Post subject: Useful software others might not know about
Hoe
Joined: 7/31/2004
Posts: 183
Location: USA
I'm always looking to expand my bank of useful software. Doubly so for OSX where all I really have/know about are CLI programs from the linux world. So I'd like to share some software I find useful that aren't the obvious choices (sublime, audium, etc) PowerGrep - Windows - A useful GUI grep-style tool. A common pattern is I right click in Explorer on the root source dir in Explorer and select PowerGrep All Subdirectories to search a code base. The results are very code friendly and even has binary support. The awesome formatting of the results makes it more useful to the CLI counterparts to me. Their Regex Buddy program is also mega-useful. PowerCalc - Windows - From the Microsoft Windows XP Powertoys. Easily my favorite calculator software. Supports binary/hex/dec input/output. SpaceSniffer - Windows - Head over heels the best "what's using my disk space?" application I've used. Even properly supports filesystem links so no more infinite recursions. Fences - Windows - A useful product if you use your Windows Desktop. It can show arbitrary directories as Explorer's detailed list on your desktop. Express Notes - Windows - Popup an autosaving multi-file notepad with shift+f8 from anywhere. Have it save to dropbox to auto-sync/backup. I've been using this for almost a decade. Notational Velocity is an OSX program that's like this, but I never got a taste for it.
Post subject: Re: Useful software others might not know about
Banned User
Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
Hoe wrote:
SpaceSniffer - Windows - Head over heels the best "what's using my disk space?" application I've used. Even properly supports filesystem links so no more infinite recursions.
I have been using SequoiaView for that purpose, but I might give that a try.
Patashu
He/Him
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4043
Notepad++, the best Notepad replacement. Has regex find+replace, find in files+repace, syntax highlighting for many languages, lots of line operations, EOL conversion operations, tons and tons of goodies if you look under the right click, Edit, Search, TextFX (if it doesn't come with TextFX plugin, recommend you install it!) and View menus. I recommend you look through all the menus and familiarize yourself with what time savers it can do even if you use the program a lot, I guarantee you're overlooking something cool you can do with it. For example, you can do a search, have notepad++ mark all lines that match the search, invert marking (mark -> unmarked, unmarked -> marked) then do something with all marked lines (delete for example). SpeedCrunch is a calculator and can be an alternative to PowerCalc. It has variables and a bunch of useful functions, many that powercalc is missing (including but not limited to: factorial, mod, and, or, xor, not, oct, bin, hex, all hyperbolic and trigonometric functions and inverses, gamma, erf, lots of probability functions, min, max, average, abs, arithmetic shifts...). The main feature missing from it that I liked about PowerCalc is user-definable functions, but if you're going to build a big, crazy function or program, you may as well cut out the middle man and open a Python or LUA interactive prompt at that point :)
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
Post subject: Re: Useful software others might not know about
Player (80)
Joined: 8/5/2007
Posts: 865
Hoe wrote:
SpaceSniffer - Windows - Head over heels the best "what's using my disk space?" application I've used. Even properly supports filesystem links so no more infinite recursions.
Warp wrote:
I have been using SequoiaView for that purpose, but I might give that a try.
I used JDiskReport on my old computer, but never got around to installing it on my new computer. I have no idea how up-to-date it is. Maybe we should compare all three? I'll download 'em. (Then they can all tell me how much space is being taken up by all three!) JDiskReport sucks by comparison.
Hoe wrote:
PowerCalc - Windows - From the Microsoft Windows XP Powertoys. Easily my favorite calculator software. Supports binary/hex/dec input/output.
I'll check it out, but lately, I've just been using Windows' built-in calculator for my hexadecimal to decimal needs. As for my own recommendation, I offer Notepad++, even though it's likely that many people are familiar with it. I think I installed it in a big package bundle when I first got my new laptop. I tend to shy away from new programs that might clutter up my space or interfere with my system defaults or just infringe on my own preferences, but Notepad++ is a programmer's godsend. Some of the features I regularly use include syntax highlighting for every programming language you can reasonably imagine, collapsible subroutines and loops, and tabs for viewing several projects at once. It even has more advanced features like macros that I've dipped my toes in. If you do any programming whatsoever, I'd say Notepad++ is all but essential and I strongly recommend it. Edit: Patashu beat me to it! But I'll leave my post intact. Just download Notepad++. It really is that awesome. Edit 2: SpaceSniffer, not PowerGrep.
Post subject: Re: Useful software others might not know about
Hoe
Joined: 7/31/2004
Posts: 183
Location: USA
Oh yes, I use Notepad++ constantly. Sublime Text has grown in favor among most devs for their non-IDE code editing needs but I still prefer Notepad++.
Patashu wrote:
SpeedCrunch is a calculator and can be an alternative to PowerCalc. It has variables and a bunch of useful functions, many that powercalc is missing (including but not limited to: factorial, mod, and, or, xor, not, oct, bin, hex, all hyperbolic and trigonometric functions and inverses, gamma, erf, lots of probability functions, min, max, average, abs, arithmetic shifts...). The main feature missing from it that I liked about PowerCalc is user-definable functions, but if you're going to build a big, crazy function or program, you may as well cut out the middle man and open a Python or LUA interactive prompt at that point :)
Wow! This program is great. I still prefer (from habit) PowerCalc but this is the nicest OSX calculator I've used. My old favorite calc was //echo $calc in mIRC but I haven't had that installed in a decade.
Bobo the King wrote:
I used JDiskReport on my old computer, but never got around to installing it on my new computer. I have no idea how up-to-date it is. Maybe we should compare all three? I'll download 'em. (Then they can all tell me how much space is being taken up by all three!)
JDiskReport used to be my goto but compared to SpaceSniffer it's slower, less responsive, and at least last I used it, could end up infinitely recursing on symbolic links in the file system. Despite this it's still a great program. I found it on a useful stack exchange thread that discusses a lot of this software: http://superuser.com/questions/8248/how-can-i-visualize-the-file-system-usage-on-windows
Player (80)
Joined: 8/5/2007
Posts: 865
I agree with Hoe. JDiskReport sucks now. I downloaded and ran all three, so here's my conclusion. SpaceSniffer wins. It has the more sensible treemap view between it and SequoiaView, it updates the treemap in realtime as it scans, and it has excellent features and user-customization of its view. Both it and SequoiaView allow for filters, so without looking into it in great detail, I will assume that they have similar capabilities. SequoiaView is a nice program too, but SpaceSniffer just has it beat.
Banned User
Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
If you are even slightly into math, then PARI/GP is an essential and awesome tool. (Granted, it's not Mathematica or Matlab, but it's free and personally it being usable from the console is a plus.)
WST
She/Her
Active player (489)
Joined: 10/6/2011
Posts: 1697
Location: RU · ID · AM
GoldWave is a small, but powerful sound sample editor for Windows Psi+ a great XMPP messaging application (cross-platform) nginx — probably the best web server software (Linux, FreeBSD)
S3&A [Amy amy%] improvement (with Evil_3D & kaan55) — currently in SPZ2 my TAS channel · If I ever come into your dream, I’ll be riding an eggship :)
Editor, Skilled player (1439)
Joined: 3/31/2010
Posts: 2108
Freeware Tools which I find myself using regularily for various purposes: Audio Editing: - Audacity Image Editing: - IrfanView (Image Viewer) - GIMP - Inkscape - Paint.NET Video Editing: - AviSynth (Script-based video editing) - VirtualDub (Basic AVI editing, AVI screen capture) - MP4Muxer (MP4 Muxing and Demuxing) - MeGUI (Encoding) Media Players: - MPC-HC - VLC Media Player Other: - JDownloader - 7-Zip File Manager - HWMonitor - CPU-Z Of course, there are other useful tools, but these are just the ones which I use on a somewhat regular basis. I'll add to the list as I think of others. On that note, I'd also like to make mention of Google and Wolfram Alpha as easy "type something in and get a result" calculators for anything imaginable. These two don't exactly fit the definition of free software however. I'd also mention Notepad++, but it already has been mentioned before.
creaothceann
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 4/7/2005
Posts: 1874
Location: Germany
Programs: - 7-Zip for archives - AegiSub for subtitles - AutoHotkey for remapping/assigning mouse button functions / inserting text via hotkey - Autoruns for system control - AvsPmod for writing Avisynth scripts - Animation Shop for creating GIFs (though a better one would be nice...) - Bullzip PDF Printer for creating PDFs - Calibre for ebook management - CCleaner for cleaning up the system disk - Drive Resue for restoring files - DVD Decrypter for decrypting DVDs - Fraps for showing the framerate of almost every game - Frontpage Express for quickly creating dead-simple HTML that can then be easily edited - ImDisk for creating RAM drives - Imgburn for reading/creating/burning ISO CD/DVD images - IrfanView for viewing pictures - Lazarus for writing programs - Media Player Classic Homecinema (also part of k-Lite or CCCP) + madVR for watching videos - MS Expression Web (last version of the discontinued Frontpage series) for writing / editing web pages - MKVExtractGUI / MKVCleaver for extracting resources from MKVs; MKVMergeGUI for editing them - MSI Afterburner for graphics card overclocking / fan control / monitoring - Notepad++ / Notepad2 for text editing - Paint Shop Pro 7 for graphics editing - Process Explorer for system control - ReClock for watching anime / movies without stuttering (after setting my monitor to 50 Hz, it speeds up 24000/1001fps videos to 25fps) - Recuva for restoring files - ReNamer for renaming lots of files - SequoiaView for file management - ShareMouse for creating a single big desktop out of nearby computers - Speccy for finding out a computer's technical specs - SpeedFan for CPU / chassis fan control / monitoring - Thunderbird for emails and RSS feeds - Total Commander for file management (almost don't use Explorer at all) - Universal USB Installer for putting ISO CDs / DVDs on USB sticks (great for Win7 installs) - VirtualDubMod (+x264vfw) or x264 for encoding videos - VirtuaWin for creating additional desktops - Winamp for playing music files / streams - WinCDEmu for creating virtual CD/DVD drives out of ISO CD/DVD images - WinHex for low-level file editing - WinRAR for archives - xy-VSFilter for displaying subtitles Browser addons: - Adblock Plus for blocking 99% of ads - Reddit Enhancement Suite for enhancing reddit - (Chrome) APNG for displaying animated PNGs - (Chrome) Hover Zoom for displaying linked pictures - (Chrome) Image Search Options for searching the source / high-quality versions of a picture - (Chrome) Lazarus: Form Recovery for recovering typed text - (Chrome) Remove cookies for site. for removing a site's cookies - (Chrome) Scrollbar Anywhere for dragging a website via right mouse button - (Chrome) Tabs Outliner for a tree-style tab list - (FF) Add to Search Bar for adding a site's search function to FF - (FF) Download Statusbar for downloads display / management - (FF) DownloadHelper for getting a site's media - (FF) DownThemAll! for mass downloads of a site's media - (FF) FlashBlock for blocking Flash with a button - (FF) Grab and Drag for dragging a website via right mouse button - (FF) gui:config for accessing advanced settings - (FF) Image Search Options for searching the source / high-quality versions of a picture - (FF) Nav Bar on Title Bar for making more usable space - (FF) ScreenGrab (fixed version) for making screenshots of entire web pages - (FF) Switch to Tab no more - (FF) Tab Mix Plus for advanced tab options (like multiple lines or don't close browser when closing the last tab) - (FF) Tree Style Tab for a tree-style tab list
Skilled player (1741)
Joined: 9/17/2009
Posts: 4981
Location: ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶d̶a̶ "Kanatah"
TestDisk - Helped me a lot when I accidentally formatted my external drive and managed to recover almost everything with the original file names intact (with the exception of some misc pics, but whatever) CoreTemp - Let's me see the temperature of the processor. HxD - Hex editor which I frequently use to splice input files that lack TASedit support. PNGGauntlet - Compresses my png files for a certain fansite I contribute.
Player (80)
Joined: 8/5/2007
Posts: 865
Trinity Rescue Kit was extremely helpful to me when my hard drive failed. It allowed me to transfer the old drive's data to a new one, even though the old one couldn't run for more than about fifteen minutes at a time. It looks like it's still being updated.
Sir_VG
He/Him
Player (40)
Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 1913
Location: Floating Tower
If you are good with BAT files, ncftp is a great FTP program. I use it for automatic file transfers in some of my programs. I mainly use the ncftpput and ncftpget portions for dealing with transfers to and from my servers (respectively).
Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing
Warepire
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 3/2/2010
Posts: 2178
Location: A little to the left of nowhere (Sweden)
Open with Args - Lets you right-click any exe and provide switches to it without having to open cmd first. Very useful. Universal Extractor - Saved my ass many times when it comes to obscure archive formats and failing installers.
Banned User
Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
On the unix/linux side, I just love GKrellM. It sits nicely on one corner on the screen, not taking much space (the interface is really optimized for space), and it allows me to get a notion of what's happening in the system by a quick glance (most often to see if something is taking a lot of CPU time, internet bandwidth or disk bandwidth.) Useful also to monitor CPU temperatures if you are worried about them.
Hoe
Joined: 7/31/2004
Posts: 183
Location: USA
Thanks to everyone for contributing! Some very useful software in here. The Archive Browser - OSX - I'm a winrar GUI junky and I couldn't find a GUI archive manager I liked on OSX until this one. Nothings ever as good as winrar, but this is good enough! HyperDock - OSX - Mimics the Windows 7 window preview when you hover over dock icons, making multi-tasking easier. Cinch - OSX - Mimics the Windows 7 behavior for dragging windows to the screen edge. Left and right side cause an automatic 50% resize, top causes maximize, and drag away from maximize causes normalize. Rightload - Windows - My favorite FTP client, hands down. You right click on a file in Explorer and select one of your preconfigured destinations. When done, it gives you the file link(s) as urls, anchor tags, bb codes ,or any of the above with thumbnail previews. If run directly, it allows you to paste your clipboard that's an image (automatic png'ed!) or text. If uploading images, it has configurable auto-thumbnailing. I can't say enough good about this program. Elpis - Windows - A very solid desktop Pandora client. It lacks the advanced stream management features but is super solid at playing. iNFekt - Windows - A good program to view NFO files.
Skilled player (1741)
Joined: 9/17/2009
Posts: 4981
Location: ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶d̶a̶ "Kanatah"
Vitrite - I found out this program here and used it to make it easier to draw stuff in a NDS TAS. It allows you to adjust the transparency of windows.
nesrocks
He/Him
Player (246)
Joined: 5/1/2004
Posts: 4096
Location: Rio, Brazil
I've always used an old version of spacemonger to measure disk space. But wow, I've just tested space sniffer and it seems way better.
Joined: 2/3/2013
Posts: 320
Location: Germany
i3 - a tiling window manager for GNU/Linux systems. Forget your mouse, work with your keyboard (unless you need to browse the web...). conky - a system monitor I use in conjuction with i3 and i3status. It has the ability to output your system status to just text and doesn't rely on any GUI toolkit when built with the right options (see https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/conky-cli/). Example screenshot (urxvt and zsh running irssi (solarized theme), on the top: i3status and conky-cli):
All syllogisms have three parts, therefore this is not a syllogism.
WST
She/Her
Active player (489)
Joined: 10/6/2011
Posts: 1697
Location: RU · ID · AM
Okay, on Linux topic Sylpheed — an oldschool styled e-mail application Sublime text — a sophisticated text editor for code sulci — an XMPP bot written in OCaml QtNote — a very handy quick notes application, uses Qt 5.x, I use it every day nyancat — a nyancat implementation. If you don’t want to install it, just open console and type:
telnet nyan.howes.net.nz
Probably can be done under Windows as well
S3&A [Amy amy%] improvement (with Evil_3D & kaan55) — currently in SPZ2 my TAS channel · If I ever come into your dream, I’ll be riding an eggship :)
Skilled player (1741)
Joined: 9/17/2009
Posts: 4981
Location: ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶d̶a̶ "Kanatah"
Online Java Compiler - Saves me the time from downloading Java on certain computers. Programmer's Notepad - I use it to hexedit DS input files, write scripts, and as a general replacement of notepad.
Patashu
He/Him
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4043
Oh, if sites count too, then: http://regexpal.com/ - Regexpal, an online regex (javascript flavour) tester that will show mistakes in your regex, and highlight every match your regex would make on a body of text.
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
Hoe
Joined: 7/31/2004
Posts: 183
Location: USA
ConEmu + clink = A semi-valid CLI for Windows, something I've been hunting high and low for.