In thinking about all the free and open source tools I use, one seems to run underneath the radar: 7-Zip.
7-Zip will compress, expand, encode, and decode more formats than you can shake a stick at. It integrates seamlessly with Windows Explorer, so you just right-click and choose the option you want, as shown below.
[That little fuzzy thing in the background is my dog, Thea. How I miss her!]
The fact that 7-Zip does so much and is free makes me wonder why anyone would pay $30 for a copy of WinZip. Instead, donate that money to Igor Pavlov, author of 7-Zip.
I decided to do just that. Heading over to the donate page for 7-Zip tells you that the “base donation amount is $50 or €40, but if you would like to donate more, just change the Quantity field”. Apparently, you can donate more than $50, but you can not donate less than $50 — donations must be whole-number multiples of $50.
This is a bit odd. I would think a minimum donation for a free product would be less than...
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Select/input combo box using PrototypeFrom: sidesofmarch.com
Post Date: 2008-05-30 11:06:28
I was looking around for a good HTML combo box (a drop-down list with a type-in text box), and found a good looking one over at Particletree (see Update Your Select Element to a Combo Box). There were a few quirks I found with it.
The text box used absolute positioning. As a result, if the location of the select element changed (perhaps due to another item on the page being shown or hidden), the text box would be in the wrong place.
The code was free-standing and applied...
more Is it time for a national sales tax?From: sidesofmarch.com
Post Date: 2008-05-29 09:57:11
I just received the following in an e-mail from NewEgg:
As a result of recent changes in the State of New York Tax Law requiring certain out-of-state retailers to collect and remit sales taxes to the State of New York, we regrettably inform you that Newegg.com must begin collecting applicable state and local sales tax for all orders shipped to New York addresses on or after June 1, 2008.
There’s a good reason why businesses don’t charge sales tax to purchasers who are out-of-state, ...
more Solving distorted sound issues in Boot CampFrom: sidesofmarch.com
Post Date: 2008-05-20 20:13:47
I’ve been running a rather expensive Windows Vista computer lately, thanks to Boot Camp. However, two problems continue to plague me:
The latest Boot Camp update from Apple will not install successfully.
Sound is distorted when playing games, typically those using multiple sound channels (i.e. pretty much all games).
Fortunately, I finally found the fix for #2. It wasn’t Vista SP1, and it wasn’t figuring out a way to install the latest Boot Camp drivers (still can...
more Is Verizon FiOS TV in your area? Don’t try checking online.From: sidesofmarch.com
Post Date: 2008-05-19 09:22:42
It seems I always have usability issues with Verizon’s web sites. After checking to see if, after two weeks, they figured out why an old cell phone number of mine was still showing up on my online profile (they didn’t, it’s still there), I decided to see if FiOS TV was in my area.
They have a nifty Check Availability page where you enter your phone number (if an existing Verizon customer) or address to find out if you can get this service. Being a Verizon custom...
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