Soft Tech Reviews

As a lot of you may have noticed, I haven’t written a post in about a month. This is because I’ve been so busy! I apologize and will try to stay on top of things, if I can! (One way to help me out would be if you have a suggestion for a topic, please contact me and let me know.)

I was recently notified about FruitfulTime TaskManager at a perfect time and decided to give it a try because of how many tasks I needed to get done (on time). I figured this would be a great way to share my experience and opinions of this software with all of you and get a new post out at the same time!

FruitfulTime TaskManager actually looks better than a lot of other task management applications and allows you to easily see what your progress is for any tasks. It’s also small in size and performs very quickly. Another feature that has been tempting me to buy a new thumb drive is that it is portable as well. This means it can be installed on a thumb drive so you can take it wherever!

Being that I work on projects that also involve other people, it’s helpful to see who is assigned to what, so if you have a task that is dependent on another task which is assigned to someone else, you’ll know by viewing who it is assigned to and be able to contact that person regarding the status because of the Contact Manager built-in.

I do have a few annoyances/suggestions that I want to point out, that I hope could be considered in a future version:

1. Subtasks not grouped with tasks. Instead of separating the subtasks below the task listing, I would rather see a tree listing with the subtasks below each task, so I don’t have to click on a task just to see the subtask. This would save me time.
2. Deleting subtasks. Several times I have made the mistake of clicking on a subtask to delete, only to end up clicking on ‘Delete Task’, which shouldn’t appear when a subtask is selected. If the parent task was selected, then ‘Delete Task’ should appear. I just become confused when I’m so busy and not paying attention.
3. Setting task options, like Priority, Status, Progress, etc. When changing them, I have to triple-click! I wish I only had to single-click like I do for editing the name of the task, but would even settle for double-click. But triple-clicking is going a little too far and wastes time.
4. Setting the progress of a subtask does not automatically update its task. For example, if I set a subtask to 50% (say there is only one subtask), shouldn’t the task’s progress become 50%? I don’t really want to manually set it to 50%, because again, it takes time.

Features I really like:

• Adding notes to tasks.
• Adding references to any relevant websites or files. Very useful option for me especially since the company I work for has MANY websites that I need to be able to login for QA. A lot of the time, I also need to be able to review a document, so this can save me time from having to go back through lots of files to find the document I need.
• Adding reminders. Reminders can be set to go off before the Start Date or the Due Date. For me, setting reminders before a Start Date is helpful, because sometimes I like to start projects early, rather than waiting until I actually need to start it.

Overall, I do like FruitfulTime TaskManager and will probably continue using it since I’m tired of Outlook 2007 running so slow on Vista because I have a lot of e-mails and tasks to add. I like how Outlook manages tasks, but when I have to wait forever for Outlook to load, it’s not worth my time.

If you would like to see a demo of FruitfulTime TaskManager in action, there is video on the website. Interested in trying out this wonderful (very affordable) application? Go download it!

I would really like to hear if anyone else has given FruitfulTime TaskManager a try, and what you think of it. Please leave a comment below.

After a client had made a request for a Flash header to not animate every time a new page is loaded, I needed to figure out how to do this. Not for this one request, but for any future requests. I have previously looked this up, but came up empty. It seemed there was one solution, but it really wasn’t the greatest, because when you return to the home page, the animation would play again.

I eventually came across a solution that had no comments from other people, so I didn’t really know if it would work. The person who provided the solution also provided a link to his/her website with it in action, so I was able to see that it worked.

This solution uses PHP sessions. It works by displaying the full Flash header only if never viewed during the current session. If it has already been viewed, it will display the second (non-animated) header until the session ends, which is on browser close. The next time the website is viewed in a new session, it will display the original animated header.

The first code you need to add is placed at the top, before any other code (DOCTYPE & HTML), in the header. This code checks to see if there are any views during the current session.

< ?php
session_start();
if (isset($_SESSION['views']))
$_SESSION['views']=$_SESSION['views']+1;

else
$_SESSION['views']=1;
?>

The next code is for displaying the Flash, just as you would normally, except it’s using PHP.

< ?php if ($_SESSION['views']>1) //if session views are more than one
echo "Flash embed code here";
else //if session view is one
echo "Flash embed code here";
?>

This code is just saying: If views are more than one, display the second (non-animated) header. If views are one, display the full animated header. It is really simple.

Make sure to remove the space that appears at the beginning of the PHP code: < ?php. Also, when adding the Flash embed code to be echoed, escape any quotes with a ‘\’ (without the single quotes).

Full credit for this solution goes to www.addisoncountyeagles.com. The actual solution is in the Coffee Cup forums.

I’ve been waiting for this moment. Okay, the moment isn’t here yet, but it’s very close! Spore is going to be released soon and is available for pre-ordering. Or you can wait to purchase it when it’s available on September 7, 2008. I really wouldn’t wait if I was you. Pre-order now before there’s a long wait! There will even be a Nintendo DS version someday!

If you haven’t heard of Spore, Spore allows you to create an entire universe and everything in it. Creatures you have created will interact with each other. Their lives are in your hands.

I can’t describe it any better than Justine Ezarik:

It feels like a cross between interaction of The Sims, object creation in Second Life and a bit of World of Warcraft on the side.

I actually first learned through one of her twitters that Spore Creator is available, also as a trial. I quickly went to download the huge file and installed it. I had so much fun creating a creature. I even had fun with him, in a kind of cruel way. Watch the video below to see what I mean. Explanation of what’s happening in the video below the video.

First, I named my creature Twotoe. I couldn’t think of anything very creative and since he has two toes on both feet, he became Twotoe! Meet Twotoe:

Link to video if you can’t view it above: Twotoe

In the video: Twotoe notices a creature, shows some affection, notices another creature and seems to look a little disappointed with that one. He sees another one and shows some affection towards that one. The one he didn’t show affection to walks off looking sad. Then, the cruel joke I play on Twotoe begins (not intentionally). I make all three little creatures disappear. And he looks around wondering what just happened and then cries out.

If you have any videos of your Spore creatures, please share in the comments!

More than a month ago, I used my tickets on Live Search Club to get a Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000. There were only two choices, the 3000 or 6000 - obviously I chose the 6000. I did already have a webcam, but my Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 wouldn’t work with Vista.

The Logitech webcam I had is really good, almost clear video (in small resolution only though), but would still recommend for XP and earlier.

Last week the webcam arrived and of course I tried it out right away. As the instructions said, I installed the software first (which took a long time), then plugged the webcam into the USB port. Opened up the software to see how the video looked. It crashed and closed out! Something about ffdshow needed to be installed, according to Vista. The first thing I thought was: “Doesn’t everything I need come included on the CD?”

So, I installed ffdshow and the webcam software worked just fine. But, the video quality was really poor. It was like watching a station on TV that doesn’t come in very well, a lot of static. This webcam was claimed to have good video quality!

After playing with the ffdshow settings that made no difference at all, I uninstalled it. The webcam software worked fine even after uninstalling ffdshow. Weird. I looked up reviews online and eventually came across one person saying to not install from the CD, but to download the software/drivers from Microsoft and to change the USB bandwidth to a lower number.

I re-installed (just to be sure), switched the USB bandwidth to a lower number and noticed a change. But, a lower USB bandwidth number means slower video. Picture quality though for the most part is really good.

Here are some features of this webcam from the back of the box; my notes in italics:

• High Definition video (1.3 megapixels) and photos (5.0 megapixels interpolated) (Logitech webcam quality wasn’t as good)
• Wide-angle lens (Logitech webcam didn’t have this)
• 3x digital zoom (Logitech webcam has this)
• Automatic face tracking software (Logitech webcam comes with this too)
• Automatically adjust for low-light conditions for superior video quality (Not any better than the Logitech webcam)
• Read more features of the webcam on the Microsoft product page.

One thing I don’t like is if there is a light in the view of the webcam, it just makes that area completely white, rather than showing what is really there. The Logitech webcam didn’t do that.

Below is a very short clip of what the video looks like with the high definition video (1.3 megapixels) and the USB bandwidth set at 6. (Windows Media Player only, sorry.)

Link to video if you can’t view it above: Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000

I like that the webcam can sit on top of my monitor, unlike the Logitech that wasn’t designed to. I may have to put some double-sided tape on part of it so it doesn’t move when my monitor is bumped though.

Overall, I guess it’s an okay webcam. You get what you pay for right?

I don’t plan on purchasing a new webcam anytime soon, but if you know of one that has really good quality videos, I’d like to hear about it!

Image is a modified screenshot from the Microsoft product page.

UPDATE: It is now June 5th and the winner is… Vivian! And to quote her, “So I just HAVE to win, it’s in the cosmos…” She was right! This was completely random through Randomizer. I assigned all four participants a number and then let Randomizer pick the number randomly. Congratulations Vivian!

NOTE: Comments are now closed.

This isn’t going to be a huge giveaway like most are. But, since I have a premium WordPress theme that I don’t plan on using now, with Brian Gardner’s permission, I am giving it away! The theme I am giving away is the Revolution Theme. Here is a live demo if you would like to see it in action. If you need help with this theme, there is a support forum and tutorials.

UPDATE: I decided to change the rules, because I might be really busy and won’t be able to keep up. So, everything with a strikethrough does not apply.

To enter, subscribe to the RSS feed and then come back here and leave a comment on this post saying that you subscribed. Be sure when filling out your e-mail address that it is correct. It will be used to send you your new theme!

I will choose three people at random. I will ask the first person for a code. This code can only be found when subscribed. So be sure that you have subscribed! If the winner can’t give me the code, I will contact the second person and so on.

The code will not be the same code that is used for the free advertising, so please look out for the correct one!

You must leave a comment about subscribing before June 5th, 2008 EST. And yes, if you’re already subscribed, just leave a comment and you get an entry.

In summary, here are the steps to enter to win the theme:

• Subscribe to the feed.
• Leave a comment on this post saying you subscribed. This is important or you will not receive an entry!
• Watch the feed for the correct code anytime between now and June 5th.
• Wait until June 5th, 2008. I will announce the winner on this post!

The winner will be announced after one of the random three has given me the correct code.

Even if you don’t win, you can still purchase the Revolution Theme or several others. Or if you want something unique, maybe Brian can help you with that by creating a custom design.  I also hope when this ends, you will decide to stay subscribed subscribe!

Good luck to everyone who participates!