Recent Posts

926

Living Room / Re: Just when you thought all the good ideas were taken!

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 24, 2010, 02:54 PM »

My two ideas that I think are good:

1. standardize the basic remote control protocol (on/off, change channel, volume up/down, basic DVD controls like start pause, fat forward, etc).  Once in place and enough stuff follows it you have the joy of being able to use any remote control for the 99% of what you want.  If you need to program recordings or do picture-in-picture, then you'll have to dig up the remote for the particular unit.  But if you just want to watch something, off you go.  Oh, and when you buy a new universal remote (or need to change the batteries in the one you have), you may never have to bother with programming it.

2. standardize a 12 or 20VDC rail in homes - that way we can get rid of all those damn wall warts.  Each wall outlet will have several connections for the DC current along with the AC plugs. USB almost gets us there, but 5V and the limited current make it not quite what's needed. I don't really know enough about electrical issues to know if this is workable, but it sure seems like it should be.

927

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Video Converter Factory Pro giveaway (until Oct. 27, 2010)

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 21, 2010, 11:24 AM »

Did someone pass a rule the UI has to be black with black/navy blue controls?

-MilesAhead (October 21, 2010, 10:43 AM)

You know - I have this problem with a lot of my real-life, non-software components, too (DVD player, radios, etc).  Why have people started to think that invisible controls are fashionable?

928

Living Room / Re: Hidden Taxes... ever considered these?

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 19, 2010, 12:46 PM »

it occurred to me I was subsidizing the government...

-CodeTRUCKER (October 19, 2010, 12:12 PM)

I'm not sure I've ever seen the word 'subsidizing' applied to a government function before. Can a government function be subsidized?  Isn't the entire government subsidized?

Anyway, the usual mode for this kind of thing is to charge a fee for whatever transaction you're performing (presumably the cost of the forms necessary would be covered by part of the fee).  That's been happening since the dawn of governments.  What would irritate me more about your situation wouldn't have been the cost of the paper and ink, but the fact that I would have wasted my time and energy dealing with the office and not been able to do what I went there to do.

929

Living Room / Re: New Supercomputer Accomplishes What Other Supercomputers Can't

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 18, 2010, 06:46 PM »

I haven't read the article, but that thing sure looks cool...

930

PHP / Re: <Script> tag for PHP?

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 18, 2010, 12:03 PM »

you should be able to use:

[Select]

<script language="php"> ... </script>

See Example #2 on http://www.php.net/m...c-syntax.phpmode.php

931

General Software Discussion / Re: EditPad Pro 7-BETA

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 13, 2010, 02:20 PM »

A single license is €40. But I could find no way to change the currency, so my question (to any American reader) is of course, is it $40 ?

-Curt (October 13, 2010, 12:20 PM)

I get quoted US$ 49.95 (I'm in California).

932

Living Room / Re: Funny, Strange, and Confusing Error Messages

« Last post by mwb1100 on September 28, 2010, 11:26 PM »

Funniest fake error message I've seen is courtesy of the old Back Orifice trojan:

  - http://www.unixbigot...org/humour/best.html

Don't forget to scroll down after reading the error message.

933

General Software Discussion / Re: forward email?

« Last post by mwb1100 on September 28, 2010, 08:16 PM »

You should see if Eudora can do this for you.  Many email clients have the capability of filtering incoming mail and applying rules.  Usually one fo the rules that can be applied is to forward the email.

I believe that Eudora hasn't been supported/updated in a while (though I could be wrong about that), but I'd think that it would support this type of feature, though you might need a 'Pro' version. Eudora used to have a free version that had some features removed compared to a paid-for version.  I don't know if that's still the case or what version you might have, but it would probably pay to make sure that the client you're using doesn't already support what you need.

934

Living Room / Re: Double-sided tape with one side to be removed later?

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 30, 2010, 04:40 PM »

most normal double-sided tapes have no liners on either side

-superboyac (August 30, 2010, 03:21 PM)

I'm certainly no tape expert (and I don't have any double-sided tape handy to actually check out), but I'm wondering how that works. Having no liner between  the layers of spooled tape would mean that when the tape is packaged (ie., before you peel off a bit of it to use) you'd have sticky-side attached to sticky-side.  I'd imagine that would make it really difficult to use.

I guess they might have it in some sort of dispenser that spits out bits of tape with no liner (rolling up the liner on some spool inside the dispenser), but I'd also guess that that would be the exception rather than the norm.

935

General Software Discussion / Re: NEED: Microsoft Word (doc/docx) to text converter.

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 24, 2010, 01:18 PM »

An interesting and simple possiblity might be to get a Win32 copy of the Unix 'strings' filter program.  The author of "Pro Git" suggests using it to be able to diff versions of Word files: http://progit.org/book/ch7-2.html

I imagine that formatting is completely shot to hell,  but depending on what you want to do, it might be good enough.

Maybe the SysInternals version would work: http://technet.micro...ernals/bb897439.aspx

936

Developer's Corner / Re: Java and braces ... how do you keep track of them?

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 19, 2010, 05:59 PM »

it doesnt do me much good to see one red brace when I need to do a lot of scrolling to see its match.

-tsaint (August 19, 2010, 05:14 PM)

Of course - I should have also mentioned the "jump to matching brace" command (defaults to Ctrl-b) in geany, which again can help a lot.

Geany also has 'indentation guides' you can turn on - but they don't act on the language syntax, just the physical indenting in the document. However, they can help you notice when something isn't right.

937

Developer's Corner / Re: Java and braces ... how do you keep track of them?

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 19, 2010, 12:44 PM »

I'm using Geany (Linux, text editor)

-tsaint (August 17, 2010, 07:22 PM)

Geany highlights matching braces when your cursor is next to one, which should be some help.  It also has options to "auto-close" certain constructs (including 'curly brackets'). That might be helpful or irritating, depending on your preferences.

938

General Software Discussion / Re: NEED: Microsoft Word (doc/docx) to text converter.

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 17, 2010, 04:23 PM »

I don't think it fully meets your requirements, but might get you part way there.  Windows includes a "Generic / Text Only" printer driver that you can install to the FILE: port.

As far as I remember, it does ask several questions when you print to it, but maybe a scripting or AHK guru could automate those.  Also, generally Word needs to be installed to print the document, but a free Viewer/Compatibility Pack (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891090) may work well enough for you.

Word does have a 'save to text' option that could be scripted, but I suspect that the free Viewer/Compatibility Pack versions don't have that ability.

939

General Software Discussion / Re: Which archive software are we using in 2010 (and why)?

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 12, 2010, 12:01 PM »

they found it quicker and less expensive to just dump to encrypted external hard drives and have them delivered on a rotating schedule by secure courier.

-40hz (August 12, 2010, 10:48 AM)

Reminds me of something Tanenbaum quipped about in his "Computer Networks" text:

Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway.

-Andrew S. Tanenbaum

940

General Software Discussion / Re: Which archive software are we using in 2010 (and why)?

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 10, 2010, 05:29 PM »

Why does WinRar have two different websites?

-superboyac (August 10, 2010, 04:24 PM)

I'd guess that they started out with rarlab.com, and by the time they decided that they should register winrar.com it was already taken by some Indian auto repair outfit (if not some regular old domain squatter).

But why they have different content or why one doesn't redirect to the other - I don't know.  I assume that some marketing person (or people) think they need to keep rarlab.com for the geekier customers, and have win-rar.com cater more to your everyday average computer user.

941

Living Room / Re: Yea, but will your emotional robot mow my lawn?

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 10, 2010, 03:34 PM »

Hahahaaha~!

It looks like a South Park Canadian~!

Will it kill Kenny if you piss it off?

-Renegade (August 09, 2010, 09:59 AM)

It's pretty clear how this robot's going to take to you... It'll start off with, "I'm not your buddy, friend!".

942

General Software Discussion / Re: Which archive software are we using in 2010 (and why)?

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 10, 2010, 03:21 PM »

I use PowerArchiver.  Got it way back when.  If my recollection is correct, I didn't use a free archiver back then because I wanted easy, strong encryption, and if I remember right the free archivers didn't support strong encryption well back then.  I also didn't go with WinRAR because of something I didn't particularly like about its UI (can't remember what).

These things might not be issues anymore - I don't know.  PowerArchiver has a lifetime license, so there's been no reason to look at something else - it does what I need very nicely.

943

General Software Discussion / Re: What's up with Android versions and upgrading?

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 06, 2010, 01:54 PM »

What I've found is a pretty soft implication that some phones cannot be upgraded to higher levels of Android because the phone hardware won't support the upgrade.

-barney (August 06, 2010, 10:51 AM)

I think this is true - an Android build includes a Linux kernel, and the drivers for that kernel are generally compiled in for the particular device. This is really closer to a firmware update than upgrading a desktop OS. A new Android package really has to be built for each device.

944

Living Room / Re: Why do support people never answer questions?

« Last post by mwb1100 on August 02, 2010, 01:03 PM »

My reading of this response is that it's a gentle way of saying, "I'm just a support person - you know as much about the plans for future features as I do".

945

Living Room / Re: lap top cooling pad

« Last post by mwb1100 on July 29, 2010, 08:30 PM »

wondering if she were to slide a baking tray under there, if she could bake cookies with it. 

-app103 (July 29, 2010, 05:43 PM)

If nothing else, you'll save yourself $30: http://www.thinkgeek...tuff/41/ezbake.shtml

946

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: 50% off SyncBackPro until July 28th

« Last post by mwb1100 on July 22, 2010, 03:32 PM »

I would be interested to know if 2BrightSparks would respond to such an email and/or community forum inquiry. As a prospective customer, I am curious about the quality of 2BrightSparks' customer support. Anyone know?

-sajman99 (July 22, 2010, 02:59 PM)

It's been a long time since I've visited the 2BrightSparks forum, but back when I did the support there was fantastic and responsive.  I'd suggest a visit to make sure it's still at the same level (I have no reason to believe it's not)

947

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: XYplorer Big Summer Art Madness! - Lifetime License on 50%

« Last post by mwb1100 on July 17, 2010, 12:15 PM »

Wow - unless you have a friend like Curt, you may need to be prepared to make several guesses for your discount... 

I wonder if this quiz for a discount might end up frustrating more people than making happy new customers? 

948

Living Room / Re: Should Apple recall the iPhone4? Or should the user "Hold the phone the right"?

« Last post by mwb1100 on July 16, 2010, 11:54 PM »

I figured all phones (even my el cheapo dumb phone) would lose some signal if you covered the antenna... though some more than others (iphone 4)

-nite_monkey (July 16, 2010, 04:51 PM)

From what I understand about Consumer Report's tests, the problem on the iPhone 4 seems to have to do with your fingers bridging 2 ends of the antenna that are normally separated by an air gap. That's why a bit of duct tape that covers a few centimeters of the antenna across the gap can 'fix' the problem (and also why the bumper fixes the problem).  I think that there are few phones where you can easily 'short-circuit' the antenna in this way.

949

Living Room / Re: Lists of Forums with help on home contractor problems (roof, heating, etc.)

« Last post by mwb1100 on July 16, 2010, 03:12 PM »

Heating, especially Steam Heating Contractor Talk: http://www.roofing.com/

-mouser (July 16, 2010, 12:20 PM)

I think you accidentally put in the wrong link here (it's the same as the one for the 2nd bullet)

Angel-something or other

-steeladept (July 16, 2010, 01:24 PM)

Do you mean Angie's List?  I haven't pulled the trigger on trying it yet - I wish they had some sort of limited trial, just to be able to get an idea of what the information is like.

950

Living Room / Re: Good TV series. What do you watch? I used to watch Lost to unwind need successor

« Last post by mwb1100 on July 14, 2010, 07:01 PM »

after the success of All In The Family...

-MilesAhead (December 10, 2009, 12:33 PM)

I've caught a few episodes of "All in the Family" recently, and I'm amazed both at how funny the show is and what they do on the show.

People think today's TV shows are edgy because of the violence/gore or sexual situations they portray.  I don't think any of that stuff is nearly as edgy as "All in the Family", and I don't think anyone would have the guts to make "All in the Family" today.  I was  kid when it was first televised, and back then it was just another show to me. Today, I can't believe they were able to make and air that show back then.