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9476

General Software Discussion / Re: Recommend portable word processor, please?

« Last post by wraith808 on February 09, 2010, 04:55 PM »

Easily portable from a USB stick, just download the RAR file attached to this message, unpack it, and put the folder (and ALL contents onto your USB drive)
 

-Stephen66515 (February 09, 2010, 04:27 PM)

So... if it's installed on all windows, why would you need it on USB drive?  And if it's able to not be installed, will this still work?

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General Software Discussion / Re: Recommend portable word processor, please?

« Last post by wraith808 on February 09, 2010, 04:16 PM »

Microsoft Wordpad?

This saves in RTF format, its Free, and its bundled on to every windows machine.

-Stephen66515 (February 09, 2010, 04:14 PM)

It doesn't satisfy the first requirement - no-install/portable from a usb-stick.


I use AbiWord, and it satisfies all of my need.  You can find a portable version at PortableApps.com.  It is packaged as an executable, but you can extract it with 7-zip and copy the AbiWord directory from $_OUTDIR and it works just fine.

HTH

9478

Living Room / Re: Someone needs to expand our WikiPedia article

« Last post by wraith808 on February 09, 2010, 03:26 PM »

I read a bit and found out that for the stage of deletion that the page was in, all that was needed was for someone to object and remove the tag.  I also added links to LifeHacker, since reference by a notable site is one way to become notable.  This was just a quick edit- adding references to some of the sites that cover NANY or DonationCoder in general (or the articles, like the interview with David Allen) would help if someone then tries to challenge it and take it through the whole deletion process.  I have a watch on the page also, so it will notify me if someone changes it to hopefully catch any attempts to change the status of the page.

9479

Developer's Corner / Re: Python Language Annoyances

« Last post by wraith808 on February 09, 2010, 01:42 PM »

Well, when we get to the basics of why I agree that implicit variable declarations are a bad thing, at the root of the problem we have the corollary that variables are never explicitly typed.  There is a belief floating around that implicit typing makes programming easier to do and learn, and I can say from my experience with my brother-in-law and his voyage into the programming world that this just isn't true.

In order to explain why the following Python code is bad to a beginner you still have to explain the concept of types:

Code: Python [Select]

1. >>> x = 12
2. >>> y = "13"
3. >>> x + y
4. TypeError: cannot concatenate 'str' and 'int' objects

The error message is hard for a new programmer to understand because str and int aren't tangible. Also, when I'm helping him debug his Python programs, accidental type conversions is one of the most common error I see him make (the second being the indentation problem).  It's quite annoying to have to track these down by first running the program, and having to test every single corner of the code. Static typing eliminates the need for type testing.

In the end I see absolutely no advantage circumventing the few keystrokes it takes to explicitly write:

Code: C# [Select]

1. string x = "12";
2. int y = 13;

Now when the programmer writes: x + y the inevitable type-error message that results is no longer something cryptic.

In the relatively rare case a programmer truly needs a variant type, it is easy enough to just use something like variant or object.

If I had it all to do over again, I'm not sure whether I'd pick to teach him Python as a first language.  I'm not sure if the short-term benefits outweigh the long term handicaps.

I found this argument against implicit type declarations, and I have to say it's better written than anything I could have done: http://bit.ly/abVONc

9480

Living Room / Re: Optimus Maximus

« Last post by wraith808 on February 06, 2010, 06:29 PM »

App, you mean something like this?
https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=420.0
Not quite a touch-screen, but customizable it is!

-Edvard (January 29, 2010, 12:06 PM)

Oh, ew, no! Why does everyone want to shove the one in your first link at me? There are no images on the keys. I like those images on the Maximus...very good for a visual person like me.

-app103 (February 04, 2010, 04:45 PM)

But you can put images on it.  If you look at the main page, the slideshow in the middle has pictures of Ergodex's with images on the keys.

9481

General Software Discussion / Re: "Pointer" Directories in Windows

« Last post by wraith808 on February 05, 2010, 08:21 AM »

I've noticed that going through a junction does cause a speed hiccup- and it doesn't always refresh the directories.

-wraith808 (February 04, 2010, 09:27 AM)

Hm, interesting - I can't OTOH think of a reason junctions should cause speed hiccups... they might involve an extra ACL lookup, and the need to read FS metadata for the destination could introduce a little disk seeking. But enough to cause a hiccup? Hmm!

And what with the "doesn't always refresh" - how does this manifest itself?

-f0dder (February 05, 2010, 12:40 AM)

The speed hiccup manifests itself in the opening of file dialogs or the browsing to the directory.  If I open a file dialog that defaults to a junction, or browse through a junction in a file dialog (or sometimes in explorer), there will be a short pause while the junction is opened.  Once I'm in the junction, it's fine- but that first crossing of the junction can make it pause.  It's a short pause, but it's there.

The doesn't always refresh- If I copy a file to the junction and have a window open to the directory, the file appears in the window I have open to the directory.  In that same scenario, if I copy a file over through the regular directory, it doesn't appear in the junction until I explicitly refresh the directory.  By 'always' I mean that I can't say with certainty that other programs don't see the copied file, but I've had some strange occurences, though it's not frequent enough to override the use of junctions.

I still wonder if the solution is to get the junction directory to recognize the change.  Do you think that AHK could look at the file to see when the timestamp changes, then touch the file again through the junction?

-wraith808 (February 04, 2010, 01:38 PM)

I'm not sure what that means, to be honest.

-Deozaan (February 04, 2010, 08:58 PM)

As for your case Deozaan, I think that Dropbox uses file date/time stamps to see when to update a file (among other things), so that if you changed the file date/time stamp through the junction, Dropbox might pick it up.  That's just a hypothesis, though.  I think that AHK could do this fairly easy... I'm not well-versed in AHK yet, but if no-one speaks up, I can probably give it a go.

9482

General Software Discussion / Re: "Pointer" Directories in Windows

« Last post by wraith808 on February 04, 2010, 01:38 PM »

I thought Diablo II only updated (saved) character data every few minutes anyway. Sometimes I've brought up task manager and chose "End Task" to quit without it saving changes.

-Deozaan (February 04, 2010, 01:21 PM)

CHEATER!!!! 

I've definitely gone longer than 1 or 2 seconds, which is how often D2 is freezing up.

Though I suppose it could be the other files D2 creates, relating to the maps.

-Deozaan (February 04, 2010, 01:21 PM)

I still wonder if the solution is to get the junction directory to recognize the change.  Do you think that AHK could look at the file to see when the timestamp changes, then touch the file again through the junction?

9483

Circle Dock / Re: circledock DELETED ALL MY FILES! help!

« Last post by wraith808 on February 04, 2010, 12:52 PM »

I don't agree. I have often restored a snapshot after mistakes etc and I have always been able to completely recuperate everything.
Are we talking about the same thing ? I use Farstone Driveclone Pro and automatically make a snapshot once every 24 hours plus a snapshot when I am about to install something that could make important changes and this has often got me out of serious trouble.

-joiwind (February 04, 2010, 12:19 PM)

His drive was deleted.  Taking out of the equation what system restore does, for it to restore a drive's worth of data, that data would have to be cached on his system drive.  Even notwithstanding system restore's functionality, that doesn't seem plausible.

Then add in the actual function of system restore, i.e. from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

Note System Restore does not affect personal files, such as e-mail, documents, or photos. You can only restore files that you have deleted if you have made backups of those files.

And you have a cut and dried case for the fact that System Restore is not a substitute for backups.  It will not restore deleted personal files.  Just trying to get this across as a lot of people have that fallacious view, and it's a misconception that can make you very frustrated when the time comes to put it to the test.

You state that you also use Farstone Driveclone Pro.  That, IMHO, is what has saved you... system restore is only there to restore your system- not your files.  As it was his data that was affected, system restore wouldn't have helped him at all.

9484

Circle Dock / Re: circledock DELETED ALL MY FILES! help!

« Last post by wraith808 on February 04, 2010, 11:51 AM »

Another suggestion for this kind of situation in general would be restoring a system snapshot - even Windows restore point could/would have rectified this "disaster", not to mention the many better applications to create snapshots.

-joiwind (February 04, 2010, 11:04 AM)

A windows restore point will not restore lost non-system files, so it wouldn't have rectified the problem- in fact, it would have made it more difficult to retrieve the data.

9485

Circle Dock / Re: circledock DELETED ALL MY FILES! help!

« Last post by wraith808 on February 04, 2010, 09:53 AM »

CircleDock is not an application that a user would expect to be deleting anything from their drive, regardless of warning boxes.

-Veign (February 04, 2010, 09:50 AM)

QFE, and totally agreed.

9486

Circle Dock / Re: circledock DELETED ALL MY FILES! help!

« Last post by wraith808 on February 04, 2010, 09:46 AM »

^ That was a classy response in a very stressful situation.

9487

General Software Discussion / Re: "Pointer" Directories in Windows

« Last post by wraith808 on February 04, 2010, 09:27 AM »

I've noticed that going through a junction does cause a speed hiccup- and it doesn't always refresh the directories.

9488

General Software Discussion / Re: "Pointer" Directories in Windows

« Last post by wraith808 on February 03, 2010, 10:36 PM »

Hmmm... I wonder if AHK could be the answer?  Create an extra file in the directory, and have AHK touch that file through the junction at intervals?   So Diablo 2 doesn't freeze up?  You'd probably experience a bit of lag b/c AHK would have the same problem going through a junction.  But if you set it to only do it every 30 minutes while Diablo 2 was up, it might not be such an imposition...

9489

General Software Discussion / Re: "Pointer" Directories in Windows

« Last post by wraith808 on February 03, 2010, 07:09 AM »

I just tested out using Junctions to point "My Dropbox\Games\Diablo II\save" to "Games\Diablo II\save" and it appears to be working properly as far as the fact that it's the same folder and same files, unfortunately it doesn't work at all with regard to Dropbox recognizing the files are changing and synchronizing to the cloud or to other computers.

Has anyone else successfully gotten something like this to work with Dropbox?

-Deozaan (February 03, 2010, 05:21 AM)

I know that when I use LSE to create junctions, sometimes I have to press refresh in order for the folder contents to refresh if I've gone through the junction.  Maybe you can do it in reverse.  Create the actual directory as your dropbox directory, then create a junction for diablo 2 to point to it?

9490

General Software Discussion / Re: "Pointer" Directories in Windows

« Last post by wraith808 on February 02, 2010, 10:05 PM »

Here is a shell integration for the functionality... I use it extensively.

http://schinagl.priv...ardlinkshellext.html

9491

General Software Discussion / Re: Multiple DropBox instances

« Last post by wraith808 on February 02, 2010, 09:59 PM »

So you mean having multiple Dropbox accounts on one computer?

-Deozaan (February 02, 2010, 09:07 PM)

That's what I take the article to mean.  I haven't done it- but I was just pointing out that there could be a need... and actually if I was less lazy, I'd set it up the way that I said... it's the one computer that I use for business and home that's the sticking point.  If you could filter out what is synced that would work also, but they don't support that functionality.

9492

General Software Discussion / Re: Multiple DropBox instances

« Last post by wraith808 on February 02, 2010, 09:04 PM »

Different syncs for work and home based computers?  I have a laptop that I sync to work and home projects, a desktop at home that I only want home stuff on, a netbook that I only want home stuff on, and a desktop at work that I only want work stuff on.

9493

General Software Discussion / Re: What would life be like without Windows?

« Last post by wraith808 on January 31, 2010, 09:34 PM »

<snip>
Unless you're running MS Office, there are no compelling reasons to use the Windows OS.
</snip>

-zridling (January 31, 2010, 07:18 PM)

Wrong... I can think of *several* compelling reasons other than the MS Office suite to use the Windows OS.  They might not be compelling to *you*, but that makes them no less compelling in my eyes.

9494

Developer's Corner / Re: Python Language Annoyances

« Last post by wraith808 on January 31, 2010, 09:31 PM »

Oops... yeah.  Explicit.  I found that really prone to causing errors on vb if you had the option for Explicit declarations off... and it's no different in Python.  And yes, considering that different editors indent in different manners- indentation sucks as a block method.

9495

Living Room / Re: A simple "Start Page"

« Last post by wraith808 on January 30, 2010, 08:36 AM »

Stop going on dodgy f1nanci@l websites then?

-Tuxman (January 29, 2010, 10:24 PM)

The jokers are out in force! 

9496

Developer's Corner / Re: Python Language Annoyances

« Last post by wraith808 on January 29, 2010, 10:33 PM »

Well, what I can say, is that I took a programmer with minimal knowledge and got him Hello World! (the book on manning.com for Christmas).  I had never used python up until now, but I've been going through the PDF that I received for free with the book so that I could answer questions for him.

The Pros:
1. He's gotten up to speed quite quickly- moreso than I would have expected.
2. It's very easy to pick up- much more than any other language that I have used- and get concrete and useful things done without all of the baggage of most languages

The Cons:
1. The errors that he's had to bring to me are because of the indentation and the lack of implicit variable declarations

I think it's a nice, lightweight language- especially for teaching (and learning).  I do expect him to move on fairly quickly, but this was a way to get him programming and into the problem solving mindset rather quickly before starting classes as a developer.

9497

Living Room / Re: A simple "Start Page"

« Last post by wraith808 on January 29, 2010, 10:20 PM »

  I meant financial institutions and such 

9498

Living Room / Re: Optimus Maximus

« Last post by wraith808 on January 29, 2010, 04:28 PM »

App, you mean something like this?
https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=420.0
Not quite a touch-screen, but customizable it is!

-Edvard (January 29, 2010, 12:06 PM)

One of my friends has this... it's really cool... though the Logitech G13 works well enough for me.

And close to the touch screen concept - http://www.artlebede...hing/optimus-tactus/

9499

Living Room / Re: Yea, I won't be getting an iPad anytime soon

« Last post by wraith808 on January 29, 2010, 04:06 PM »

they seem to be producing plenty of iDiots...

-Target (January 28, 2010, 10:33 PM)

Surely you all realize that it's an iCon!

-cranioscopical (January 29, 2010, 12:03 AM)

It's BAIT, I tell you... BAIT!*




















* Big-A$$ed iPod Touch

9500

Living Room / Re: A simple "Start Page"

« Last post by wraith808 on January 29, 2010, 03:35 PM »

I use Fast Dial in firefox.  I tried New Tab King, but I couldn't get used to it (not to mention that it used pages that I'd rather not see appear every time I open my browser)