy (December 17, 2010, 07:47 AM)

Oooo..interesting point! 

8605

General Software Discussion / Re: Upgrading RoboForm from v6 to v7: worthwhile?

« Last post by 40hz on December 17, 2010, 09:08 AM »

I installed KeePass, but I was entirely unable to get any browser integration to work at all.

-CWuestefeld (December 17, 2010, 08:54 AM)

+1 (I think it's broken.)

FWIW I have never been able to get that feature to work reliably either. And that's despite doing exactly what they tell you to do.

So yeah...if anybody has any insights on how to fix this I'd be glad to hear about it too. 

8606

General Software Discussion / Re: OpenOffice.org's Calc cancels MS Excel sheet protection

« Last post by 40hz on December 17, 2010, 08:59 AM »

How can Open/Libreoffice remove what must be tiptop protection code? Not worth much I guess.

-Bamse (December 17, 2010, 08:22 AM)

In this case, I suspect the "protection" consists of little more than a flag which tells Excel not to put the contents of the cell into the edit window. I don't think it's the same mechanism they use to protect an entire spreadsheet.

Not that MS Office's protection capabilities are all that strong. Or at least they weren't last time I had to help a client crack an Office document a disgruntled employee password-locked just before she quit.  

8607

General Software Discussion / Re: OpenOffice.org's Calc cancels MS Excel sheet protection

« Last post by 40hz on December 17, 2010, 08:16 AM »

There's a distinct possibility the reason Oo doesn't recognize a protected or locked Excel element is because Microsoft has a patent on the method by which the cell is protected. So rather than infringe by recognizing a protected cell, Oo just ignores the read-only status.

BTW - didn't somebody (CA?) actually get issued a patent for a method to write-protect a spreadsheet cell back in 2001 or thereabouts? I seem to remember reading about that and the flap it caused.

8608

General Software Discussion / Re: Upgrading RoboForm from v6 to v7: worthwhile?

« Last post by 40hz on December 16, 2010, 04:17 PM »

I normally start new logonIDs in KeePass; less slick, but more versatile, and free.  

-rjbull (December 16, 2010, 02:29 PM)

Agree. That's what I use. And no matter how many other pwl apps I try, it's what I keep coming back to.

Haven't tried LastPass, though.  I thought that was a Web service, and I'd rather have an app.

Also agree 100%.

I do not get using a web service for storing something as sensitive as passwords.

Have synchronized Flash Drive  - will travel.  

8609

General Software Discussion / Re: Upgrading RoboForm from v6 to v7: worthwhile?

« Last post by 40hz on December 16, 2010, 12:52 PM »

As to the upgrade... Their licenses are pretty expensive, and I'm having a hard time seeing that it's worth the expense.

-CWuestefeld (December 16, 2010, 12:07 PM)

I'm glad somebody else said that. I've wanted to like Roboform for a long time. I think it's a fine app as far as it goes. But I always thought it far too expensive for what it does.

I had this same discussion with a few friends last week when one of them began extolling the virtues of RF. Most of us had tried and liked it. But we all (but one) thought it not worth the asking price for the convenience and features it provided.


It does, however, continue to sell - so not everybody is on the same page with me and my friends.

8610

Finished Programs / Re: The Mouser Utility - Requested by App103

« Last post by 40hz on December 16, 2010, 12:14 PM »

Well he is the Mouser after all.

Old proverb: Cats and cooks often come (and go) without saying. 

8611

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for a good no-frills podcatcher

« Last post by 40hz on December 15, 2010, 11:56 PM »

Here's a list of clients - but I haven't looked at any of them.  Podcasting News

Looks like Wikipedia has a similar (maybe the same) list.

-dspelley (December 15, 2010, 01:49 PM)

I've been working my way through those lists along with a few others. Nothing so far seems to be exactly what I'm looking for.

I am still using Juice, myself, simply because all it does is download them and nothing more. My primary use is for downloading free music from last.fm (my recommended downloads feed). I'd like something similar but with the ability to handle unicode file names, which cause Juice to fail.

-app103 (December 02, 2010, 12:22 PM)

I'm going to have to agree with April on this one. So far, Juice comes closest to what I need it for, so I guess I'll learn to live with its limitations. There's only one place I visit where the unicode issue will be a problem. For that site I'll just do manual downloads.

Thanks to all for the feedback and suggestions.

8612

Finished Programs / Re: The Mouser Utility - Requested by App103

« Last post by 40hz on December 15, 2010, 06:40 PM »

Could it be modded to answer to the name 'Peggy' by any chance?  

8613

Living Room / Re: I wish I'd had this when I was learning physics

« Last post by 40hz on December 15, 2010, 05:03 PM »

I think they've been discovered.  

All the download links on their website were returning a 'server error' message yesterday whenever I tried them.  

-40hz (December 15, 2010, 08:48 AM)

same here (yesterday) but it's working for me now  

-tomos (December 15, 2010, 01:37 PM)

Still getting this from the website:

Internal server error. Please contact system administrator.

Has this book hit the torrents yet?  

UPDATE: Finally got it. Yay!  

With my public thanks to all those who kindly offered to send it to me. (You folks are the best!)

8614

Living Room / Re: OpenBSD: Only two remote holes [...] - the rest come from inside?

« Last post by 40hz on December 15, 2010, 12:52 PM »

In the end, it will be the code audit and not the allegations that prove or disprove the accusation.

Right now I'm about 75% confident it will turn out to be pure vacuum.

Not that I wouldn't put it past a government agency to try to pay somebody to insert such a back door. They have their job to do, after all.  

But I'd be flat out stunned if such a blatant exploit could have remained both unsuspected and undetected by OpenBSD for over nine years. Those guys are awfully smart coders in addition to being security fanatics. And they don't go into denial or damage control mode on those rare occasions when something does go wrong. I think Theo de Raadt's decision to immediately go public with the allegation is proof of that.

(Fingers crossed and waiting for somebody to shout: "Stand down. All Clear!"  )

8615

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Selling off Veign assets

« Last post by 40hz on December 15, 2010, 12:42 PM »

...
There will be no restrictions once the sale is completed.  You will be able to do what you want with the applications.  Currently they are all donationware but if you want to make them into shareware applications that would be your choice.

I've thought about turning them into Open Source but I don't think that would work with these applications.  Hate to see the 1000's of hours of work go down the drain because my focus has shifted to web development only.

-Veign (December 15, 2010, 11:15 AM)

It always pains me to see good programming work become orphanware because the developer walked away. And even worse, see a package suffer a slow lingering death because it got GPL'ed without an interested dev team to take it over.

I applaud you for the way you're doing this. Especially for not going the OSS or GPL route with your product. I think you're 100% correct. It's not the sort of project that fits well with the loose team approach most 'open' projects take.

(And this is coming from somebody like me who often does advocate for GPL and Open Source. Yoiks!!!  )

8616

Living Room / Re: I wish I'd had this when I was learning physics

« Last post by 40hz on December 15, 2010, 11:29 AM »

+1 on the MIT courses. I've done three so far and they've all been superb.  

Back in April, the Open Culture website put up a list of links to 250 free online courses offered by major universities. AFAIK, they're all still working. Link here

----##----

Addendum:

And if you're into music, The Berklee College of Music in Boston has some excellent free courseware available here.

8617

Living Room / Re: I wish I'd had this when I was learning physics

« Last post by 40hz on December 15, 2010, 08:48 AM »

I think they've been discovered.  

All the download links on their website were returning a 'server error' message yesterday whenever I tried them.  

UPDATE: Finally got it. Yay!  

8618

Living Room / Re: OpenBSD: Only two remote holes [...] - the rest come from inside?

« Last post by 40hz on December 14, 2010, 07:21 PM »

Does seem very odd that, with all the smart coding talent looking at OpenBSD for holes over the years, somebody hadn't discovered it previously.

Sounds like it might well be FUD. Or sour grapes.

I'm gonna take a "wait and see" stance on this one.

(And if it turns out to be true, I'm gonna adopt a low 'horse stance' - and then punch something!)

8619

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: FamousWhy Software : Famous Questions CMS

« Last post by 40hz on December 14, 2010, 07:08 PM »

@mouser - great article. Glad you mentioned it. Never knew about it until now. 

8620

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: FamousWhy Software : Famous Questions CMS

« Last post by 40hz on December 14, 2010, 03:44 PM »

thank you for your nice words.

let's say our free license offer will last 3 months and yes, we try to improve the script day by by day adding new features and things.

we're actually a pretty small team over here but we use to collaborate with tens of people for ideas, opinions, testing and stuff like that. 

-adi_barb (December 14, 2010, 01:21 PM)

Glad to see you took Mouser's advice. If you're running a business, the single best thing you can do for your customers is to remain in business. And the only way you'll be able to do that is if you make some money for yourselves along the way.

Best of luck with your package. I think you hit on a product that fills a genuine need. 

8621

Living Room / Re: Crime pays - and our governments love it.

« Last post by 40hz on December 14, 2010, 03:34 PM »

Are there any lip readers that can tell us what was being whispered in her ear during that tap dance?

-Stoic Joker (December 13, 2010, 06:46 AM)

"Hey! Wrap it up and let's get outta here. There will be a car to take us to the airport. Be outside in five minutes."

 

8622

Living Room / Re: Crime pays - and our governments love it.

« Last post by 40hz on December 14, 2010, 03:25 PM »

I wouldn't be surprised if the bulk of it was used in various "black op" programs and they just got a little sloppy with their bookkeeping entries. Either that, or it went to programs with such a high degree of secrecy attached that they don't do any bookkeeping at all for them. (No joke. There are classified government programs for which no records are kept.)

And even excluding all the weird Area-51 type stuff, there's still the situation of not everything on the government's books actually getting put on their books.



Look how many years there were hundreds of billions spent on the War on Terror that never appeared on The Budget of the United States. It was all handled "off book" and by direct executive order. I seem to recall hearing that could easily account for a few trillion in additional debt should they ever decide to "recognize" and "record" it in the formal accounting sense.



Funny business to be sure. But with Washington operating the way it has since Regan took office, it's become "business as usual."

 

8623

Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« Last post by 40hz on December 14, 2010, 01:20 PM »

You can read the first few pages up on Amazon. It will give you and idea of Ruff's writing style. 

8624

Living Room / Re: DeviantArt (Silverpop) and Gawker Media (Lifehacker/Gizmodo/etc.) compromised

« Last post by 40hz on December 14, 2010, 11:30 AM »

(God, do some people ever need to get a life!)  

-40hz (December 14, 2010, 09:40 AM)

Oh, but they've just got a lot of life - all over their panties, down in mum&dad's basement.

-f0dder (December 14, 2010, 10:38 AM)

Awesome!    

---//---

Just thinking...maybe the Powers That Be could back off the Wikileaks thing a bit and devote some resources and attention to these guys? At least Wikileaks operates right out in the open, and is pretty clear about who they are and what their agenda is.

About the only thing Anonymous and Gnosis are going to accomplish is to garner sufficient "government interest" that the web will eventually be put under enough technical and legal constraints to guarantee that all future 'web antics' will become the exclusive domain of professional criminal gangs and government ops teams. (Small difference between the two when you think about it.)

 

8625

Living Room / Re: DeviantArt (Silverpop) and Gawker Media (Lifehacker/Gizmodo/etc.) compromised

« Last post by 40hz on December 14, 2010, 11:01 AM »

.