What's on your mind today?

[Bad Penny II]

I haven't just wasted 12 minutes making a useless jpg.

[Dave]

I haven't just wasted 12 minutes making a useless jpg.

Ah, just another Windows (dis)improvement then!

There are things that used to be freebies you now have to pay for (like a decent unzipping progtam that is simple to use), other very useful little apps seem to have either disappeared or, like your example, now need a map to find.

I dread the day that the screen clipper goes that way!

Microshit!

[Recusant]

I'd be interested in taking a look at the video which you mentioned Arturo. Would you be willing to provide a link, please?

[Bad Penny II]

7 Zip is still free, 99.5% sure
Sometimes the simplest thing is to right click a zip file and chose open with, then select windows explorer.

You can open disc images, (ISOs) the same way.

[Bad Penny II]

YAY!
I just realised it's the winter solstice, so tonight is the longest night, summer will be on its way soon!  I can't wait, I'm not keen on the cold.  How you guys in places like the mid west of the USA or parts of Canada can stand your winters boggles my mind.

I second everything you say - looking forward to summer. Although it's quite warm today (21°C) and a low of 6 is expected tonight, I'm feeling this winter more than previous years. I suspect it may be owing to the anticoagulant medication I'm on until next Friday.

I think it is a colder winter here, winters have been late starting recently.
August is traditionally the coldest, with chilly westerlies.

[Dave]

7 Zip is still free, 99.5% sure
Sometimes the simplest thing is to right click a zip file and chose open with, then select windows explorer.

You can open disc images, (ISOs) the same way.

Yeah, ifbit is a self-exploding zip files. Had a couple that needed help getting unpacked and Windows was not interested. The old Zip prog seemed to be on trial then pay-for, al least after a month I got connstant nag notices to fork out for the real thing - then the trial version died.

Not that it was as easy as just chosing the file to unpack and then a destination; the default seemed to be to pack a new file and getting to unpack took finding some "3rd party" help online.

Is it not impossible to increase function without making operation increasingly more complex, maybe even simpler? I always thought that was the way computer progress worked!

[Bad Penny II]

I just googled best free zip program and

https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-winzip-alternative

7 zip is top of the list.

[Dave]

I just googled best free zip program and

https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-winzip-alternative

7 zip is top of the list.

Ta, will give it a go!

[Bad Penny II]

You could read the linked article, I didn't, there may be something that suits you better.

[hermes2015]

I've been a 7-Zip for a few years. It does what I need, but will check the article anyway.

[Dave]

You could read the linked article, I didn't, there may be something that suits you better.

It's only very rarely I need an unzip app, last one was first for several years I think.

I had bought a digital 'scope and flash memories needed a special format to be used on it. The msker's srnt me sn spp to do the formatting. Whst a cock-up, took three attempts to unzip and install the app, it was entirely in Chinese, produced an unreadable error message and fucked the flash memory so much it was a bin job (actually I converted it into a USB breakout adaptor pending the design idea for a laptop "disturbance" alarm system.)

[Bluenose]

I might be missing something, but I just use the native support for zip files in Windows.  It's been there since XP, I'm now using Windows 10 and it's still there.  If I want to compress a file or folder I just right-click on it in Explorer and select "send to" then "compressed (zipped) folder". To unzip an archive I just right click on it and select "extract all", or if all I want is to see what's in it double-clicking opens the zip file as a "folder".

[Dave]

I might be missing something, but I just use the native support for zip files in Windows.  It's been there since XP, I'm now using Windows 10 and it's still there.  If I want to compress a file or folder I just right-click on it in Explorer and select "send to" then "compressed (zipped) folder". To unzip an archive I just right click on it and select "extract all", or if all I want is to see what's in it double-clicking opens the zip file as a "folder".

Yup, that has applied to 99% of the apps and docs that I have installed but there seem to be a few Windows does not recognise. Most of them auto-explode when you double click on the downloaded .zip file, but not all. As usual Chinese stuff seems to be the worst for this.

[Bluenose]

Yeah, I've had some issues with Chinese files.  For example I recently bought an adapter to program one of my amateur radio transceivers via a USB port.  The software was in a zip file and I had to remove the Chinese characters from the file name before I could unzip it.  Similarly, I had to do the same before I could get the extracted .exe file to run.  I think that it was a problem with the double-byte character set not being supported on my English (AU) version of Windows.

[Velma]

Last night at work, my supervisor asked me to send out an email explaining how to use the new NDC* change spreadsheet that is replacing the endless number of NDC change emails. It really is difficult to strike a balance between explaining things so that everyone understands it and not dumbing it down to the point that people are insulted. The only thing that changed is the form in which we get the information, but for some reason several of my coworkers are freaking out over it.

*NDC = National Drug Code, a unique, identifying number for each drug intended for human consumption. The same drug made by different manufacturers will have a completely different NDC number. If we have to change brands for some reason, we have to let the system know that, thus the need for human intervention in the form of our NDC change process.