That Net Site

Adobe kills off Homesite

It is sad news, my beloved XHTML editor is now dead no thanks to Adobe with them announcing the death of Homesite as of the 26th May 2009.  They acquired Homesite from Macromedia (2003) and simply let it die, without even a hint of updating it or letting anyone know it would be abandoned since they took it over.

While other editors exist and will have to take the place of Homesite, at this stage there os no product (yet) that is as good as Homesite.   Adobe have simply said use Dreamweaver, but if I wanted to use Dreamweaver I would already be doing that.  The benefit Homesite has over Dreamweaver is that Homesite is light weight and very customisable – which is very different to Dreamweaver which is well over priced (as are all Adobe products) and is over bloated with extensions and tools and add-ons that for the most part are not needed.

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I have been a long time Thunderbird user and while it still works fine I like the new Outlook 2007 interface and it plays nicer with Windows Live accounts

So I set out on a path to work out how to get mail from TB to Outlook… and boy was it a task and a half… not satisfied I played around with it all a bit more and use the following method that keeps all the mail fully intact without any date changes etc

I have Vista, so this applies to Vista users – I have not tested this method on XP or Windows 7 but can see no reason why it would not work with them as well.  Note use Windows Mail and NOT Windows Live Mail for this process.

1. OK 1st up you will need the Import/Export add-on for Thunderbird (see: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/2474)

2. Once you have that you will want to export any mail you wish to move to Outlook into a folder for each folder or mailbox you have in Thunderbird… depending on how long you have been using TB this may take a while.  You need to export them in EML format.

3. Once the exporting is done you will need to go to where you exported them and then you will find that within each folder is a folder called messages.  This Messages folder will contain all the EML files.  Rename that Messages folder to the name you want it to be (usually the same as the folder above it but without the numbers etc.

4.  Now copy that folder with the EML files to your Windows Mail Profile folder, something like C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail\Local Folders.

5. Open up Windows Mail, and it should now find each folder and message within it, it may take a little while so give it time….  be patient, there is no bar to watch it happen but it is happening so give it time… wait until it finishes finding them.  If you want to import them as all Read you can tell Windows Mail to mark them as read under the EDIT menu for Windows Mail.

6. Then go to Outlook (2007 is what I have and use) and set up an initial email account – any account just make it a POP account as that is what worked best for me – if you do not have one get a temp Hotmail one and set it up for POP and not HTTP.

7. Now within Outlook select FILE from the menu and select Import and Export…  From the pop up window select Import Mail and Addresses.  Select Next and untick Import Address book and select the Outlook/Windows Mail option from the above list.  Then select Finish and woot all your mail you put in that folder now imports into your inbox (or the folder names you used) of your Outlook account.

8. Now move that mail wherever you want it within Outlook – even to another account if you want.

9. Ok now for the next trick we want to delete the mail we just imported, you cannot just delete it via explorer (I tried), reopen Windows Mail (if it is not open already) and select the first message you want deleted and use CTRL D – hold it down and it will quickly delete all the mail in that list – do not use your DELETE key as you will (not sure why) get errors.

10.  Close Windows mail and your now ready to use Outlook – sweet

Seems long winded but it is simple to follow once you have done it a few times and it keeps all your mail, attachments and dates all correctly.

Happy mailing all

Yes the title is correct, and while I was a 95% convert to linux (Ubuntu) I have had to return to windows.  Why you ask?  Well various reasons but mainly due to time and the need to keep dropping back in and out of Windows too often.  I need to make it clear first up that it is not linux or the linux communities fault for my return to Windows but more a lack of support from the larger software companies to support a growing linux market.

So let me get down to my reasons as I am sure any hard core linux user is shaking his/her head in disbelief

Web browsing and e-mail – worked flawlessly as I was able to use the same applications as I did in Windows (Firefox and Thunderbird)

Web Development – HTML/XHTML – I was generally happy using Bluefish to replace my long and well used Homesite, and while it was not in my opinion as good as Homesite it was still usable and I could live with it.

Web Development – CSS – This is one of those things that really bugged me, I have been a long time user of Topstyle Pro as it fits great with Homesite.  On my hunt for a comparable product in linux the best that could be had was CSSed, not bad but far from a great CSS editor.  While other editors existed I did not find one that even came close to TopStyle, however in the attempt to remain with linux I utilised the CSS functions within BlueFish.

Graphics Work – I have been a long time Photoshop (and previously Paint Shop Pro) user, so this was one area I thought I would have trouble with.  However to my surprise Gimp provided a very effective and fully functional comparable (or even better) product.  I must hand it to the guys over at Gimp land for a fantastic product – excellent work.  So if your in need of a graphics or photo application save your money and get Gimp.

PDF Creation and editing – This was a big issue for me as I constantly had to command line options (ImageMagick) to convert files from PDF to other formats as there appeared to be a bug in the conversion process (Poppler) that would cause quite poor gradient and transparency conversions, especially if you wanted to convert from PDF to PNG/JPG.  Creating PDFs was a breeze as you can do that from any application, however editing them is a little more difficult.  There is simply no editor that is as feature rich as Adobe Acrobat and for what I need I needed that ability to be perfect.  This is probably my main reason for having to go back to Windows for now.

Accounting – While GnuCash is there and it works well I find Quickbooks to be more intuitive and easier to use (I am not an accountant and don’t wish to be).  I will have to admit here though I did not give GnuCash a good enough chance to grow on me.

DVD Backup – This might be more my lack of experience with linux than an issue with the selection of linux applications, however where my time is limited I needed a simply backup solution that worked.  I tried various solutions available but I ended up having to boot back into Windows to make the copies needed – I now have plenty of coasters….. This would have to be the second main reasons for going back to Windows.

Video Capture – One of the things I do is convert video to DVD (tape to DVD) and I have a solution here to do that that I was not able to get working well in linux.  While I got it to work and recognise the USB connection that connects to the Video player the streaming through to the recording and then to DVD was not equal to what I could do on Windows – again this might be my lack of knowledge with the linux command line options, but again I did not have time to learn it all at this time.

HD Video Capture – First was to try and get linux to recognise my HG21, ok did that.  Then to download the videos which seemed to take forever but the same in Windows also – they are very large files.  Now to convert to other formats for SD and YouTube etc.  This took a heck of a lot of time, so much that I had to stop, however I will say that the end result was so much better than windows that I am setting up a dedicated machine just for this.  Kino is just great

Printing – wow and fantastic – CUPS makes sharing printers a snap – great work

Office – While it is not MS Office 2007 I found that Open Office was more than sufficient, however sharing files with others in the office would be a little annoying having to save as .doc and .xls etc so that they can be shared.  I actually liked the more simplistic layout as it gave me what I needed without having to fumble around with the Office 2007 ribbon trying to find how to format, replace and modify content.

Audio editing – Audicity works just as good in Linux as it did in Windows

Wacom Tablet – Arghhh this was a real pain.  I tried everything to get this working in linux as it does in Windows – maybe that is the issue I cannot get it to replicate what it does in Windows.  I read through and (tried) to follow the tutorials on how to set it up from the wacomproject, I even contacted Wacom support with little help.  While I got the pen to work, the buttons and the circle of my Bamboo Fun did not and could not get to work.

FTP – This was a pain initially I started to having to use gFTP but wanted to use FileZilla but I was using the 64bit version of Ubuntu and FileZilla would not install, however I found a way via the online forums to get it to work – wonderful

Synchronise/Backup – A major requirement for us is the ability to synchronise/backup our data.  Now having all been Windows to now having a linux box in the mix I still needed to be able to synchronise two machines on a regular basis.  While a storage server (it is coming) would be a better option we at this stage (budget) backup each others data to each others alternative computer.  In Windows I have used SyncBack for years – works flawlessly on every file, hidden and system and also open files.  Unison was what I tried to get working as the alternative which worked after many tedious attempts at configuring it.

The rest of what I used I got use to in linux quite quickly… so why did I convert back to Windows you ask as the above seems quite convincing to stay with linux.

Well computability was the main issue, second is time for having to go back to the terminal to run command line options that I could do in Windows with a single click (yes I know I could script but the options would change nearly every time) as well as the main two points above being my work with PDF files and video capture.  While I did run a dual boot and could also use virtual Box for Windows the need to either boot back up into Windows or use the virtual window was becoming more a pain than an asset.  I know it might seem like a minor reason but that is that.  I still have a Ubuntu (and I am about to try Mandriva) boot option my daily computer work is with Windows.

I will I am sure make the permanent move to linux over the next 12 months as I need to keep my costs down and to be totally honest my PC ran swifter, faster and well… just nicer under linux.

So you can call me a just about linux user, it nearly had me converted and as it continues to mature with the fantaistic community it has more people like myself will move over to linux as the preferred OS of choice.

Following on from last post I thought I’d add a new post to say I am now a linux (ubuntu) convert.   I have given it a real go and so far I am very impressed with it giving my PC a new lease on life with far superior execution times and file handling.

As the title suggests I am 95% converted as I still need Windows for a few applications, although I am sure I will soon find replacements for them soon.

What I was using to what I am using;

Firefox -> Firefox
Thunderbird Email -> Thunderbird Email
Photoshop CS4 -> Gimp
Filezilla -> gFTP
Homesite -> Bluefish
MS Office -> Open Office
Syncback SE Pro -> Unison
MSN -> Pidgin

What I am still looking for are;

Quickbooks -> while GnuCash is there I prefer Quickbooks and so does my accountant, probably simply use WINE to run it in Windoes mode within ubuntu
TopStyle -> I am using cssed but it is far from TopStyle, might just be a case of get use to it
Adobe Premier and Encore -> not yet replaced… have an idea?

One of the things I often do is read many of the forums for both Microsoft Windows and also Linux and read through the debates on what is better for what.  There is no question that if your a gamer MS Windows is the choice OS to use, but what about everything else non game?

I am tired of the fanboi Linux users that simply bag Microsoft as the evil business just for the sake of doing so and trying to make themselves appear geeky by saying linux rules.  Don’t get me wrong I am not an MS fanboi, or linux for that matter.  I have used Mac OS’s Linux OS’ and of course the Windows variety with my main PC now running dual boot Ubuntu and Vista.  But at this stage I am probably using Vista more than I use Ubuntu.

It is not that I don’t like Linux it is the familiarity of the applications I have and continue to use on Windows.  There is also this niggling fact that I own a paid for version of Vista and I kind of think well I own it so why not use it.

It is also a case of comparing what linux is trying to be, now lets face it the GUI is based on MS Windows with a little Mac OSX thrown in.  Will linux just become a Windows clone which in turn is becoming a Mac clone?  If I take ubuntu 9.04 as an example it really is an OS that is probably smack in the middle of both the Mac and MS OS’s – but is that a good thing or not?

To try and define what is better that the other is a personal choice.  I will say however that for general use the Ubuntu 9.04 install is very fast compared to Vista, but with Vista to try and compare I have many background processors running – these mainly being the firewall. virus scanner, malware checking and spyware watcher – apart from that it works a treat.  This is where linux does shine, in that if I was to go pure linux the need for those scanners is pretty much gone as linux is not as open to those issues as windows is.

So my dilemma is do I continue to use Windows Vista and when its released update to Windows 7 or do I start the major switch to linux….. tough call really and I am not sure where I stand (yet) – so what do you use and why do you use it?  I am not interested in the fanboi issues, I want to know the real reasons for your choice of OS.

There is obviously a cost factor here, in that to continue operating windows I will need to update at a cost to me , whilst with linux the updates will always be free – so long as they keep providing those updates.

Hmm to go linux or stay with MS Windows?

I have had quite a few people wanting to use the icons I put together to replace the default awful looking 7-zip ones with many requests for the dll for the 64-bit version.  Instead of trying to keep pace with the 7-zip updates what I have now done is simple created the icons and added a file to change the registry entries for the links to each icon that 7-zip uses.

The icons are simply ‘ico’ files within an icon folder, of which after you have installed 7-zip you copy the ‘icon’ folder to your 7-zip install folder, for example c:/Program Files/7-zip/ and then run/open the registry file in the archived linked below (you may need to confirm as an admin user to do this).  To show the new icons simply log-off your windows account, log back in and presto your icons are now a little nicer than the default ones

Feel free to share the zip file below, any link backs are very much appreciated

7zip Replacement Icons

Download the replacement icons

Ever heard of the phrase ‘Less is more’?  I am sure you have and you only need to look at the internet and some of the most popular websites to know this is so true.

For myself and many others I talk to getting to a website with a busy header, content on the left and right, some in the middle, some in the top of the middle a few more in the centre at the bottom and then there is the footer, oh and somewhere in all that mess is a menu – you know what I mean, the cluttered website.

So why is it that Less is more?

Well branding for one, how easy is it to see your name and logo if your name and logo is clearly visible and not being distracted by other header images or other highlighted content?  Google of course is the first that always comes to mind.  Google has shown that over the many years it has existed it has run a site that is… well simple comes to mind.  It has its logo, brightly coloured and very large when you consider the size of the text on the rest of the page.  Compare this to Yahoo.  While Yahoo is still a well known brand what comes to mind first for most people – do you Google it or Yahoo it?

Having a page less cluttered also helps the reader read your page.  An uncluttered page will have a more natural reading flow from top to bottom which is very user friendly.  Having extra columns with flashy signs might draw a persons attention which is fine if that is what you want (and many do), but if you want your content to matter then that is what you want your readers to see.

If you must have additional columns for content navigation and general awareness a great example is A List Apart (http://www.alistapart.com/) with its main content to the left for better reading and its columns while there are kept simple but easy to follow.  This also shows how a page can be well styled visually while still maintaining that simplicity.

There are lots of example sites out there on the internet that show how less is more… so consider it when designing your next website and maybe make your site less cluttered and strive for less to get more.

Other example sites;

That Net Site (http://thatnetsite.com) < shameless plug

Twitter (http://twitter.com/)

The Web Squeeze (http://www.thewebsqueeze.com/)

Creaticca (http://daily.creattica.com/)

Apple Computers (http://www.apple.com/) < Their ads often show good examples of less is more….

If you have other good examples of how less is more please share them

Well it was something in the planning for quite some time, saying should I or shouldn’t I but in the end I did it and I am happy to announce the release of cameraforums.com.au.

cameraforums.com.au

While it might seem like your normal run of the mill forum site this site has been developed by me to fill a need.  By that I mean it is targeted more to the Aussie user, but it is by no means restricted only to Australians.  Anyone from anywhere is welcome to come along and make themselves a member and chat about everything related to cameras.

Rather than focus on one type of camera I have made it cover cameras of all types and styles and uses.  From the older film cameras to the more current digital, from the point and shoot all the way up to the Digital SLR range of cameras.  It also covers camcorders and other video camera types such as web cams and security cameras.  Basically if it is camera related then this is the forums for it.

The forums however will only be successful if they are used so what are you waiting for go and create an account and help me make them useful for everyone

I will also be allowing store owners to make posts about their services and supplies and hope to soon have a discount system in place where members will be able to get a discount from the stores that do post on the forums – more on that soon

So anyway hope you like the new forums and find them useful and as always any feedback is always helpful

Link: http://cameraforums.com.au/

It has been many years that we have all been reading about the various antitrust cases against Microsoft for one thing or another, basically because they have a greater market share than their competitors.  While I agree competition is needed I do feel that Microsoft is simply a target that is too easy to hit.

The why, the how or the where it came from is the past in my view of what Microsoft is today. It has a greater market share than its rivals because it has a great marketing tool, easy to use software and is now the most familiar and more user friendly OS and system to use for the average computer user, and this includes Internet Explorer.  While many will claim it is buggy, and has errors etc the fact is that if any other OS or browser had the market share that Microsoft has then you would be hearing they have just as many bugs etc.

Before you comment let me first say I don’t use IE except for testing, I use and have for quite a few years used Firefox.  I also tried Google’s Chrome, and while it was all nice and shiny and seemed great to load it, in my own personal view, did not live up to my expectations and my familiarity with using Firefox with my commonly used extensions.

I use a Windows PC as my main work platform, actually all our PC’s run the various Windows versions from 98SE through to Vista Home Premium.  Why do we use WIndows versus linux vs apple.  Well without starting an OS debate and without starting a browser war the fact is that we are happy with how Windows works, we use windows applications as they install, integrate and work very well with the OS and, well, like I said we are familiar and comfortable with it.

The other night I was sitting with my kids and they were watching a DVD, WALL-E, and while sitting there I was thinking that while a cartoon the monopoly of BnL is kind of similar to many peoples/companies fear of Microsoft, in that I think there are too many that fear Microsoft will become the be all and end all of software.  Could it do that, well yes it could, but with all these antitrust  cases I guess the big companies like Google will try and stop that happening, not that I think it will happen anyway.

Google joins EU Anti-trust Case...

Also with Google now in the mix of the EU case, could Microsoft turn around and do something similar to Google and file an antitrust or monopoly type of case against Google as they are the primary and most used search engine and online email… just to mention a couple.  I mean just the other day there was panic with Google mail being down.

My view on a lot of this is that if the other providers like Google, Mozilla and Opera want a greater market share then they need to ensure they have a better tool for others to use.  While I think Firefox is a better browser the average person either does not know it exists or does not like how it works, it really is that simple.  I have family that I have tried to convert to Firefox, note convert – you actually have to forcibly get them to use another browser, but in the end I gave up, why did they not swap over well they liked how IE worked, they liked how IE looked and they were comfortable and familiar with it.

Is it Microsoft’s fault that people do not use Firefox, Chrome or Opera, no of course it isn’t.  I understand that Microsoft have their browser built into the Windows OS, which gives a perceived advantage but it IS their OS, it is their right to have their browser.  I mean your not going to go into a BMW dealer and buy a BMW car and have a Honda interior are you – so really what is the difference.  Ok so that is not quite the same but you get the idea.

I also realise Windows has the greater market share, so therefore so has IE, but I still come back to the fact that Mozilla, Opera, Google etc have themselves to blame for not having greater market share, they need to take responsibility for their own actions, get out to the greater market, develop a new OS based on Linux if they must, offer a true alternative to Windows, offer a true alternative to IE that every average person can use without having to get add-ons, without having to learn what a linux kernal is or similar.  They need to be simple, easy and available.

Or maybe just sit down with Microsoft and say, hey guys would you mind including our browser in your Windows install and thus give the end user the choice of browser they want to use – not that they have to in my view but it may be as simple as that.

I’m sure this will spark much debate as it has over the years, which is great but keep it clean

Changes in our lives can be difficult, a total sea/tree change can be very daunting to most but it does not need to be, hopefully our tree change adventure can inspire you for your sea/tree change.  Join us over the next couple of months as we make our tree change….

First up – what’s the difference between sea change and tree change, well first up we believe that the change part is away from your normal life of usually inner city or suburban living to a place where you have space, room to grow and be part of a much smaller community.  On the flip side there is also those that have had the quiet life and want (for whatever reasons) to be in amongst the busy city life, either way it is a total change of life.

Sea change is the moving to the sea and enjoying the beach air, the fresh winds and the waves at night while having your space and quiet surrounds.

Tree change is the moving to the hills or country away from suburbia usually with some acreage or even a farm (of various sizes)

Of course you could have both a Sea and Tree change depending on where you wish to go

Back on topic…

This topic title is a big one for most families, or even those thinking about starting a family (or not).  So when is the right time for a change in direction that not only affects you but the people around you (your family and friends).  Over the years I have read, listened to and watched people make great plans or wishes to do things in their lives and never follow through with them, to be told that it is not quite the right time to make life changes etc.  It is something we also have been thinking about as well and really when is the best time…. ?

Even my parents have great plans, but to be honest by the time they get to even act on those plans they will be way to old to enjoy them.  So when is the best time… for anything?

The answer to that will differ with every person reading this post, we all have different backgrounds, lived our lives a certain way and have our comfort zones we cling to as part of our every day life.  But is that living life or life living – I can’t answer that for you as only you will know that answer.  However what I can say for the most of us is that we keep making reasons not to change rather than reasons to change.  For my family and I, well we were just getting by, doing the norm and it actually put us in a rut and very unhealthy situation.  So change was needed but what change and is it the right time for change now or should we  wait until the kids are older (ages 13, 9 and 7)…. well I was ready, my wife was ready so what about the kids.

We bounced ideas back and forth to each other and considered everything about if this was the right time to put the kids through this and then we thought .. hang on we are doing it again, we are making reasons ourselves as to why we should not do it rather than reasons we should.  So we decided it was time to open the discussions to our children, after all they will be affected and should have a say in what we may do.  We did not want to pressure the kids or push them into any one direction, we simply wanted to hear from their points of view on a few options we have considered.  We requested a family meeting (yes we request not demand) and asked them;

• are you happy?
• how happy?
• what would you like to do different?
• do you like where we live?
• would you be interested in moving house?

This laid the ground work for us to decide if we should continue with the discussion and responses were positive, interesting to both of us was a notable shift from love where we live to like where we live as you do once you have been in the same place for quite some time (7+ years), so we led into a discussion

• What do you think about the idea of moving to a larger property?
• What about moving schools
• How about living on a  farm (got a great response on that one – i.e. can I have a pony, motorbike etc)

They asked questions as well and we opened the discussion from there to hear from them what they wanted and what they felt about moving.  For the kids ages we were really happy with the way they asked questions and raised ideas and noticed a growing excitement from them, particularly our eldest whom we thought would prefer to stay put.

The end result of the discussions was a resounding yes, it was time to make the next move and this move would be quite a change.  I’ll make a further post soon about the next stage in our tree change but the point of this post was simply to share with you that the right time is any time, it is not when you feel comfortable, it is not when you have enough money, it is not when the kids are older, it is now, if you feel you need a change in life then you do.

The biggest thing I got out of this process so far was the realisation that we like most people were stuck in a zone that was a life, but not ‘the life’ and whenever we considered a change we were looking for reasons not change rather than reasons for change.

While our tree change is still in the process I really wish to pass onto anyone contemplating a change to;

• make reasons for not against
• make reasons that are positive not negative
• involve your whole family, they may have ideas you have not thought of – our kids did
• look forward not back.

While weighing up pros and cons sound good, leave the cons out as they only provide a negative outlook, list the pros – all of them and build them and have fun doing it… we did

Sea/Tree change part 2 coming soon….