New program: Ethervane StopWatch (freeware)

[lanux128]

nice to see Tranglos creating apps again. out of curiosity, just what is 'Ethervane'?

[tranglos]

out of curiosity, just what is 'Ethervane'?

-lanux128 (May 12, 2009, 03:38 AM)

It's a weathervane for the Internet

It's a domain name I registered two years ago almost to the day, where I eventually want to publish any new apps I write, and make the tranglos site more related to my work, as it was origially meant to be.

I realized I couldn't come up with good names for new apps that weren't already taken. So instead of resorting to Web 2.0 contortions such as Zhaaz or Glurgr, I decided I would just prefix each app with Ethervane, so that I can go back to using good old words from the English lexicon: Ethervane Word, Ethervane Excel, Ethervane Publisher, Ethervane Access... 

(Actually, Zhaaz.com is not so bad! Get it while it's hot, no record on internic as of today!)

[superboyac]

So instead of resorting to Web 2.0 contortions such as Zhaaz or Glurgr,

-tranglos (May 12, 2009, 04:53 PM)

Haha...that was funny.  Everyone thinks they're so hip.
You can do what mouser does and attach the word "robot" or "commander" or "dictator" at the end of of the program name.  And make sure it's all one word and no less than 24 characters.

[superboyac]

The countdown timer is great, thanks for adding it.  Some thoughts:

--It's a little inconvenient to have the countdown settings dialog pop up every time you want to start the timer.  It would be nice to be able to set it once, and then repeatedly use it over and over again, until you need to change the initial value.

--On a similar note, it would be useful to access presets from a drop-down menu somewhere in the options menu.

For both of these ideas, I'm keeping in mind the fact that you want to keep the interface simple.  So both suggestions don't interfere with the interface, they just add options or functionality.

[superboyac]

Feature suggestion:

Currently, I use this program every day as my timer for brewing coffee.  I use it on countdown mode.  It would be nice if it remembered the last used countdown setting and/or automatically reset to the initial countdown set time without going through the process of setting the time again.  Here's all the steps it takes to set the countdown timer:

--click the "start:down" button
--click the "load preset" button in the set timer window that pops up
--click the "count down" button

That's 3 clicks just to keep using the same time over and over again.  If I've already loaded the time, it would be better if it resets after it finishes, and then I just click start to do it again.  That's only one click.  And if this happens, I would also suggest the program to remember the last used timer setting after exiting/restarting.

[tranglos]

That's 3 clicks just to keep using the same time over and over again.  If I've already loaded the time, it would be better if it resets after it finishes, and then I just click start to do it again.  That's only one click.  And if this happens, I would also suggest the program to remember the last used timer setting after exiting/restarting.

-superboyac (November 04, 2009, 11:40 AM)

I hear you. As I (might have) mentioned upthread, I'm not happy with the implementation of the preset dialog. It's ugly and it's not convenient at all.

I should be able to add the feature you've suggested, but I'd much rather do away with that dialog box altogether. I originally wanted to have no modal dialogs in this app — I just haven't figured out how to make that happen without spoiling the simplicity of the main window. I don't want any bloat there and don't want to make the main window any larger.

Perhaps the preset controls could be placed in a collapsing section of the main window, so that they could be hidden when not used. I need to revisit this.

[superboyac]

Here are some suggestions on my end to keep the interface the way it is for the most part, but add a couple of timer features:

[J-Mac]

You rock, Marek!!

For this and Active Hotkeys I am very grateful.

Thanks!

Jim

[Deep-Silence]

awsome app !!!

Perhaps you could add a Profile Editor

--> Add /modify a Profile
--> Delete a Profile,
--> Dublicate (perhaps)
--> Start selected Profile
--> Count UP / DOWN

Examples:

My favorite Pizza: 20 minutes
My favorite tea: 5,30 minutes
etc.

Forgot some:
Increase and Decrease Time while running. (Up / Down)
Play Audio file when time is up
and continue counting to negative range turning into red colour (perhaps)

Thanks  

[tranglos]

New (February 2012): StopWatch is now hosted on my site at tranglos.com. This thread is still good for support and new version info, I'm not going anywhere :-)

A standard installer and a portable version are now available. Latest version direct download:

• standard installer
• portable version (zip file)

[Scott_Y]

Wish: Add a shortcut key to reset the time to zero (clear the timer display). This would be useful when, for example, a timer has been started by mistake and the user wishes to reset and start again.

Currently this can be done by Stop, then right-click timer box, click "Clear display." If there is already a quick way to do this, please tell me how. Thanks.

[Tinman57]

  What good is it if there's no audio alarm telling you when the countdown reaches 0?  We're not always glued to the monitor.....  Just a thought....

[zaq.tech]

Nice Program, thanks for sharing it.

Playing audio is appreciated.

Keep this good work up.

[kyrathaba]

Slick, tranglos, very slick!

[J-Mac]

  What good is it if there's no audio alarm telling you when the countdown reaches 0?  We're not always glued to the monitor.....  Just a thought....

-Tinman57 (April 04, 2013, 07:58 PM)

I agree. I have discovered that I apparently need an audio alarm when the timer is finished counting down. The blinking just doesn’t get my attention most of the time.

Thanks!

Jim