Recent Posts

876

Living Room / Re: Hey, Fonts experts...

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 11:48 PM »

hmmmm... Thanks a lot vixay. Found a few scribbled fonts, but not very nice and readable... I'll keep searching...

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Living Room / Hey, Fonts experts...

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 10:56 PM »

Looking for a special font. One that'd be similar to this one :



Any ideas ? Who knows... Maybe someone here has seen a similar font...

Thanks a lot.

(Am trying to help a friend with a CD launch... Doing the Press Release etc.  )

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General Software Discussion / Re: What's your favorite USB External Storage Device Manager -- and why?

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 07:47 PM »

Aaaaahhhh! Now you're talking. 

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General Software Discussion / Re: What's your favorite USB External Storage Device Manager -- and why?

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 06:59 PM »

I guess it depends what you're looking for. IIRC, it's the Private Bytes figure you really have to look at if you want to know how much the process is REALLY using, since the working set is the amount of RAM allocated to the process + some shared (or to be used) by other processes.

So it would be 13.8mb for USB Safely Remove and 2.6 mb (Working set here is 2.7 -- not much more...) for USBDLM. So USBDLM is less of a resource hit.

[Darwin posted just before me... as I was writing -- interesting Darwin... YOu're getting much higher figures!]

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General Software Discussion / Re: Easy remote access to my home pc?

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 06:21 PM »

LogMeIn works perfectly. I just helped my mom last week. She had nothing to do. Only fired up her computer and made sure that the logmein tray app was on.

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General Software Discussion / Re: What's your favorite USB External Storage Device Manager -- and why?

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 06:14 PM »

OK. I changed the thread's title -- but it's not possible to add a poll. So now the two main contenders are:

- "USBDLM" (free for private use)
- "USB Safely Remove" ($20 for a lifetime license, and can be used on multiple personal PCs at the same time). (Thanks wr975!)

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General Software Discussion / Re: USBDLM -- deserves a thread!

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 05:28 PM »

Maybe I could "retitle" the thread and make it "What's the best USB external storage device manager"? What do you think?

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General Software Discussion / Re: USBDLM -- deserves a thread!

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 05:23 PM »

but not really "permanently" assigning letters to specific volumes in relation to specific criteria, etc.

It permanently assigns drive letters. It doesn't write ini files, but I think it just remembers the hardware id.
 (see attachment in previous post) (see attachment in previous post)

I guess they started with making it easier to remove/eject drives, and then kept adding related features. Here're some more:

- Assign drive letters to devices
- Mount drive as folder
- Prohibit assigning drive letters (like network drives)
- Global hotkeys for each drive
- Always hide devices from "remove list"
- Hide devices if empty (card readers)
- Optionally disallow ejection of card readers
- Re-enable removed devices
- Disable devices if removing/ejecting is not supported (my PCI SATA controller does not support removing drives)

-wr975 (September 03, 2008, 04:46 PM)

Wow. USB Safely Remove deserves a thread too! 

[Edit : it's $20 though, isn't it ?]

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General Software Discussion / Re: What do you use to bookmark and annotate your .chm files?

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 05:08 PM »

What if SQLNotes could automatically decompile CHM files and create an ouline of items with the CHM content... You'd get viewing, annotation, bookmarking and search.

-PPLandry (September 03, 2008, 02:55 PM)

... and more!

Wow.

It would be a very interesting thing to try... And it might be yet another compelling feature... not only for me. Superboyac seemed interested too...??
 
PS : I'd be tempted to put everything in there : pdfs, docs, etc. At the same time, I'm afraid that my DB would become too big... Harder to do quick backups when a DB is huge -- unless you use Delta backup technology, which I don't. So right now "my organizational system" keeps SQLNotes and big documents separate. That's also because I use farr to quickly launch stuff -- programs, of course, but also documents, ebooks, etc. And I'm facing some dilemmas, because searching has become a tad more complex -- I have to make sure I search my sqlnotes database everytime I'm looking for something, because farr won't search into it, of course, and X1 neither. Archivarius will, partly, but I don't use it as often... Anyway.  )

PPS : ...Even if cool, not an "essential" feature... there are other things I'd like to see in SQLNotes first.

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General Software Discussion / Re: USBDLM -- deserves a thread!

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 02:14 PM »

USB Safely Remove

-wr975 (September 03, 2008, 07:08 AM)

Seems like a very nice app (remember installing it a long time ago...). I'm not sure though, but from the description, USB Safely Remove  doesn't seem to do the same thing. It's more about managing drive names, assigning keyboard shortcuts, etc., but not really "permanently" assigning letters to specific volumes in relation to specific criteria, etc.

Here's the feature list :

- Safely remove in one click
- Get rid of unnecessary devices!
- Global keyboard shortcuts
- Correct and clear device names
- The device cannot be stopped right now : close the offending processes!
- Garanteed ejection!
- Notifications about connected and removed devices
- Starting programs after connecting and before removing a device
- Automating work with devices (Command line)
- Working with any hotplug devices - USB, SATA, FireWire
- Displaying volume labels instead of device names, Switching to volume names
- Customizable icon in the system tray

I wonder if it would conflict with the USBDLM... Anybody running both?

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General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ideal backup utility

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 01:48 AM »

But couldn't you use something separate just for registry?

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General Software Discussion / Re: USBDLM -- deserves a thread!

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 12:17 AM »

ahah! should've mentionned that USBDLM stands for USB drive letter manager. Thanks Lanux.

The NoMediaNoLetter feature is very cool indeed.

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General Software Discussion / What's your favorite USB External Storage Device Manager -- and why?

« Last post by Armando on September 03, 2008, 12:05 AM »

[Edit : that thread's title used to be :  "USBDLM -- deserves a thread!" But I decided to cover change to cover a broader spectrum...]

I discovered USBDLM (USB drive letter manager)

I downloaded this program a while ago because it's been mentioned quite a few times. Never installed it.

Finally tried it yesterday. Wish I did that before! I love it. 

   What it is
 

USBDLM is a Windows service that gives control over Window's drive letter assignment for USB drives. Running as service makes it independent of the logged on user's privileges, so there is no need to give the users the privilege to change drive letters.
It automatically solves conflicts between USB drives and network or subst drives of the currently logged on user.
Furthermore you can define new default letters for USB drives and much more.

So many times, after using many different USB drives (HDs, USB sticks...), windows gets all mixed up and starts assigning unusual letters to my drive, which makes backuping, errrrrr, an interesting experience.

In some occasions, I had to reboot to be able to restore the letters to their usual drives (yup : sometimes, it's just impossible to reassign letters using "computer management", as you might all know).

And this is where USBDLM does its magic. Assign letters to specific drives (defined either by their size or by Device ID, for example), and bingo. My USB stick is always U:, and all other drives don't steal each other's letters anymore. 

You just need to edit an INI file to configure the app. Not as user friendly as some would like, but quite simple in reality.

Try it out if you haven't! It works very well. Free for private use.


What's your favorite USB External Storage Device Manager -- and why?

889

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Gizmo gives us Titan Backup for free

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 11:34 PM »

 
There are a few nice threads about backuping. You could have a look at them, if you haven't yet. 

https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=7940.0
https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=1999.0
https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=8997.0

890

General Software Discussion / Re: Desktops V1.0 - a virtual desktop manager from Sysinternals

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 11:23 PM »

I'm using Vista/XP Virtual Desktop Manager now. workds nice

-justice (September 02, 2008, 08:21 AM)

hmmmm... It doesn't work very well on my 2 years old laptop. Slow. Too bad.

891

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: AltDesk 1.8 on Giveawayoftheday (Sept 2, 2008)

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 08:41 PM »

Thanks for the Toolbar skin pointer, Armando  That increases my appreciation of the application 10-fold! I wasn't too keen on the supplied skins, given that I run my XP box in Classic view mode. I can confirm, too, that AltDesk's RAM usage is minimal...

Sadly, I just can't see myself using this 

-Darwin (September 02, 2008, 04:10 PM)

Well... here's the deal    I won't use it much either. But I know it will be handy from time to time. So I've just configured two shortcuts (ctrl+shift+1, ctrl+shift+2) to move from one desktop to the other, and I will only use it when I work on on many projects and have too many windows opened.

And the "Move tasks to this desktop" option (right click on bar>Advanced>Move tasks to this desktop) is convenient when you're finished working in multiple spaces and want to get back to a normal desktop again...

I guess I see that as more convenient choice. The application is not intrusive at all and so I'll keep it and see...

892

General Software Discussion / Re: What do you use to bookmark and annotate your .chm files?

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 03:10 PM »

Sorry I got mixed up as I was hurrying up. What I had in mind at first (before getting mixed up) was :

CHM and PDF documents --> WORD (RTF) --> CHM

http://ypgsoft.com/word2chm/index.htm
But this one is even more expensive.

893

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: AltDesk 1.8 on Giveawayoftheday (Sept 2, 2008)

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 02:55 PM »

Darwin : Exactly. It uses about 4mb, abit less, a bit more... Like I said, I'll try it a bit since I got it for free, but I don't have huge expectations as I tend to not use multiple desktop features for too long before I decide it's just one more stuff to think about (ie : organized my windows in groups!). Still, it could be useful if you work on different projects and really want to keep things separate. And this will be the case in the next few months, more than ever.

Deozan : To me, it works better Microsoft's multidesktop PowerToy, in terms of responsiveness, design, options... and maybe better-simpler than most other solutions I tried... But it's just an opinion... As I don't have the time to do a full featured analysis-comparison at this time. 

 There are a couple of well written and detailed revies on the Web site. These are the ones I read before installing altDesk

894

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: AltDesk 1.8 on Giveawayoftheday (Sept 2, 2008)

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 02:04 PM »

Thanks Lanux. I installed it and it seems to work very well. Light resources consumption. I changed the skin to "Toolbar", so it fits well wit my GUI. I usually don't use these tools after a while but this one doesn't seem to intrusive, so we'll see...

895

General Software Discussion / Re: What do you use to bookmark and annotate your .chm files?

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 01:40 PM »

tslim, here's what it says on the CHM To WORD page :

*  Create Microsoft Word Document From CHM Files Windows CHM  to HTML's greatest strength. As you know, Windows CHM To WORD is designed to convert .chm file to word

* Recompile Help projects: an added benefit for developers and serious users. Windows CHM To WORD provides not just the ability to generate more flexible HTML document storage, but also allows you to generate a completely recompile Help project, complete with all text, formatting, jumps, graphics, keywords, secondary windows and more, exactly as the original author intended them to appear.


*  Convert CHM To HTML: In act, Windows CHM To WORD is Windows CHM To HTML's upgrade version. It means you will get both Windows CHM To HTML & Windows CHM To  WORD after purchase Windows CHM To WORD only.

That means that you could transfert all your CHM files to a big word document, Convert them to OpenOffice format (example) and then from there to pdf.

Of course chm to word is a bit expensive, depending on how much you'll use it in the futre... $38

896

General Software Discussion / Re: What do you use to bookmark and annotate your .chm files?

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 01:33 PM »

I've never needed this sort of functionality so I've never really taken that much notice, but...

look for some browser plugins - I don't know what you use, but i'm pretty sure there are firefox plugins that will allow you to annotate a web page

-Target (September 02, 2008, 02:07 AM)

Yes, there is a Firefox extension that enables you to read chm files: CHM Reader. But I'm afraid it's basic, and for bookmarking, highlighting, and annotation you'll need to use other extensions and/or Firefox's own bookmark system. (I'm guessing here, I don't use the extension. I've only two chm files on my system.)

-mwang (September 02, 2008, 02:29 AM)

Yeah... Might have a look at that too. When I'll have more time. Maybe somebody already uses a similar solution on a day to day basis ?

Hi Armando,
What a great recommendation , I like this UltraCHM a lot.

I have about 30 technical reference books, half in PDF format, half in CHM format.
What I intend to do (a dream for years never come true) is to combine all the 30 books into 1 big CHM for super fast search. PDF search speed is no way close to the CHM's. But in order to combine the books I need to first convert all those PDF books to CHM. If I can have them converted I can then use ABC Amber CHM Merger - a freeware which can merge CHM files quite well.

My problem is I can't find a good PDF to CHM converter.

The best PDF to CHM converter I can find is PowerCHM. But its latest version still has some bug and I have no way to contact the author. (I send about half a dozen emails to the author throughout a year and got no reply), I think it is a dead product by now...

If I can find a good PDF to CHM converter, then I sure will get this UltraCHM. Making note in a CHM is always what I intend to do.

-tslim (September 02, 2008, 09:45 AM)

You could always try to convert to something else (like RTF) and then back to CHM with what's already available (eg : the word to CHM and CHM to word converter link above). Could be a bit tedious though. The only all in one solutions out there seems Help & Manual, for those rich people among us, or those who deal with CHM manipulation for their job, etc.

I think KDE has a tool that does all this. It's called oKular. With KDE4 coming to windows it may be a good solution.

-urlwolf (September 02, 2008, 10:23 AM)

Interesting. Switching to KDE just to gain chm reading and annotating features might be a bit overkill, but I'll keep an eye open on KDE 4 as it might be a good wm to test anyway. 

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General Software Discussion / Re: What do you use to bookmark and annotate your .chm files?

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 12:26 AM »

Oups... double post! 

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General Software Discussion / Re: What do you use to bookmark and annotate your .chm files?

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 12:21 AM »

There might be a market to exploit here... a very good chm reader, with nice annotating capabilities, zoom in-out, bookmarks, etc. Acrobat style, if you wish. 

Something like UltraCHM, but more sophisticated.

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General Software Discussion / Re: What do you use to bookmark and annotate your .chm files?

« Last post by Armando on September 02, 2008, 12:15 AM »

Thanks for the answers.

I haven't got much time to look at that today.

In any case, if I want a cheapish solution, it really seems like I'll have to decompile and recompile the chm files -- as target and shades suggested (using the GridinSoft CHM Decoder, for instance).

There doesn't seem to be many utilities that do annotations and bookmarking for chm documents. I found only one that does that (which is already pretty good, I guess...), and maybe a bit more :

UltraChm ($29.95 ... But it seems that one could use the unregistered version -- with its reminder window to register -- for a while. Using the unregistered version doesn't seem to be legal, but there's no protection scheme : it 's really up to the user to register after trying it for a little while.)






I've installed it and it's basic. Still, it does what it's supposed to do quite nicely. Here's my miniminimini review .

The most interesting features:

- Make note with highlight on the current selected words (really : only highlighting, no real written "annotations" features)
- Changed the highlight color for note
- Erase all note in the current page (No undo! Careful...)

- Zoom in current font size
- Zoom out current font size
(could be convenient in certain cases)

- Bookmark current page for the next time to read

- If you want to print current page, your can preview it first
- Print current page

- Save current page to a *.mht file or a *.html file
- Extract current CHM ebook to html files in specify directry
(could be useful...)

- Read with fullscreen



There might be other solutions, but haven't found anything satisfying yet.


Of course, there are interesting converters like :


- Windows CHM to Word 2008 ($38.95 ...  )
- CHM To PDF Converter (28 eur for the Basic verision... )

[EDIT]And BTW : shades Universal Document Converter seems like a nice software! Just a bit too expensive for me at the moment. ($69 US)[/EDIT]

Will have to look at those, even if they're expensive... I'd really like the Word format to read and annotate.


And there are also... VERY expensive solutions, not at all for me because it's waaaaaayyyyy beyond what I need, and overkill for that simple task :

- Help & Manual

 

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General Software Discussion / Re: Strategies for international travellers regarding new US Customs seizure policy

« Last post by Armando on September 01, 2008, 11:27 AM »

What is the optimun size of laptop hard disk size for swallowing (and how do I get it out again - I may have a big bum but ....) 

-Carol Haynes (September 01, 2008, 02:28 AM)

i'd be more worried with the lcd.