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User: Amadawn

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  1. Re:The real list on Pimp Your XP · · Score: 1

    There is a small error on the previous list. Instead of MenuApp I meant to point to:

    FileMenu Tools: http://www.lopesoft.com/en/fmtools/info.html
    Customize the explorer context menu with this tool. It comes with a lot of built-in actions, such as Command Prompt here, Create a Folder, copy filename to path, etc.

    Sorry for the confusion.

  2. Re:Cheaper Breadcrumbs on Pimp Your XP · · Score: 1

    I used to use Explorer Breadcrumbs, but I have since switched to QTAddressBar, which I think is better (and equally free):

    http://quizo.at.infoseek.co.jp/freeware/indexEn.ht ml#qtadr

  3. The real list on Pimp Your XP · · Score: 5, Informative

    No offense to the author, but the linked article is barely informative. I don't even know how this made it to the front page. But

    the subject is interesting, as there is a bunch of cool freeware software to make XP be like (or even better than) Vista. You

    don't need to spend a single dollar. So this is my real list of programs to Pimp your XP:

    1. Lauchy: www.launchy.com
    Some may say that this is the poor man's QuickSilver. Maybe it is, but in the Windows world there are few programs as useful as

    Launchy. Install it and you won't need to access your start menu anymore.

    2. Quizo's Explorer toolbars: http://quizo.at.infoseek.co.jp/freeware/indexEn.ht ml
    These are 2 free toolbars that make Windows Explorer as good as Directory Opus (IMHO) for free:
    * QTTabBar: Adds firefox-style tabs to windows explorer. It also adds a cool incremental search feature, and a customizable

    toolbar where you can add folder shortcuts, etc
    * QTAddressBar: Explorer breadcrumbs!

    3. FileBox eXtender: http://www.hyperionics.com/files/index.asp
    This is one of the most useful little pieces of software that I've used. I adds 2 buttons to the title bar of every windows dialog

    and of every windows explorer window. One button gives you access to your "favorite folders" (which you can easily change) and the

    other one gives you access to your "folder history". With these, going back and forth between folders to open or save files

    becomes a snap. The only problem is that the default button icons a kind of ugly, but they can be easily changed.

    4. Findexer: http://tomseffect.com/
    Substitutes the windows explorer sidebar for a place where you can put links to your preferred folders. If you use FileBox

    eXtender (see above) this might not be as useful, but I still like to use it.

    5. TaskBar Shuffle: http://www.freewebs.com/nerdcave/taskbarshuffle.ht m
    Another really useful program. With it you can reorder the window buttons in the windows taskbar. It can even automatically group

    windows from the same program without collapsing them. You can also reorder the tray icons in the system tray.

    6. Free Launch Bar: http://www.freelaunchbar.com/
    Make the windows Quick Launch bar much more useful with this free replacement. It adds the ability to have folders inside the

    quick launch bar, and have shortcuts within those folders.

    7. LClock: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/ Clocks-Time-Management/LClock.shtml
    A nice replacement to the windows clock in the system tray. It looks much better and is more useful as it shows a calendar when

    you click on it. But the reason I recommend it is that it can also hide or reduce the size of the start menu button! Once you

    start using Launchy (see above) you will not use the start menu very often, so I like to recover the taskbar real state that it

    uses unnecessarily. To do so, with LClock you can reduce it by substituting the start menu image with a much smaller one.

    8. MenuApp: http://www.freewaregenius.com/2006/11/02/menuapp/
    Customize the explorer context menu with this tool. It comes with a lot of built-in actions, such as Command Prompt here, Create a

    Folder, copy filename to path, etc.

    There are other tools that you can use, but which I personally don't (although I've tried or used them in the past):

    1. RocketDock: http://www.punksoftware.com/rocketdoc

  4. Re:Interesting, but too many unknowns on CCTV Network Tracks Getaway Car · · Score: 1

    In the European Union all cars are required to have their plates before they can be driven. So this is not an issue there. When I came to the USA I was very surprised that you have so many cars without plates!

  5. Re:Dear Mr Microsoft on Preview of New MSN Hotmail · · Score: 1

    You forgot the biggest problem of all:

    - Do not erase your account if you do not access it for 1 month!

    How can you rely on a 2 Gb account that has a 1 month expiration date?!!!

  6. The same thing happened to AutoIt on Nessus Closes Source · · Score: 1

    The really cool AutoIt windows automation scripting project had to do the same a while ago.

    In that case it was not a problem with the developers not getting paid for their work or not having any community involment. Instead it was a pride/credit issue. If you release your new version of your project, with some really cool new capabilities that it took you months to develop and suddenly a competing project takes all your hard work and simply copies and repackages it in a matter of days and it gives you none or very little credit (like a small mention on the source code, but none in the actual documentation, web page, etc), at some point you are going to get pissed off and dump the GPL. It is understandable in my opinion.

    That actually gives me even more reason to be impressed at those who stick to the GPL regardless of these issues and simply "give" their work for everyone else to enjoy, disregarding even the need to get some praise for their work. That is a true and rare gift, who is hardly appreciated by most.

  7. Re:Progressive management at tech companies on Integrated Circuit Inventor Jack Kilby Dead at 81 · · Score: 1

    Either the parent has no clue what he is talking about (Texas Instruments) or he is working for one of our (lawyer-happy competitors). As far as I know TI has only gone to the court (in the last decade) to protect itself from lawsuits in order to defend itself, but we are certainly no RAMBUS...

    As a Texas Instruments employee I can tell you that we have tons of smart people working like mad in _technical_ challenges. Our company is one of the few Fortune 500 companies whose CEO is an Electrical Engineer!

    It is hard to believe that lawyers can get your chips into more than 50% or the world's cell phones...

    What is with this "slashdot attitude" of despising every corporation (except Google)? Bash some corporation, get "+5 (Insihtful)" and lots of karma.

    Most of the cool things that you discuss in Slashdot everyday would simply not be possible if it were not for the likes of TI, Motorola, Intel and heck, even Microsoft. I am not saying that they are not evil or greedy sometimes, but certainly that not all of them are, and even those that are, not all the time.

    Open source might give you a nice operating system, but not a cool cellphone (you need fabs for that, and fabs cost billions of dollars).

    So let's give credit when credit is due, and stop these random bashings that just make you look like a clueless fool.

    Cheers,

    Angel

    P.S.- This not intended as a _trol_, just as a reality check.

  8. Confusing Privacy FAQ on Google Adds Search History Feature · · Score: 3, Informative
    I normally trust Google, but I must admit that their 4th bullet in their My Search History Privacy FAQ is confusing to say the less. From their FAQ page:

    4. What happens when I pause the service, remove items, or delete the My Search History service?

    You can choose to stop storing your searches in My Search History either temporarily or permanently, or remove items, as described in My Search History Help. However, as is common practice in the industry, Google maintains a separate logs system for auditing purposes and to help us improve the quality of our services for users. For example, we use this information to audit our ads systems, understand which features are most popular to users, improve the quality of our search results, and help us combat vulnerabilities such as denial of service attacks.

    Enphasis mine.

    They don't give any information on what they do with that "separate log" when you delete your search history. Their unclear wording gives the impression that even if you delete it they still keep it in their "separate log". So how is that different than not deleting it at all, other that you will not see it anymore?

    That is pretty confusing and very un-google like, IMHO.

  9. Predicted by David Brin on Detecting Speech Without Microphones · · Score: 1

    This is exactly what the great sci-fi writer David Brin described in his wonderful novel Earth.

  10. What about Open Source violators? on GPL Violators On The Prowl · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It is good to see someone doing something about GPL violators, but what happens when the violators are other GPL developers?

    I contribute (a little) to a project called AutoIt3 (http://www.autoitscript.com/). They make a really useful scripting language for Windows.

    Until recently they were using the GPL license. However some people took big chunks of the code, ripped it and repackaged with a different name. They only mention "based on AutoIT" or something similar on the Readme.txt but not in the code and of course they do not mention the original authors of the original work nor on their web page.

    Some of the AutoIt developpers were so pissed that now they have changed the license (for their newest releases only, of course) and do not distribute their code until some months later.

    Perhaps what these guys did is legal, I don't know, but if GPL developpers dishonor the heart of the GPL, then why use it and how can we expect for commercial companies to abide to it?

  11. Re:Book to movie? on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Screening Reviews · · Score: 2, Informative

    Neil Jordan's adaptation of "Interview with the Vampire" with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and even Kristen Dunsk was MUCH better than the Anne Rice's book!

    I saw the movie first and I thought "that must be a great book". So I read it and I was very disappointed. Anne Rice has a great imagination but she just can't write (IMVHO). The book seemed slow and barroque (in the worst possible way) compared to the movie.

    I must confess that I read the book in Spanish so perhaps the translation was not very good though...

  12. Re:Wings on Airbus Launches 800 Passenger Jumbo Jet · · Score: 1

    Whoever wrote that parent post and whoever modded it "informative" has either never lived in France or has a very distorted perception of reality.

    I can warantee you that if you ask any French person they will tell you that France is THE "strike country".

    There is on average at least 1 strike every 3 days in the national train company (SNCF) alone! Very often the SNCF employees will strike for no reason at all. Sometimes they strike out of "simpathy" for someone else's strike. And even worse, after a strike they often re-strike to demand that they get paid for the days that they were on strike. And even worst, they often "win" and do get paid.

    I don't know were did those statistics come from, but they do not reflect the reality of France.

  13. Re:A Manual _in other languages_ on Planning For Mozilla 2.0 · · Score: 1

    This is very true, and it is even worse for non-english speaking users. I tried to convince my father (we are both from Spain) to switch to Firefox this Christmas. Although he really liked the interface he kept complaining that there is no spanish manual. Luckily I was there to explain everything to him but I don't thing that he would have used it without my assistance due to the lack of user manual.

  14. Re:Hydrogen Power. on Combined Gasoline/Hydrogen Fuel Station Opens · · Score: 1

    If a car company wants to make some kind of business in Europe the need to have some competitive diesel engine, as they account for more than half of the cars sold there. Peugeot and Renault make very good TDI engines for example. It is just a pity that diesel has such a bad reputation in the USA.

  15. Car innivation in Europe on GM Investing in Fuel Cells · · Score: 1

    In Europe the situation is completelly different. With petrol prizes increasing all the time, people are very sensitive to improvements on the consumtion of new cars. That is why new very efficient and environment friendly diesel engines where developed by Audi, Renault, etc and that is why those engines sell so well.

    This is a bit like the Internet. Without the low bitrates of most user connections there would have been no need to develop (and use!) compression technologies. Without high petrol prize there is no need for efficient engines.

    That makes me think. Maybe the current energy problem in california will have some good long term effects after all.

    Angel

  16. Another use for LCD screens: RF Lab on LCD Display Questions - Longevity and Monochrome? · · Score: 1

    In the RF lab I work, where we test GSM phones, LCDs are used instead of CRTs because of the 60 Hz signal that comes from the CRTs which degrades the signals we test. So as you see LCDs have another use besides the obvious "cool" look!

    Cheers,

    Angel

  17. Re:Echolon is our front line. on The EU Report on the Echelon System · · Score: 1

    The main problem we have in the UE with Echelon is that the UK is involved with it. It is already quite bad for the US to spy in its (supossedly) allies, but the UK is not just an ally of the rest of UE nations, it is a MEMBER of the UE!

    What would you think if Texas was spying on the rest of the states of the USA?

    Also, you imply that because Echelon is controled by the democratic government of the USA it will only used for the good cause and that you'll never give info to any corporation, etc. Riiiiigggght! Who buys that? I don't and it seems that the UE parliament doesn't either.

    Cheers,

    Angel

  18. Re:Gamecube on Xbox, GameCube Dates Set For Early November · · Score: 2

    You have obviously never played with a Dreamcast.
    The fact that you talk about "full motion video" talks for itself. We are talking about "awesome" real-time graphics. Sure, a game can have very good graphics and be boring, but at least it will still be pretty. And if the system is so powerful that making pretty games is easy, developpers wont need to spend so much time coding the graphic routines. Most DC games are "pretty" AND "fun". I'm talking about Jet Set Radio or even better Tony Hawnk's Pro Skater, whose multiplayer kicks the lama's ass. And have you ever tried or seen Powerstone?

    Cheers,

    Angel

    P.S.- You are at least partially right though. Nintendo's games usualy are very cool, but the same can be said for Sega. I'm not that sure about Sony...

  19. I can be pickier than you are... on Game Boy Advance Arrives · · Score: 1

    I am a "non-fluent English speakers", but I don't think mistaking an adjective and a verb is a "pronunciation" mistake. Maybe it is a "grammatical" or a "syntactical" mistake.

    You just proved that you don't need to be a "non-fluent English speaker" to make such mistakes. Maybe the next time you try to be so picky you will re-read your post before hitting the submit button ;-)

    Angel

    P.S.- Please, forgive all the mistakes in this post. I'm just a "non-fluent English writer" you know...

  20. Re:Lawyer: no, it doesn't on Can Companies Control What You Say After You Leave? · · Score: 1

    You didn't need to say that you are a lawyer. I could have imagined it, because I did not understand a word of what you said! ;-)

    Angel

  21. Re:WAP/WML - comments on each link you posted. on DoCoMo To Begin Offering i-mode In Europe · · Score: 1

    Just a correction to the very nice item you wrote.
    WAP is not circuit switched at all. But GSM data is circuit switched, and WAP (in Europe) uses GSM to send/receive the data. However this should change very soon when GPRS (a GSM packed-mode "extension").

    But inherently you are right. It was just stupid to try to sell WAP without GPRS.

    Cheers,

    Angel

  22. If the margin was less than 2%... on A Year of Linux · · Score: 1

    ... couldn't Microsoft ask for a recount?

    Angel

  23. Comments from a Sony NCR-NC5 owner on Headphones For Noisy Environments? · · Score: 1

    I own a Sony NCR-NC5 since a year ago and I am pretty happy with them. However they are not perfect, and I'm not sure that they are suited for what you want.

    I've found out that they work better with low frequency noises, like car engines. They also do a good job with very high frequencies, like turbines, etc. I use them mainly for those long trips (by plane, train or bus), where you have the constant engine noise, and therefore they are perfect for that job. However they do nothing to remove other "noises" like the "background" noise of people speaking nearby.

    Also, they can get "tiring" to use. It's hard to explain... When you turn their noise cancelling circuit on, you inmediatly notice that there is much less noise, but also you start noticing other "noises" that where masked before. Or maybe is the noise cancelling loop that adds some extra noise I don't know, but although this is hardly noticeable if you use them for a long time your hears get tired of it. However this is a very small issue, and only matters if you plan to use them continously for 9 hours or something.

    As I said, for flights and bus trips they are really nice, specially coupled with my MZ-90 Minidisc portable player, but that is a totally different story! ;-)

    I hope this helps,

    Angel

  24. Backups... backups... on Dreamcast Runs Linux · · Score: 1

    There is an evident point to this, and it is to be able to easilly copy Dreamcast games, which are stored in a propietary "CD-ROM" format (called GD-ROM) into normal CD-ROMS.

    Maybe the guy did it just for fun, but I wouldn't be surprised if he "also" wanted to be able to make "backups" of his games! ;-)

    Cheers,

    Angel

  25. Anti-european slashdotters get me mad! on A Minor Political Screed · · Score: 1

    I don't understand how could this be considered as an insightful post! This guy has clearly never been in Europe!

    Ok, so there are no guns in London, but that does not mean it is an unsafe place. I'd even say the opposite. I have a much smaller chance of getting shot there than in the US.

    And what about "mafias and endemic corrupction". We may have some of that, but probably not much more than in the US. And I've been in Germany and in the US, and Germany really looks like a richest country than the US. Maybe their total wealth is smaller than in the US, but the average person seems to be richer.

    Don't get me wrong. The US is a great and very rich place. But don't assume you are so much better than anyone else, because it is not true.

    Cheers,

    Angel