Topic: Software of the week from the desk of Demosthenes (Read 7290 times)

Demosthenes · « **on:** October 31, 2006, 05:07:27 PM »

We've had some "share your favourite programs" threads before around here, but I thought I'd make an attempt to make this a regular weekly post to share an app that I find useful with others, and hopefully prompt responses in kind.

This week I'd like to share one of my favourite networking/connectivity troubleshooting tools, Pingplotter.

Free download, and after the "trial" period is up, the app is actually still functional, though with a "buy this!" nag message.

I use Pingplotter daily where I work, where we are constantly troubleshooting weak points in connections between our clients' offices and our data center. Oftentimes with Pingplotter we find ourselves better aware of issues with local internet providers' networks than the ISPs themselves tend to be.

MISTER MASSACRE · « **Reply #1 on:** November 03, 2006, 06:14:09 PM »

For those of you spending time in Mac-Land like I do, there's no better program than Quicksilver. It's a program-launcher, catalogue, display thing-a-majig and has a dozen other uses!

(And yes, I'm at Demosthenes' desk)

ivan · « **Reply #2 on:** November 03, 2006, 06:34:45 PM »

What's he got in the bottom drawer?

pbsaurus · « **Reply #3 on:** November 04, 2006, 04:01:00 AM »

Quote from: Lacerda on November 03, 2006, 06:14:09 PM

For those of you spending time in Mac-Land like I do, there's no better program than Quicksilver. It's a program-launcher, catalogue, display thing-a-majig and has a dozen other uses!

(And yes, I'm at Demosthenes' desk)

We just bought one of the 20" imacs. I'm still removing stuff from the old 98SE box, so I can kill it and make room for the new imac.

BizB · « **Reply #4 on:** November 07, 2006, 05:18:55 PM »

Okay... it's my turn to contribute to this here thing, iffen you don't mind, Demo.

http://www.autohotkey.com/

Demosthenes · « **Reply #5 on:** November 07, 2006, 06:13:22 PM »

Oh yeah, I messed around with that a little while back because I saw it on a coworker's setup. Pretty slick.

BizB · « **Reply #6 on:** November 07, 2006, 07:49:35 PM »

Not quite as slick as macro express, but priced better.

Demosthenes · « **Reply #7 on:** November 07, 2006, 08:17:44 PM »

That was the main contention I had with macro express.

rootlinuxusr · « **Reply #8 on:** November 07, 2006, 09:24:54 PM »

Post not made by member(hunting down who posted such...), huge long spammy list, etc etc...

BizB · « **Reply #9 on:** November 07, 2006, 10:14:19 PM »

I mind.

edit: That was rude. Let me explain.

When I first glanced at your post, I thought it was spam right away. Not only will I not read a post like yours, but I wouldn't remember it when/if I found a need for anything in a list that long. However, if you were to post one of those links (perhaps one each week in a thread specifically for linux stuff) each week and detail what it does and why you like it, that may be something that I would find useful or slightly entertaining. I'm sure you'll find that the few Linux users on the forum are among the best informed Linux users out there. Especially milifist.

Forgive me if I'm out of line here... clearly this isn't "my thread". I clearly don't have moderator powers here and likely will not. So, don't feel compelled to listen to me. But, if the masses agree...

rootlinuxusr · « **Reply #10 on:** November 07, 2006, 10:38:56 PM »

o0. I...I did not make that post. Someone around here's been using my PC.. -goes off and hunts- They will be apprehended!

BizB · « **Reply #11 on:** November 07, 2006, 10:40:08 PM »

+1 for the most original excuse since Liquid's brother

TheJudge · « **Reply #12 on:** November 08, 2006, 07:56:54 AM »

Smart FTP 2.0 is a very nice *and free* FTP client. I've been using Smart FTP for quit some town now and it does the job well. Version 2 was released not that long ago.

kimi_fan · « **Reply #13 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:32:17 AM »

Some new software i found recently called Samurize. Allows you to completly customize your desktop so you dont have to use other tools like Kapsules.

www.samurize.com for a free download, forums, downloads, screenshots + much more

Demosthenes · « **Reply #14 on:** November 08, 2006, 06:53:54 PM »

My addition this week is the main app I use on my Linux boxen to rip CDs: Grip

It's basically a graphical interface that uses CDParanoia and LAME to rip and encode your music from CD to excellent quality MP3 files.

I'm a bit of an audiophile, and I've used a variety of rippers over the years and by comparison to all of them, this blows them away. Ripped at an identical bitrate, the sound quality and depth I get out of files ripped and encoded with Grip is almost impossible to miss, even to casual listeners.

I don't use Windows at home anymore, so I'm not sure if there are Windows equivalents of the component elements of Grip.

That's actually something I've been encountering more and more over the past couple of years. It used to be the big excuse was "I don't want to use Linux because there just isn't any decent software available!".

Anymore, the opposite is true. I've found more and better options for almost everything in Linux by comparison to Windows, including things like Grip, browsers, mail clients, media players, etc.

BizB · « **Reply #15 on:** February 07, 2007, 05:03:01 PM »

Fineprint is an old friend that I forgot to remember. Once I remembered that I had forgotten it, I remembered that I loved this program.

It acts as a intermediary between you and the printer and allows you to manipulate your printing in some pretty cool ways before you finally print it.

jeee · « **Reply #16 on:** February 08, 2007, 03:41:52 AM »

http://www.angryziber.com/ipscan/

Still use it every day, very handy for a quick scan.

hackess · « **Reply #17 on:** February 08, 2007, 08:54:14 PM »

For my fellow web developers/designers: Multiple IE

All the way back to IE3!

Demosthenes · « **Reply #18 on:** February 18, 2007, 07:09:24 PM »

Since I installed upgraded my laptop to Slackware 11, I've really been enjoying Amarok.

BizB · « **Reply #19 on:** March 27, 2007, 08:45:42 PM »

I just discovered the many uses of Watir. It promises to make my job much easier.

Mojo · « **Reply #20 on:** June 04, 2008, 11:09:56 PM »

Well, I'm a complete noob... but I'll add in a program that may not be the geekiest of programs, and may not be the fanciest of programs, but I find it useful as hell. First, let me just try to explain my extreme disdain for Office 2007. Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of the new functionality, but I hate the ribbon style menus that replaced the good old fashioned menus I have become so darn accustomed to over the years. So I was pretty freaking happy to find Classic Menu for Office 2007 by a company called Addintools. It does exactly what you would think it would do and just adds the Office 2003 style menu seamlessly into Office 2007 giving me all the new functionality that I like, but the old way to find it and use it.

Like I said, definitely not groundbreaking technology, but for me, I loved it!

Later,

Noob Mojo

Demosthenes · « **Reply #21 on:** June 05, 2008, 09:50:03 AM »

I have run across that.

The thing is, that tool basically makes Office 2007 pointless. When you remove the ribbon and make the interface essentially what it was in Office 2003, you remove any of the reason to even use Office 2007.

Why bother with that add-in at all then? Just go back to Office 2003 and your problem is solved!

EDIT:

I should probably clarify that I'm a sysadmin and words cannot describe how much I loathe Office 2007. I feel your pain.

xolik · « **Reply #22 on:** June 05, 2008, 09:53:01 AM »

Quote from: Demosthenes on June 05, 2008, 09:50:03 AM

I have run across that.

The thing is, that tool basically makes Office 2007 pointless. When you remove the ribbon and make the interface essentially what it was in Office 2003, you remove any of the reason to even use Office 2007.

Why bother with that add-in at all then? Just go back to Office 2003 and your problem is solved!

BUT MY IT DIRECTOR SAID WE HAVE TO USE THE NEW VERSION OR WE LOSE OUR NEW SOFTWARE BUDGET ALLOCATION WHAT NOW SMART GUY?

Demosthenes · « **Reply #23 on:** June 05, 2008, 10:02:02 AM »

I've heard that one before.

The ones I like are the hosted clients of ours that do everything on terminal servers in our DC. Generally speaking, we don't "upgrade" products like Office unless a client specifically requests that we do, and we have a handful of clients who DEMANDED Office 2007.

And without exception, every single one of them has hated it once we "upgraded" to it. The ribbon is huge (some of these people like lower resolutions), uncustomizable, Office 2007 as a whole is very inflexible, slow, graphically intensive (especially for a terminal server environment), and Outlook 2007 is so slow as to be practically unusable for anything important.

We actually had one of these clients go out and find that Addintools product themselves and request that we install it on their terminal server for them "to make Office 2007 behave more like Office 2003".

They were baffled when we suggested that we just roll their servers back to actually use Office 2003. "OMG BUT THEN WE WOULDN'T BE RUNING TEH LATEST VERSION OF OFFICE, DUH!".

The_FOO · « **Reply #24 on:** June 05, 2008, 01:02:24 PM »

People shouldn't be allowed to touch a computer sometimes...

Cool software of my day: VLC video player. It can be a bit unstable at times, but it'll play damn near anything.

News:

Recent Forum Posts

Shout Box

Author Topic: Software of the week from the desk of Demosthenes (Read 7290 times)