Author Topic: SnapSuite program family/Free online computer help (Read 478,506 times)

mouser · « **Reply #500 on:** August 05, 2008, 12:17 PM »

Looks very good but it's not clear to me what "Stay On" maintenance means.

tomos · « **Reply #501 on:** August 05, 2008, 01:45 PM »

Looks great Brandon - love the brush!

(maybe "Stay On maintainance" should be simply called "maintainance" ? )

Josh · « **Reply #502 on:** August 05, 2008, 01:47 PM »

Always on?

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #503 on:** August 05, 2008, 07:54 PM »

Quote from: mouser on August 05, 2008, 12:17 PM

Looks very good but it's not clear to me what "Stay On" maintenance means.

As opposed to the other two options, this one keeps your computer on (instead of Shutting down or Rebooting). I'll change it to something like "Normal Maintenance" or something like that.

Updates:
I fixed a couple GUI inconsistencies and added a bit of functionality (and some light humor):

When you start the program, the sound of an SUV taking off at full throttle is heard for about 9 seconds. Not too loud, but I have seen similar things in other programs (Steven Gould's CleanUp! makes a "toilet flushing" sound when you click the CleanUp button, for example). I also added another question answer to the side, and fixed text running off the bottom button.

I gave a copy to one of my friends from school and he seemed to like it over the normal SystemCare, so that is a step in the right direction (this friend basically relies on SC to keep the computer running; when I go to explain how it works he kind of does that head bob and goes off to Candy Land world

)

It is done, I just want to add another question and fix the "Stay On" issue, and I'll post it up here.

Updated image attached.

-Brandon

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #504 on:** August 06, 2008, 03:17 AM »

Alright, I think FloorIt is ready for primetime. There are a few noticeable changes from previous programs, the most obvious being an EULA. (It basically says don't take it apart, don't alter it, and I don't take responsibility if your house becomes a smoldering pile because you used it

). See, any idiot can be a lawyer, too!

(click for EULA) - it can be noted that this has been setup to be usable in all my programs, as it does not specify a program name, but defines "Program" as anything and everything within the setup EXE.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Wreckedcarzz's Software License, v1.0

Wording:
"Program" refers to all files included within this packaged setup executable.
"Warranty" refers to required payment or assistance from the Author.
"Author" refers to Mr. Brandon Seal
"Yourself" refers to the end user(s) of this Program

Warranty:
This Program lacks a Warranty, implied or assumed. The Author takes no responsibility or liability for and damage, loss, or other negative action that may occur whilst using this program.

License and distribution:
This Program is donationware. You may not redistribute it and charge, monetary or otherwise, for access to the Program. The Author accepts donations for the work of the Program, however only the Author may do so.

The Program may be freely distributed if this following qualifications are met:
-The program's setup file is intact and has not been altered in any way, shape, or form
-You are not charging the recipient for the Program

Source code:
This Program is closed source. You may not:
-Reverse engineer it
-Attempt, in any way, to retrieve any/all source code within the Program
-Change program components
-Alter the program and redistribute it

If you obtain any source code for this program from the Author, it is to be used for personal use only, and/or for collaboration between Yourself and the Author.

Media and/or other methods of reviewing or special distribution:
Before placing this in any type of Media, be it located Online or broadcast over Radio or Television, you must retrieve the Author's permission. The only exception to this is for the Online website www.donationcoder.com - ALL OTHERS MUST CONTACT THE AUTHOR.

Legal action:
If it is found that you have broken any of the above terms, you are subject to legal action. If you have a question about this License, stop and do not accept it- contact the Author before proceeding. Accepting this license makes you subject to the above terms, and binds you to abide by them. If you do not accept this License, you may NOT use the Program and you are required to delete all copies of the Program from your possession immediately.

There are three "Common Questions" on the right side of the app:
"Why can't I run "Registry Optimization" in "Standard" maintenance mode?"
"How long will it take to complete all the tasks?"
"What type of maintenance should I do?"

I hope that the answers will help users to better understand what to do and the duration of a task (depending on their computers condition).

FloorIt has been tested and I don't know of any problems with it. It should, if an irregular situation is to occur (ex: a program is missing), go on and ignore the issue without alerting you. This can be good or bad, depending on the way that you look at it, but it is better for the majority.

Anyways, download away!
-Brandon

Veign · « **Reply #505 on:** August 06, 2008, 04:30 PM »

You are better off finding an existing EULA and using it as a base. Yours how it is would not stand up in any court and you may still have a lot of liability. You may think it waives liability but that doesn't matter. Just leaving the door open a little leaves you open to a lawsuit, which right or wrong doesn't matter, which can be extremely expensive. The reason for having a well written contract is not only to protect you but its also to help prevent a lawsuit from happening or at least make it easier for a lawyer to defend you (easier = cheaper).

My EULA:

Quote

Veign ELECTRONIC END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR <SOFTWARE>.

NOTICE TO USER:
THIS IS A CONTRACT. BY INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE YOU ACCEPT ALL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT.

This Veign End User License Agreement accompanies the Veign <SOFTWARE> product and related explanatory materials ("Software"). The term "Software" also shall include any upgrades, modified versions or updates of the Software licensed to you by Veign. Please read this Agreement carefully. At the end, you will be asked to accept this agreement and continue to install or, if you do not wish to accept this Agreement, to decline this agreement, in which case you will not be able to use the Software. Upon your acceptance of this Agreement, Veign grants to you a nonexclusive license to use the Software, provided that you agree to the following:

1. Use of the Software.
You may install the Software on a hard disk or other storage device; install and use the Software on a file server for use on a network for the purposes of (i) permanent installation onto hard disks or other storage devices or (ii) use of the Software over such network; and make backup copies of the Software. You may not redistribute, host, or sell the Software.

2. Copyright and Trademark Rights. The Software is owned by Veign and its suppliers, and its structure, organization and code are the valuable trade secrets of Veign and its suppliers. The Software also is protected by United States Copyright Law and International Treaty provisions. You may use trademarks only insofar as required to comply with Section 1 of this Agreement and to identify printed output produced by the Software, in accordance with accepted trademark practice, including identification of trademark owner’s name. Such use of any trademark does not give you any rights of ownership in that trademark. Except as stated above, this Agreement does not grant you any intellectual property rights in the Software.

3. Restrictions. You agree not to modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the Software.

4. No Warranty. The Software is being delivered to you AS IS and Veign makes no warranty as to its use or performance. Veign AND ITS SUPPLIERS DO NOT AND CANNOT WARRANT THE PERFORMANCE OR RESULTS YOU MAY OBTAIN BY USING THE SOFTWARE OR DOCUMENTATION. Veign AND ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT WILL Veign OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST SAVINGS, EVEN IF AN Veign REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY THIRD PARTY. Some states or jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental, consequential or special damages, or the exclusion of implied warranties or limitations on how long an implied warranty may last, so the above limitations may not apply to you.

5. Governing Law and General Provisions. This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the United States., excluding the application of its conflicts of law rules. This Agreement will not be governed by the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, the application of which is expressly excluded. If any part of this Agreement is found void and unenforceable, it will not affect the validity of the balance of the Agreement, which shall remain valid and enforceable according to its terms. You agree that the Software will not be shipped, transferred or exported into any country or used in any manner prohibited by any export laws, restrictions or regulations. This Agreement shall automatically terminate upon failure by you to comply with its terms. This Agreement may only be modified in writing signed by an authorized officer of Veign.

Unpublished-rights reserved under the copyright laws of United States.

YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE FOREGOING AGREEMENT WAS INDICATED DURING INSTALLATION. YOU MAY BEGIN INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE BY PRESSING "YES" IN WHICH YOU ACCEPT THE TERMS SHOWN IN THIS AGREEMENT.

Its not bad and needs some improvements (like the location and what laws govern the contract - in my case South Carolina). I replace the <software> tag with the software I am attaching it to when I publish.

Also, you have to specify the software. Contracts have to be definitive about what they are referring to.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #506 on:** August 06, 2008, 04:49 PM »

Good points and advice. Didn't know you had to specify the software name. What I did was a quick writeup in Notepad that seemed to cover the bases, but I will go on and improve on it now.

Thanks for the info

Veign · « **Reply #507 on:** August 06, 2008, 05:22 PM »

I wouldn't try to improve what you have as you will miss many things. Writing legal contracts is difficult. Just use an existing EULA as your base and modify it to suit. Just be careful as changing one word could change the whole meaning.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #508 on:** August 08, 2008, 07:12 AM »

Ack, I ended up making a new topic instead of adding a reply here. Dunno how that happened

Here is the post:

-----

Quote from: Veign on August 06, 2008, 05:22 PM

Just use an existing EULA as your base and modify it to suit. Just be careful as changing one word could change the whole meaning.

Mind if I use yours? (I would assume that is why you posted it, but I don't like to use other peoples work without asking)

In other news, I am adding small stuff to SmartBrowse, and have changed the large icons into the small 16x16 ones you see in Notes (although I still have a copy with the large icons, if someone prefers that one). If someone could come up with a list of keyboard shortcuts that <your favorite browser> uses, it would be somewhat simple for me to implement those for you

+Screen real estate
-File size
= all around improvement

Screenshot attached, opinions welcome

-Brandon

Image is here: http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14340.0;attach=31857

-----

Still not sure how that happened... but whatever. Strange things happen around DC sometimes

-Brandon

Veign · « **Reply #509 on:** August 08, 2008, 03:32 PM »

Quote from: wreckedcarzz on August 08, 2008, 07:12 AM

Quote from: Veign on August 06, 2008, 05:22 PM
Just use an existing EULA as your base and modify it to suit. Just be careful as changing one word could change the whole meaning.
Mind if I use yours? (I would assume that is why you posted it, but I don't like to use other peoples work without asking)

Go for it.

Just change item 5 to include a more specific location. The reason is if it goes to a lawsuit they have to bring it to your state and your location. Here is a sample from another contract of mine. I just haven't had the time to change my EULA.

Quote

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed solely and exclusively in accordance with the laws of South Carolina, without reference to its conflicts of law principles. Any and all disputes between the parties that cannot be settled by mutual agreement shall be resolved solely and exclusively in the local and federal courts serving Richland County, South Carolina, and each party hereby consents to the jurisdiction of such courts and irrevocably waives any objections thereto, including without limitation, on the basis of improper venue or forum non conveniens.

mouser · « **Reply #510 on:** August 08, 2008, 03:38 PM »

i say leave in the South Carolina reference -- throw those lawyers off your trail!

Veign · « **Reply #511 on:** August 08, 2008, 07:27 PM »

Redneck Court - the only way to do it...

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #512 on:** August 11, 2008, 10:52 PM »

*wreckedcarzz laughs, then looks around, confused*

Anyways... lol

I am back in school, and am taking two classes (one is a prerequisite of the other, however I have the more advanced class earlier in the day - oddball setup). The earlier one (speaking of hourly schedule) is aimed completely at Visual Basic 2008. WOO HOO!!! And plus, if I get a good start, the class is eligible for Dual Enrollment - do work in high school for college credit.

The second class is a MUCH more basic one, and it is a complete blast - everyone on my side of the room jokes around, and I am not the only complete-nerd there.

The class is an "overview" of lots of programming tools and languages. Setup to let you "get your feet wet" in all the major apps/IDEs.

Because school is up and running, I won't be able to program as much; however, I will still do so. It is very fun showing off SnapSuite 09 to a class of kids (sophomores-seniors) that are new to VB

EDIT: The teacher I am taking was not only my FBLA advisor/person that ran everything last year, but she also teaches the SAME EXACT CLASS at a local college; it is basically a college level class. We took the pre-test today, and if I got less than a 75% I will be shocked. It was seriously that simple for me.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #513 on:** August 12, 2008, 11:17 PM »

According to the teacher, everyone failed, but I was one of the few (I am guessing 5ish, she didn't specify) that got VERY close to passing (70%).

There is a new drawing app that I am working on that will not be done anytime soon (due to debugging the thing... quite possibly my largest non-suite app yet). It should feature enough to make even GIMP users take a look- not sure about layers, and it isn't set in stone, so I don't want to go and talk about it too much. Assuming it does reach completion, it will be a very cool app.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #514 on:** August 13, 2008, 06:13 AM »

I am taking a go at making a more improved website, due to my lack of XML or CSS (or HTML, or any other web language) skills (as of yet). It is hosted at WikiDot, and I think I have the whole site in a usable state. Downloads, information, contact details and a simple home page are all in place, with navigation.

http://wreckedcarzz.wikidot.com/

Feedback?

Veign · « **Reply #515 on:** August 13, 2008, 12:50 PM »

Couple things:
- Remove spaces from all filenames used in a website (downloads, pages, images). Spaces have to be encoded (notice the %20) and cause nothing but problems
- Provide screenshots for your applications as most people won't download blindly

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #516 on:** August 13, 2008, 11:39 PM »

I know about the spaces, but when the files are on my PC I just tend to put spaces in them and I forget when I upload. I'll be sure to fix it though

Ah - didn't even think about screenshots!

I'll add those ASAP as well!

Thanks

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #517 on:** August 18, 2008, 06:06 AM »

I have yet to address either web problem, but I will do so. School has kept me busy, so I am doing some finalization on SnapSuite 2009 today and will get to the web stuff afterwards.

Details on SnapSuite 2009:
SnapSuite 2009 has been completed and I am doing final debugging and code cleanup. The code behind it is much much much better than 2008's version, however it still lacks a really good layout. You can navigate it somewhat easily, but it is a bit cluttered. I'll try to resolve this, but it isn't anything that anyone will notice during normal usage (only if you get the project/code).

Changes:

I have integrated Notes 2.1
PlayMe "Add Song" "Remove Song" and Song List have been removed. They were problematic and did not work properly.
SystemCare top menu bar has been removed. It was never used.
Small changes done to ensure that everything functions properly
I did NOT update SmartBrowse, as it is not ready yet. I am having trouble with a couple things, and I havn't had time to look into fixing them. Please bear with me! (This may change before final release, in a couple weeks - I am testing it on 2 Vista SP1 PCs and 2 XP SP3 PCs extensively).

To-do list:

Finish code cleanup
Compile, install, and debug as an "end user"
Redo EULA

Any feedback on SnapSuite 09- anything at all- should be made known now. I take no feedback as good feedback (no news is good news), so if you don't like something or something doesn't work, please speak up!

For the curious: Yes, SnapSuite 2010 will start development soon. It will hopefully have many more features, and WILL HAVE A CONSISTENT GUI. Yes, my GUI layouts are crap most of the time. Admitting your problem is the first step

. FloorIt integration is also planned, and as I said before, I am working on a new drawing program. Time will tell, but 2010 won't be out until LATE 2009. I am taking more time and getting more feedback (as you may have noticed with this release), and I am trying to make everything work like it should.

Expect some type of weekly update from now on, as school is sure to keep me busy, and I am not stopping my coding either, so I won't post every couple days like I used to.

-Brandon

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #518 on:** August 19, 2008, 12:55 AM »

Figured I should mention that I fixed both web problems (no screenshots and bad URLs). This does break functionality in older programs that I no longer work on (support), so if you are using an older app of mine be sure to check for an update (http://wreckedcarzz.wikidot.com/downloads).

I cleaned up the FTP server and am not using it for a website for the time being. It is just a home page, the update page for SS09, and all downloads. No links on the home page work (except the one for DC) so don't forget if you go over there (I changed the home page to explain this, but some people don't bother reading $:-\$ ).

I only uploaded screenshots for SS09, SS08, Maze Craze 2.4 and FloorIt (because, with the exception of SS08, these are the only programs currently available and supported).

Oh, and if you point your browser over to http://wreckedcarzz.wikidot.com/, there is a nice little preview of the upcoming successor to Crayons n Markers (previously KidDraw)

It is actually coming out quite nicely, there are a few things I want to correct and whatnot, and a lot of things to be added, but right now it is a nice little Paint replacement.

Veign · « **Reply #519 on:** August 19, 2008, 01:08 AM »

Quote from: wreckedcarzz on August 19, 2008, 12:55 AM

Oh, and if you point your browser over to http://wreckedcarzz.wikidot.com/, there is a nice little preview of the upcoming successor to Crayons n Markers (previously KidDraw) It is actually coming out quite nicely, there are a few things I want to correct and whatnot, and a lot of things to be added, but right now it is a nice little Paint replacement.

Check the link above...

mouser · « **Reply #520 on:** August 19, 2008, 01:50 AM »

I would still really like to see Brandon start a new, smaller more manageable project, with more planning up front and feedback from people about an idea for a unique and useful small utility. I just think it might be a rewarding change of pace to be able to work on something smaller that you can really sink your teeth into.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #521 on:** August 20, 2008, 02:27 AM »

I would, but I really don't know what to make. I am not the most creative person by any stretch. Might poke around the coding snacks section, but most of that is AHK... $:-\$

Quote from: Veign on August 19, 2008, 01:08 AM

Check the link above...

Link works here? Or am I missing something?

Deozaan · « **Reply #522 on:** August 20, 2008, 04:37 AM »

Quote from: wreckedcarzz on August 20, 2008, 02:27 AM

Link works here? Or am I missing something?

The link takes me to Gmail. If you look at your status bar, the link goes to:

"mailto:http://wreckedcarzz.wikidot.com/"

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #523 on:** August 20, 2008, 05:09 AM »

Ah, I hit the wrong button when posting. Dunno how I missed that, I usually look over my posts 2 or 3 times...

Anyways, fixed now

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #524 on:** August 21, 2008, 05:19 AM »

OK, as part of a class assignment I made a small Calculator application. I am releasing it as open source: do whatever you want with it, I don't care, just give me credit somewhere if you redistribute it. Using it for personal teaching or learning or whatever is fine too

Image, EXE, and VB .NET 2008 solution (ZIP) are all attached. Let me know if you found it useful

-Brandon

P.S.: If you are wondering why I posted this in the SS topic and not its own, it is because I will probably use this in GoOS later on.