Recent Posts

976

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Xara Xtreme 5 Giveaway

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 16, 2012, 04:46 AM »

I couldn't even get to the website with Google Chrome! Opera got me there and download was fine.

977

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Xara Xtreme 5 Giveaway

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 15, 2012, 08:36 PM »

There are two producst with the same name - one branded Xara the other Magix.

Since Xara was bought by Magix they still sell under different names but they are (AFAICS) the same product.

978

General Software Discussion / Re: build website

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 15, 2012, 07:14 PM »

moonfruit free seems to include branding.

If you don't mind paying a little nativespace.co.uk are very good (start at £3.11+VAT per month). I have a VPS with them and they are very helpful - their support is excellent. You get a complete CPanel package with 2 MySQL databases for that. First month free if you pay annually.

CPanel includes one click installation of most major CMSes (Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal etc.)

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Living Room / Re: Britannica - would you buy it on (say) Kindle or Nook?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 15, 2012, 03:40 PM »

I think Britannica as an eBook would be pretty poor given that images aren't well handled on Kindle etc.

A subscription based website (which is what they have now) is probably the most realistic model. DVD is another way but having to buy every couple of years to keep up to date is annoying - is suppose now they could move to a USB device format with an update subscription service.

Having said that since Britannica ceased to be a British publication they seem to be all about money!

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Living Room / Re: A change I've seen in the forum

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 15, 2012, 10:48 AM »

"Mea cupla" also - sorry I have a butterfly brain! I also like arguing too much.

Birthday resolution - chill out a bit!

Anyone fancy a beer or two?

981

Living Room / Re: Obtaining Windows OS ISO's

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 13, 2012, 07:33 PM »

As I'm sure you know, ReactOS (Windows rewrite by a third-party group) has finally grown quite mature and is a suitable FREE replacement for Windows that is fully compatible with the Windows XP kernel. That means all drivers and such will work. Well, you know - http://www.reactos.org/en/index.html . Users likely wouldn't tell the difference between it and native Windows to be honest.

-db90h (March 06, 2012, 01:40 AM)

Tried ReactOS in VMWare - good starting point but it is pretty hit and miss what works - it can't install some things it has in its own repository!

I'd guess if/when it gets to a useful stage of development it will be good enough for Microsoft to lock them up in courts for decades!

982

Living Room / Re: Sansa Clip+ and Rockbox

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 13, 2012, 06:26 PM »

The standard firmware does that when you click Play All !

983

Living Room / Re: MAFIAA's unintended consequences? - e.g., Pirate Box

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 12, 2012, 11:49 AM »

OOO I want one!

984

Living Room / Re: Why I Pirate - An Open Letter to Content Creators

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 12, 2012, 05:00 AM »

Different countries, different laws. Along with differing understandings - and expectations.

-40hz (March 11, 2012, 10:02 PM)

Turn the bank story round - suppose the bank CEO is crossing the street and the handbrake on a parked car fails and knocks him over causing severe permanent damage.

Do you think the teacher who owned the car would get away with the 'shit happens' defence - not only would they be sued to within an inch of their life by the *anker and/or his spawn but the local authorities would also be on it like the metaphorical ton of bricks with probable jail time.

985

Living Room / Re: Apple & book publishers may be sued for price fixing

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 12, 2012, 04:55 AM »

I was looking at Apple TV the other day (out of curiosity) and was shocked to see a popular TV servies being sold for £39.99 (that's UK pounds). The BluRay version on Amazon was £6.99!!!

It's about time Apple was taken to court on price fixing in all areas and near monopoly status with iTunes the same as MS. The trouble is iTunes sets the standard and other eStores follow suit with stupid pricing. While we are at it Amazon should also walk the corridor of shame for book price fixing with Kindle!

986

Living Room / Re: Why I Pirate - An Open Letter to Content Creators

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 11, 2012, 01:38 PM »

tranglos - I agree. Brilliant film by the way (if incredibly scary).

To prove the point you only have to look at businesses that deliberately target children with products that are not only not good for them but harmful.

Famous case in the UK where MacDonalds got its arse whipped for selling unhealthy food and marketing it directly at children. Two people who objected published a pamphlet. It was MacDonalds policy to sue anybody who criticised them at that time and they used the law without mercy. The case dragged on for years but eventually the two protesters won the substantive points and MacDonalds no long sue people in the UK for criticism any more (they realised how bloody minded the Brits were). It didn't stop them, however, using illegal methods to undermine protest groups, attempted bribery, coercion and outright threats to try to kill the case.

See http://www.mcspotlig...ase/trial/story.html for a summary of the full story - but also get the film MacLibel and see what went on!

Incidentally MacDonalds knew the health risks and decided they were worth taking (with other peoples' children) because they were making a profit - after the various law suits they introduced a 'healthier' range of food - including salads that had even higher fat and slat content than the burgers and fries!

987

General Software Discussion / Re: How to win friends. Microsoft to CIOs: Adopt Windows 8 - or else.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 10, 2012, 05:01 PM »

If you can't get sharing to work try using TeamViewer. If you install it on all computers you can simply access the desktop of any computer from one place. It even lets you transfer files if required (albeit slowly if they are big) and you can even set up a VPN to each computer. For home use it is free - but you do need to install the full package (not just the remote control tool).

988

General Software Discussion / Re: How to win friends. Microsoft to CIOs: Adopt Windows 8 - or else.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 10, 2012, 07:40 AM »

When you say "I need access to all" what do you mean?

You can right click on any folder and add it to homegroup library.

Or just create a library and add all the folders you want to share to that library and then right click the library and share it with the home group in RW mode (the only restriction I can see is that you can't add root folders from hard disks but you can build a library of all the folders in the root directory of a drive.).

Now you can access almost any folder and drive you like on that machine from any other homegroup computer.

If you just want to do it drive by drive and ignore Homegroup:

• Right click on the drive
• choose Share with ... > Advanced sharing
• Click Advanced sharing
• Tick share this folder then permissions
• If it isn't there already add the user 'Everyone' and give them full control.

Now on any computer you should have access to that drive by clicking Explorer and Network.



I have an Office PC (called Office-PC and the image above shows the share settings for drive C:) - this is windows 7 64-bit

Here is me accessing that drive on my laptop (windows 7 32 bit):



My windows 7 advanced sharing settings are the same on both machines (basically as loose as you can get on the home network - locked down on public). Here are the home network choices I use:

989

General Software Discussion / Re: SnagIt 11

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 10, 2012, 07:29 AM »

To be fair you don't have to wade through stuff - just press the hot key!

990

Living Room / Re: Sansa Clip+ and Rockbox

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 10, 2012, 05:42 AM »

I tried audibleMediaFilter.exe with Goldwave a good while ago and whilst it does work and is reasonably quick it is pretty flaky too.

The thought of recording whole books isn't an option - I have got hundreds and I would spend the rest of my life with the computer recording stuff.

By far the simplest solution is just to use audible compatible devices with suitable firmware.

991

General Software Discussion / Re: How to win friends. Microsoft to CIOs: Adopt Windows 8 - or else.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 09, 2012, 09:28 PM »

If you are using Windows 7 Homegroup is dead easy to add to - just right click on the folder and add it to the homegroup. No permissions to worry about.

Alternatively just create new libraries, add them to the homegroup and add your folders to them.

I use it all the time. The only issue I have is occasional my media library disconnects from my Sony TV - then I just restart the media library service and it kicks in again (this may be because I have been messing/experimenting with various additional access points).

992

General Software Discussion / Re: How to win friends. Microsoft to CIOs: Adopt Windows 8 - or else.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 09, 2012, 11:48 AM »

Are you using the same account names and passwords on every computer? If not that might solve the problem or in Windows 7 turn off password protected sharing.

993

General Software Discussion / Re: How to win friends. Microsoft to CIOs: Adopt Windows 8 - or else.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 09, 2012, 10:50 AM »

I STILL cannot get a standard, old-fashioned home network to allow file sharing between the damn computers in my house!!

-J-Mac (March 09, 2012, 10:44 AM)

Can I ask why? I haven't had any particular problems with ordinary file sharing. The only exceptions were with Vista (which had a few bugs and so computers didn't show up under network properly - but you could address them by name) and Windows XP which is the only windows to use the workgroup MSHOME - having changed that to Workgroup everything works fine.

994

General Software Discussion / Re: How to win friends. Microsoft to CIOs: Adopt Windows 8 - or else.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 09, 2012, 09:40 AM »

Hmmm didn't quite get there - I install x64 and the drivers are x86 so they won't install.

Can't see on Mint how to install drivers at all - the print applet doesn't have any of the options ubuntu has!

Got the scanner working in ubuntu with xane!

Of course I am getting all this working in a VM - how much help it is getting from the printers already installed in the host I am not sure.

995

General Software Discussion / Re: How to win friends. Microsoft to CIOs: Adopt Windows 8 - or else.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 09, 2012, 06:43 AM »

Just installed UBUNTU in a VM - wooo ... both of my printers work, couldn't believe it (OK it took a few tweaks in CUPS but it was pretty easy).

Also installed Mint - can't get the printers to work in there - and the settings in CUPs seem to be missing - strange since Mint is supposed to be based on Ubuntu!

Now for the harder task can I get the scanner to work on my Canon AIW printer?

Strangley I found a link on Canon Australia for a Linux printer driver, Can I install an RPM package in UBUNTU or MINT?

996

General Software Discussion / Re: SnagIt 11

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 09, 2012, 06:40 AM »

I think we (and include myself) are to blame - we all pestered mouser for features and he gave them to us. Now we bitch about how much stuff is in there

Sorry mouser!

997

Living Room / Re: Why I Pirate - An Open Letter to Content Creators

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 09, 2012, 04:56 AM »

The problem is when something is available for free people take it (and usually don't even say thanks).

Donation based software is different and I think a lot of people get confused over the idea.

In both of these models supporting the product by including tons of unwanted crapware is really annoying - but I can live with it provided there is a clear way of avoiding installing it.

Fully commercial software is fine by me and most people provided you can install it and use it as you want without headaches.

As you say consumers are as important as the developers (if not more so). A commercial developer doesn't have a product if consumers don't buy it!

The problems start when developers try to protect their investment - I don't object to licensing and if it is a well established company I don't really mind activation to enforce licensing terms. But I do object to the addition of crap to software that screws with your system and I really object to enforced activation with no option to deactivate. I really don't understand why developers haven't grasped that people change computers or reinstall operating systems and it is real PITA if you have to contact dozens of vendors to ask for permission to reinstall their software or re-license DRM based media. (I have only ever once been declined this request but it is still a PITA).

One of the few companies that have got it right (IMHO) is Adobe - at least you can install on two machines and activate/deactivate as required - and activation/deactivation is quick. Effectively it means you can have the software installed on as many computers as you like but only have it activated on two at any one time.

Having said all that I get the impression pricing is more to do with market economics (how much can we get you to pay) than real reactions to perceived piracy. From what I have seen piracy seems more to do with a collection/magpie mentality than actually using things for real purposes. In real terms I would guess your 5% rule is probably about accurate for most people - certainly is for me - I have purchased a lot of software over the years and I guess the majority is no longer used, no longer compatible or has simply disappeared in some corporate takeover!

For me I watch media and try out software off the internet and if I feel it is worth watching/listening/using and fulfils a need I will purchase it. |I wouldn't buy a car without a test drive - I am certainly not going spend a lot of money on software without giving it a thorough tryout first. As for DVDs and silly warnings you can get unlock codes (or remotes) for most machines that allow you to bypass the function restrictions if it gets to you that much. On UK DVDs now a lot of the piracy warnings can be legitimately bypassed by pressing next or menu - presumably in response to all the complaints they got. I have never really seen the point of the piracy warnings anyway - why warn me, a legitimate purchaser, not to pirate? But then the media 'industry' haven't got too many braincells when it comes to their consumers.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Question regarding the "Sandboxie" program

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 08, 2012, 07:26 PM »

VirtualBox allows you to install any OS/apps and keep them totally isolated from your main system.
https://www.virtualbox.org/

VMWare Player
http://www.vmware.com/products/player/

Microsoft VirtualPC
XPMODE: http://www.microsoft.../windows/virtual-pc/ (not sure you can use this on WIndows 7 without the Pro version)
for XP and Vista see: http://www.microsoft...virtual-pc-2007.aspx

There is also Parallels (but I don't think there is a free version):
http://www.parallels...ownload/workstation/

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DC Gamer Club / Re: Microsoft Flight Simulator - Free!

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 08, 2012, 09:56 AM »

Anyone actually tried FlightGear?

I eventually found a config file for my joystick (there was a specific file supplied as part of the install but it didn't work properly - unless you like to spin on the spot) but then I found if you did any sort of aerobatics the artificial horizon was way out afterwards.

I tried Oribiter too - I am sure is very clever but it looked like too steep a learning curve for me!

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General Software Discussion / Re: How to win friends. Microsoft to CIOs: Adopt Windows 8 - or else.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 08, 2012, 09:48 AM »

OT Response

And fret saw?

Hmm...Maybe not. Check this and this out. I'm going to try it this weekend on a CBG project I've got half completed.

-40hz (March 08, 2012, 09:38 AM)

Oops meant band saw!