Recent Posts

9526

Screenshot Captor / Re: SSC 4.30 portable Preferences UI locking up_viewing or making changes

« Last post by mouser on May 07, 2013, 02:17 PM »

We'll talk over email and I'll send you a debug version, and then post a report here when we solve it.

9527

Screenshot Captor / Re: SSC 4.30_Few UI questions

« Last post by mouser on May 07, 2013, 02:14 PM »

3) Is the clipart from previous versions 3.x (that didn't make it into 4.x) available in a separate d/l to add to v4.3

I could upload it.. My intention was to make a separate downloadable addon for it, but when I compared it to the new clipart for v4 i couldn't find anything that i thought anyone would really want!  Do you have some specific clipart in mind?  Maybe we can identify a handful of good ones and just include them with v4.

9528

Screenshot Captor / Re: SSC 4.30_Few UI questions

« Last post by mouser on May 07, 2013, 02:13 PM »

2. Sizes & weight of fonts for the object size..
Can you clarify? Do you mean the font size for the property editors on the object tool panel that label the parameters that you can change?

9529

Screenshot Captor / Re: SSC 4.30_Few UI questions

« Last post by mouser on May 07, 2013, 02:10 PM »

Sorry for delay in replying, ok here we go!

1. Rulers.  There are none currently in SC.  I could add some BUT the part about showing selection size, which i think is mostly what you want:

The selection size will update as you drag and select, and you can nudge it precisely using the cursor keys and combinations of ctrl/alt/shift.  You can also select preset sizes from the toolbar and edit menu, and create your favorite sizes to be shown in those menus.  Hold alt while dragging an anchor to preserve aspect ratio.


I could add rulers if people think it would really be useful i just never can think of a good reason they are needed.  Remember you can configure external tools from the Tool menu if you have your favorite 3rd party ruler tool.  If people can tell me a good usecase for rulers i might implement them.

9530

Find And Run Robot / Re: Explicit directory search for parameters

« Last post by mouser on May 07, 2013, 12:28 PM »

Thanks very much for the report john i will fix help file!

9531

Find And Run Robot / Re: Explicit directory search for parameters

« Last post by mouser on May 07, 2013, 07:05 AM »

In the help file look for the topic "Using Alias Action Keywords" which is about 10 down in the "Advanced Use" chapter.

Basically if you make an alias that uses $$1, you can write +aliasname in your search when you do an explicit directory search to launch the alias on the found file.

9532

Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« Last post by mouser on May 06, 2013, 12:35 PM »

Reading SQL Antipatterns:



Nice to read discussions of lots of dilemnas in database design, and a good balanced discussion of when you might bend the "good practice" rules, and why you might not want to..

My only dissapointment is there are no good solutions to many of these dilemmas (at least using an sql RDBMS), as I was hoping to discover

9533

Screenshot Captor / Re: SSC 4.30 portable Preferences UI locking up_viewing or making changes

« Last post by mouser on May 05, 2013, 09:33 PM »

yeah that looks fine.  it should (and from your description looks like it does) obey configdir_default.ini.

but it sure sounds like something is going wrong when its saving its settings..

i suppose i could send you a special debug version of the program to help us identify where things are going wrong..

9534

Screenshot Captor / Re: SSC 4.30 portable Preferences UI locking up_viewing or making changes

« Last post by mouser on May 05, 2013, 07:40 PM »

is it possible that SC cannot save in the directory where you are running it from?
or where your configdir.ini is telling it to save?

9535

Living Room / Re: Camera technology - Impressive resolution of photography of a crowd scene.

« Last post by mouser on May 05, 2013, 07:29 PM »

Very cool.

9536

Screenshot Captor / Re: Create or make 1st background transparent?

« Last post by mouser on May 05, 2013, 05:30 PM »

In SSC 4.3, is it possible to create or make the "base" / initial background transparent?  So it you import or draw objects, save the file in .png & open it in other apps, it won't show any background color - only the object(s) themselves?

Yes it is, though SC does not make it immediately obvious how to do this, and I should maybe make a new blank image dialog that would let you set options on a per-use basis.

But here is how you do it:

• First, go to the Edit menu and choose Resize Image.
• Now check the box marked "Resize Canvas", and then check the box "Use transparent background".  This is the critical step.  It's the fact that this checkbox is checked that will tell SC you like to use transparent backgrounds.
• Now whenever you do File -> Create new blank image file, your background will be 100% transparent.

Tip:
To see transparent areas better, go to "More Interface Options" tab in options and choose "Background Style: Inner Chessboard".

9537

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by mouser on May 04, 2013, 12:50 PM »

Don't go into it expecting much.  It's not really a mystery movie just a low key slow small non-rushed character-study movie.  You are either going to love it or hate it.

9538

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by mouser on May 03, 2013, 11:43 PM »

Cold Weather:


Loved it.

9539

Screenshot Captor / Re: Strange Behavior With Picasa

« Last post by mouser on May 03, 2013, 06:48 PM »

The real question is, what's the option to turn off this behavior, and if there is no option for it? Surely they would have an option for it.

9540

Living Room / Your weekend cheer: Russian dashcams capture human kindness

« Last post by mouser on May 03, 2013, 03:22 PM »

Your weekend cheer: Russian dashcams capture human kindness

from http://www.waxy.org

9541

Screenshot Captor / Re: Win7 x64 and screen shots

« Last post by mouser on May 02, 2013, 01:13 PM »

Great 

I think the best thing for me to do might be to check for all all white/black capture, and show a special message suggesting the possible cause of the problem.

9542

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Quick Paste Menu improvements

« Last post by mouser on May 02, 2013, 12:56 PM »

#1 sounds great idea, i shall add it.
#2 i dont understand how that differs from request #1

#3 are you saying you just want to be able to hide some of the existing quick paste menu items?

9543

Post New Requests Here / Re: Weather Alert (As service or tray apps)

« Last post by mouser on May 02, 2013, 11:48 AM »

I always love watching threads like this -- nice work, BigVent! 

9544

Site/Forum Features / Re: Google ad test

« Last post by mouser on May 01, 2013, 08:10 PM »

 

9545

Site/Forum Features / Re: Google ad test

« Last post by mouser on May 01, 2013, 05:18 PM »

I agree with everything you're saying, which is basically why these ad experiments we do every few years always end with removing the ads.. I just think they convey the wrong message about the site and will scare off the very people we'd like to stay.

And as has been pointed out -- it's especially troubling for our site because the ads so often tend to recommend things that we ourselves would NOT recommend.  Maybe we could solve this by only allowing clothing advertisers:)

Still, i think there's some value in experimenting with them every few years to see what kind of revenue they generate, what kind of feedback they generate, if they affect the site, etc., and see what kinds of options there are.

9546

Living Room / Re: Micro-Fundraiser for the Official DonationCoder CodyMobile!

« Last post by mouser on May 01, 2013, 01:17 PM »

Past the $300 mark -- thanks everyone! 

9547

Site/Forum Features / Re: Google ad test

« Last post by mouser on May 01, 2013, 12:50 PM »

Ok, here's my latest try:


Too much more warning and we're going to get into the silly zone..

9548

Site/Forum Features / Re: Google ad test

« Last post by mouser on May 01, 2013, 09:25 AM »

Ok let's turn the tables on these scammy ads and turn this experiment into a public service  

I've modified the ads now so that they are prefixed by this text (subject to improvement):

"During May of 2013 we are experimenting with showing automatic google ads on our forum threads to visitors who are not logged into our forum. The following ad was not chosen or endorsed by our site, but *might* be useful to you.

Be smart and ignore ads recommending some junk registry cleaner or computer speed up service, or ads claiming they've detected something wrong with your computer. When in doubt, post a question on our forum and get real advice from real people!"

If you have suggestion for better wording/warning, let me know.

9549

Site/Forum Features / Re: Google ad test

« Last post by mouser on May 01, 2013, 08:50 AM »

What I was hoping was that adsense would show ads strictly based on the content of the thread, but that seems like wishful thinking..

Are there ad services where you can choose and approve a small number of "sponsors" each month, and only show ads from them?

9550

Site/Forum Features / Re: Google ad test

« Last post by mouser on May 01, 2013, 08:42 AM »

We might have to cut this experiment short (or switch to text ads?), as the main effect so far is having my disgust for google quadruple.

I see these as dangerous because they're items we'd all recommend *against* anyone using

agreed -- i see this as a real problem -- the ads that google most wants to put on our pages are programs that we would normally advise against.. i guess that's the main point of advertising.. yuck.