Darkelve

SoulSe, I checked out the MacOSX Panther preview and explanation pages... and WOW is MacOSX looking good... it's like they're one step ahead of the competition... What I was referring to, was not that it would be like 'service menus', or even 'Smart Folders' like in OSX. What I meant was something more in the lines on "Smart Folders + Automator"... Let me explain a bit further. The main problem I was considering when thinking about this, was how people sort (or don't sort, or mis-sort) files and information. My 'magnetic' folder concept, generically, would be something like 1. Check filesystem for changes (creation, editing, deletion, ... of files) 2. Check to see if a certain rule applies to this 3. If there is a match, execute a certain action Indeed you could do a thousand and one things with this, like you could in OSX with Spotlight+Automator... but there are a couple of things nearly anyone would benefit from, with IMhO the biggest one being the classifying of files. For example my collegues are quite orderly people who classify everything. But often, you see that they mis-placed something, accidentally moved a folder to somewhere they don't remember, they use multiple versions of the same document stored in different folders... why not let a background process do that for them? (heck, a company might even set their own rules for collecting such information company-wide. Just as an example, a central location of templates and powerpoint files...) So In Linux this could translate to: 1. Beagle (or something else) indexes the filesystem; 2. As soon as there's a change to the filesystem (total FS or somewhere in it): check to see if a certain rule applies. For example: - File is of type: Video/Movie - File name contains: Bleach 3. If there is a match, for example if I just downloaded Bleach episode 93, which Firefox automatically downloads to my desktop (changing the default download location isn't much use because I download other stuff with it too) then execute the action "Move file to folder": "mv bleach93.avi ~/Multimedia/Movies/Bleach/" ( if keeping a copy to the location on the desktop is desired: "ln bleach93.avi ~/Multimedia/Movies/Bleach/bleach93.avi" ) The next time I download an episode of Bleach, when Beagle notices file system activity, it sees that the file matches one of the rules and automatically moves the file to the proper location. Service menus might still be useful here, for example, have an option in the context menu for each file (in the home directory) that says "Classify this file". Have an option in each folder that says "Smart Collect Files". Both will take you to a dialog screen where you can enter the necessary information. But what this is supposed to do, is easen information overload by helping you automatically classify files following pre-defined rules. Another example: suppose I regularly receive e-mail from Gowator who sends me presentations often. I could add a rule saying: (pseudo-code) - IF <sender name> contains "Gowator" - AND e-mail has attachment - AND attachment is of type "Presentation" (.odt, .ppt, ...) THEN cp 'attachment' (filename) ~/Documents/Presentations/Gowator/ After I set up this rule, every time Gowator sends me an e-mail with a presentation, it gets auto-classified in the correct folder. Cross-pollination with an address book is possible too (for example, if sender address matches people in my address book, copy/move to location 'X') Things to consider are: conflicting rules. If they conflict, give the user a dialog box allowing him to fine-tune the rule(s). Another possible problem is, suppose someone is working on a company presentation, and he wants it to be copied to a shared network drive ASAP, then Beagle should index it ASAP too in order to update it after each save option. I don't know if the service gets immediately notified, but if not a file should have a way to shout "hey! I'm important! Index me! ..." well, you get the idea :unsure: And yes, very powerful things can be done with technologies like this... perhaps this isn't totally obvious, but if you're using OSX as a server, with Smart Folders and Automator, I think you may be able to apply certain conditions to a file and you have a mini-content management system! For example: - you uploaded a file called "products.php" (standard product page) - you apply a rule "on date x/yy/zzzz, h:xx s:yy" replace "/var/www/html/products.php" with "~/christmas/products.php" (product page with special christmas conditions) The power (maybe also weakness?) in doing this with something like Beagle, is that it's indexed and rules are applied to it after the fact, so you don't need specific settings for, let's say, Firefox, or a full-blown metadata FileSystem.

Oh, sorry, I was busy with some other stuff... busy day today -_- No, I didn't install kreplace yet. I'm going to check this further out when I've got more time... Cheers, Darkelve

Nice ideas... then you could perhaps set up an USB stick or an mp3 player to 'attract' all mp3/ogg files :) Imagine your mp3 files are scattered all over the /home/user/ directory... right-click on the mp3 player icon, click 'attract', and they all get copied to the thing automatically ... Or that you need to burn all the powerpoint presentations you ever made onto a CD-R ... right-click on a presentation (opendocument, powerpoint) file, select 'get attracted->all files of this type->to device:CD burner'

Hmmm... I don't get an entry in my context menu... did I forget something? Edit: sorry! It does work! Only I tried it with an mp3 file instead of image file xD ... Hmmm... it says it can't find 'krename'? Maybe Mandriva is different from SuSe in this respect?

Nice, I'm going to try this out now! B)

Yes, as per a SuSe member's (Pusherman) suggestion, I sent a mail to the Plasma project, to Aaron Seigo from KDE fame... It's nice to see people enthusiastic for this idea :)

Does it support iPod? I'd like to know, because I'm getting a Nano soon... B)

So I was working at my desktop today (in Windows XP for a change), checking out an online music store and downloading a series of songs... they got downloaded to my desktop. So now I have 20 mp3 icons sitting on my desktops, cluttering up things. So what I would normally do is either 1. select them (draw a rectangle around them and/or Ctrl+click) 2. use Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut to cut the files 3. open a file explorer (windoze explorer) 4. use Ctrl+V keyboard shortcut to paste the files or 1. open iTunes 2. import the files in iTunes 3. select the files 4. delete the files However, I think there is a way that is perhaps more convenient, something what I like to call 'magnetic folders'. Basically this means you give a folder some meta-data as to what it should attract (in this case, attract all mp3 files). After you set up the folder, you could then right-click the folder (in this case, let's call it 'Music'), select 'attract' in the contextual menu, and the files from the desktop would be copied into the proper folder ('Music'). The other way around, you could select a file icon, right-click on it, select 'get attracted' and then the file would get copied to whichever folder holds the proper 'settings'. For example, if you did this with a Powerpoint document, it might end up in the 'Documents>Presentations' folder. Some kind of 'magnet history' would be convenient if you forgot where it got attracted, however with Beagle it's easier. The 'magnet action' history could even be integrated into Beagle. This way you could very easily organise files by putting them into the correct folder. - Dowloaded a video? Right-click the video icon, choose 'get attracted' and it automatically gets copied to /home/tux/multimedia/movies/ - Downloaded a bunch of songs? Either right-click the 'Music' folder (shortcut to /home/tux/multimedia/music/) on the desktop and click 'attract' OR select all the music icons, right-click and select 'get attracted' So the basic is to attract/get attracted by filetype (the file/type command may be used if there's not extension to make it clear) Advanced features might include things like 'file bigger/smaller then a certain size', 'file created before/after a certain date', ... So what do you think of the idea?

It looks just like how Xandros implemented their theme, but then in Gnome... it's better than the previous Mandrake windeco, but I still can't see why everyone thinks it's so great? Then again, I'm addicted to PlastiK...

Well, after evaluating all of the options and researching a lot of info, I made the decision to try out these HomePlug things. I imagined dozens of situations, but in order to get the experience I want, I would have to replace all 802.11b devices with faster wireless stuff... And even a Wireless router that's powerful enough to help is still more expensive thant 2 or 3 of these Homeplug Network Adapter things... So all in all, I think this is probably the best solution for me after all. If it works as advertised, that is... I sent a mail to the companies making this stuff to see how well they react and if that's not too disappointing, I'll go on ahead and try it. I'm interested in new techology anyways, so I'm kind of curious to be able to try it out. And if it turns out to be garbage, at least I'll be a bit wiser :)

"Also consider putting the first one on a longer lead.... you can be more flexible and move it around to get better reception elsewhere (Im guessing it goes straight intot he phone)" Straight into the Cable Modem... so I suppose that's a 'yes'. Not a bad idea... still trouble with long wires, but less trouble since it'll still be on the same floor. "If you need to move it to get better reception on the terrace (you must have better weather now ) you can just extend it temporarily on the lead and put it back after." Yes, I wanted to do that when the weather was so hot over here... one of the few bearable spots for sitting with a computer, especially with the heat they produce themselves. So I did sit outside a couple of times, but it was a bummer not to be able to get a connection. Floors often have steel girders etc. I would think about putting the 1st access point at the bottom of the stairs and the second pretty much in line of sight at the top. Remember they have vertical antenna' (usually) so the best signal is in the same plane.... Your ideal solution would be to borrow one and try it out. Also consider putting the first one on a longer lead.... you can be more flexible and move it around to get better reception elsewhere .(Im guessing it goes straight intot he phone)... with a bit of thought the lead can go behind a table etc. If you use something like Kwifi and a laptop you can monitor signal strengh and play about with where the router is placed. Sometimes it can be really far from obvious because of hidden structures and wiring and pipes etc. inside walls and floors. If you need to move it to get better reception on the terrace (you must have better weather now ) you can just extend it temporarily on the lead and put it back after.

"slower connection, more dropped packets, more packet collisions...basically it could create an unstable/unreliable connection (if the interference is bad enough)." I'm using a wireless connection right now... I've got lots of dropped packets, I think because there's a wall and ceiling in between, even though my room isn't far away from the access point physically. Just down the stairs and after the door into the next room... I was hoping for less dropped packets this way, so if there would be more, it would be no use... or maybe I just have to buy a more powerful access point/router (I suspect the current one isn't really all that) or a range repeater or what's it called.

It's a private home, but I don't know a lot about electrical/electronical stuff... I have a friend that can help me with that though. Also the data is said to be enc "I would think about just either upgrade to a 802.11G but run it at 11Mbit for range... or simply add a wired repeater... " Yeah, I thought about that as well... anyway, whatever I buy, most wireless stuff seems to be pretty expensive (€50 up to €200). "With a bit of thought Cat -5 is not so obstrusive if you have enough of it." For my room that is a problem... the cable modem is downstairs, my room is upstairs... the only way to put the cable would be to drill holes in the wall (not going there) or let it run along the staircase (done that, not going there either). Also I'd like to be able to connect in my our garden... which isn't that far from the modem, but it's a problem for the wireless signal... like you said, an extender might help, but there's a power socket over there as well. So I'm just seeing what solution would be the most practical.

So what are the implications of that? Slower connection? Less range? Something else? ...

I was wondering if anyone could give me some more info about a new technology, something called "HomePlug", which allows you to send network data over the electricity network via an adapter you plug into your power plug and your computer. Right now we have a DSL connection hooked up to a Wired+Wireless Accesspoint (Intel WAP 2011b or something like that). We have a mixed environment of desktop computers and laptops. Most computers run a version of Windows, my computer and laptop run Linux (dual-boot with Windows used for games and specialty applications). I have problems because the signal has to run through walls... also the range isn't good enough to, for example, take my laptop and sit on the terrace with it (card just barely receives a signal but won't connect). So I was wondering if this technology would be useful for our purposes. I found a couple of companies offering such adapters, for example Netgear and Devolo/Microlink. The nice thing about Devolo is that they offer Linux drivers and installation software/instructions , and that there's an ethernet interface on the adapter as well as a USB one (also with Linux support): http://www.devolo.com/co_EN/produkte/dlan/...starterkit.html I'm also not 100% sure what the difference between all the versions of these adapters is... The Audio adapter seems interesting also... something my dad would probably appreciate very much. That is, if it works as advertised. I'm always sceptic about these new-new technologies though, so I thought I'd ask around to see if anyone has experience with it and can advise me if it's useful for my purposes or not. Anyway, I'll end my rant here and wait for feedback. :)

Another month, another desktop :)

Having "lost sight" of Mandriva since 9.2, I'm curious as to what major changes there are in the latest versions of Mandriva, if you guys like it and if you like or dislike the direction Mandriva is taking. Just spit it out! :) Darkelve

If I may ask, how do you like the thing, and what are you using it for?

Cool! :)

"I actually have that book on my shelf right now. Along with Learn AJAX in 10 Minutes and the CSS Pocket Guide." That reminds me: I still need to find a book or reference about using Photoshop effects for web graphics: for example, something talking about gradients, text effects, buttons, backgrounds, edges, ... do you know of some good ones? (haven't had time yet to look at "Adobe Photoshop CS2 for the web" ... but I bought Photoshop&ImageReady 6 Hands-On-Training and it was good but too 'basic' [e.g. by know I already know how to create a tiling background image, thank you...], so I'm afraid this one will be the same)... some kind of 'recipe' book.

Cool... another CSS and web 'experiments' addict ;) Nice CSS-based 'tabbed' navigation buttons I'm currently over my head in learning books... - PeachPitt Press' The Zen of CSS (book about CSS Zen Garden): never thought about 'design' in this way before. - Sams's PHP and MySQL Development... reads like a train... - Lynda.com's Adobe Photoshop CS2 for the web... - about a dozen of online videos and tutorials For starters... I'm in over my head, but I like it this way B)

It's okay... I solved it, and it works... it's a bit hack-ish, but quite cool to see: - address: www.mysite.com/about/ - ASP 'URL request' and split function used to get the 'about' - each link of the main menu also has an ID with the same name as the current folder (in this example 'id=about') - through ASP, an if-loop (select case, for those who know that) is done and different CSS rules can be applied for all link elements. Here it's just used to put a background image behind the navigation link, so visitors can see what section they're in. By the way, I'm learning PHP (PHP & MySQL to be exact) at the moment... I'm through with ASP... developing in ASP automatically means higher hosting costs... so I feel my time is better spent with PHP (which runs on M$ server OS'es too). And with MySQL you don't need an extra SQL database license...

I finally found a solution... I found a new best friend: the "Split" function :)

"Basically if www.mypage.com/ maps to a particular page then you can simply strip off the entire URL (minus query string) after than point." Well, what I need to know is how to strip everything between the first "/" (forward slash) and the second "/" (forward slash) and put it in a string variable. Problem is I know next to zero about ASP string manipulation. "But - wouldn't it be easier to have it as a query parameter: www.mypage.com?style=about You could then simply pull the "style" parameter off the incoming request parameters... To my mind it would be a much simpler approach..." Yes, that would be easier, but I can't do that: this is for an existing site consisting of about 200 mostly "static" pages.

I want to retrieve an URL in a string like www.mypage.com/about/ (the string would be 'about') and then applying an 'if' block to it if it matches a certain condition. See following code I have up to now: Dim page page = Request.ServerVariables("url") Response.write (page) ' for testing if page="about" Then Reponse.write("Match Found!") ' for testing - to be replaced with a 'select ... case'-type block end if The idea is to apply a custom background-image through CSS (by applying a class or id with associated style), so that visitors can visually see the main section they are in. Now I'd like to know how I can manipulate the string to capture everything between the first and second 'forward slash' ( / ) and put it in the 'page' variable. I also know a little bit of Basic (Qbasic, Visual Basic) and I was wondering if VBscript has something like a "Select... case" statement. This would be useful in this case, since there are about 9-12 main navigation links to go through. Thanks in advance, Darkelve