Conflow

Hi onbelaydave, I note you are 'uploading' to Comcast. What size is your 'Show' in megabytes ? What size is the 'Comcast Storage' allowance in megabytes ? Many of these 'Host Server Companies' allocate miserable storage allowance for outrageous 'Annual Rents' - Check this out - before you pull any more hair out. It could be your problem ? Brian.Conflow.

Fred, The "Upendi Show" was made in Canada by Al.Robinson on his PC.System. Al kindly gave me a copy of his show (we had difficulty loading from Al's CD-Disc due to its set-up) I am sure Al will tell you more 'per se' about that - despite that difficulty, read on. The "Cafe Del Mar Holiday Show"was made on my '98se (Its a bit of a 'Hot-Rod) and was played directly from the CD-Disc on both Laptops. Another copy was made with our 'Auto-Run'~'Auto-Installer' which was of course was then 'Auto-Run' from the special CD and afterwards was 'Auto-Downloaded' from the CD. to both Laptops. Despite the different 'Source Materials' and different 'Auto-Run Programs' and the different Burning Computers and Burning Software and totally different PC.Systems and different 'Set-Ups' all the performances worked very well. I would consider that to be a "Hell of a Test" not only of the MAC's but of our version of the Virtual PC.Software - We did not get to make a PTE Presentation on the MAC's but seeing the performance so far I have no doubt in my mind that if 'Virtual PC' can do that, it will certainly make a PTE.Exe. (Time to buy a MAC- just joking) Brian.Conflow.

Hi Al, Looks as if you are on the right track there concerning '95dll - but if past experience is anything to go by - its looks as if its 'Out of Memory'. If indeed it is a '95 System, it would be a very rare '95 with more than 64mB of Memory and taking about 20mB for the 'Op'System' there is precious little left to run PTE ? Just a thought....... Brian.Conflow.

MAC PC's can run PTE Maureen and Al, Yes Al, indeed Igor should be happy with the "News" and yes we have "Tested PTE" on the new versions of "Virtual PC" running on 2 Mac Laptops. Test MAC Laptops are:- "PowerBook G4 -Titaniums" running "Virtual PC XP-Pro" The Test Programs are:- Al Robinsons "Upendi" and our own "Cafe Del Mar Holiday" Maureen,OOooh - You are not reading the detail within the text of my 'Posting' - like all things Software moves on and "Virtual PC" is no exception and I was specifically talking about the new versions of the Program. Virtual PC only runs when you want it to, or when a Windows Disc is put into the CD-Drive or loaded as a Win.Program. Depends completely on how you configure it - otherwise its a MAC. Slowing Up:- There are a lot of "old folk tales" about this,but like everything else one must consider the MAC Utilities available,viz:- Age, Speed, Set-Up, Memory RAM, H-D Drive Cache and so on.... Brian.Conflow.

PTE runs on APPLE MAC's Yes I have some "News" for all you 'MAC Users' and those contemplating a 'MAC Purchase'. There have been many enquiries on the Forum about running PTE Shows on MAC Computers ? Yes, this is now possible either when you buy a "New Mac" or wish to 'Upgrade' your 'Old MAC' The special Program by Microsoft is called:- "Virtual PC" and retails from $40 - $70 Its purchased as a 'Software Package' and simply downloaded to your MAC Computer. It comes in various editions:- XP Home + XP Pro, 2000 Home + 2000 Pro, NT and others. Because the 'Apple Mac' is essentially a 'Unix' operating System it readily recognises this new Program. We have already "tested" the 'Virtual PC Program' here in our Workshops on two Portable Mac's - everything ran O.K However I recommend you:- Contact your Local PC.or Software Store for a Trial or contact Microsoft Products to verify same. Brian Kelly.Conflow.

To:- Al, Ron, Fred, Lumenlux, Hi Guys, Many thanks for the interest in the 'Manual PTE Show' - Here are the Demo details:- a) The Demo Exe is quite small - 1.31mB There are 8 Slides + 8 Voice-overs + Start Window (inc Instructions) - no effects. c) Each Slide has 2 on-screen controls. Print & Exit. d) It comes 'Pre-Packed' with its own 'Installer' and 'Uninstaller' and Folder maker. e) The 'Package' can be burnt to CD and can also 'Install' direct from a CD. f) It generates its own 'Desktop Icon' and 'Start-Menu Icon' + Web Link. g) It has it's own 'Eula' which may be changed on demand. h) The 'Package' is 2mB down the pipe - although the 'Show' is only 1.30mB on the PC. Currently I am finishing off the 'Build Instruction Sheet' - In the meanwhile I can send the Demo Show to you, just confirm your interest. ON THIS ITEM Would it not be a great idea if we could come up with a special 'Standard Build Sheet' in 'screen capture format' available some where on this "Invision Board" where we could simply show 'Pte Users' (New & Old alike) how to go about a particular "Show Build" ? It would show the 'Main PTE Screen' and the successive 'Tab Screens' - You would simply press the Buttons (or mark them) where the appropriate 'Set-up' demands are required. The "new user" would 'Screen Capture' and Save these screens and simply follow the A/V images previously set by the 'Show Designer'. It must be possible to do this ???? Brian.Conflow.

MANUAL SLIDE SHOW for LECTURER'S This Show Format is suitable for those who wish to give an "Old Style" Slide Show with click advance and reverse of Slides. The features are:- * Startup Window with printed 'Operating Instructions'. (Anyone can use it) * Individual selection and 'Static Display' of each Slides. * Individual Slides with own Voice commentary or Music. * RH.Mouse advance to Next Slide. * LH.Mouse return to Last Slide. * RH.Arrow Key = Fast Forward of Slides. * LH.Arrow Key = Fast Reverse of Slides. * Exit from any Slide * Print any Slide. * REMOTE CONTROL of Slide Show with IR.Optical Mouse. (Walk around-No Wires) If there is enough interest I can submit the 'Set-Up Instructions' to the Forum. I also have a 'Demo Exe' if some one would like to Host it on their Web Page. Alternatively I can EMail a 'set-up' sheet to you. Brian Kelly.Conflow.

Moire Effects Yes, I have had the 'Moire Effect' problem with "Scanned Images" from Film Photographs. It's particularily nasty when you re-size a Photo up or down by an exact ISO multiple of the origional and then make 'slight adjustments' to the re-sized copy. Example: Assume the origional Photo was scanned and was over 1024x768 pixels and you adjusted that to be 1024x768 exactly. Now if you downsize that with a 'Photo Editor' to 800x600 pixels you have a 95% certainty of getting Moire Effect in the 800x600 image. The problem arise with the Photo Editors because they are not designed to be "lossless" nor do they give an ISO Standard "borderless image" cut precisely to the JPeg Standard. The "JPeg Club" (Joint Picture Engineering Group Club) have an excellent freeware cutter which does the job properly. Author: Guidio. I have used this on many occassions and never had an incidence of Moire effect. Brian @ Conflow.

Picture Re-Sizer Hi Bob and those Interested, Here is a very handy 'utility' which has been asked for many times:- Its a 'lossless' - JPeg Image Re-sizer and works a treat with PTE with no visible borders. Get on line to:- www.jpegclub.org About ½ way down the page you will see a paragraph:- "JPeg Crop Windows Application" You will find the 'utility' on the first line marked in blue. You use your mouse to 'square-out' the Jpeg section you want and then "Save Frame" into your Application Folder - its that simple......(It also does many other things) Hope you like it, Brian.Conflow.

Apology- See previous post which was duplicated in error due to "Flood Control" Brian.Conflow.

H i Igor, I have just 2 simple wishes:- 1) At "End of Music Timeline"....To insert a "Moveable Stop" This could be moved 'up-down' the Timeline to make Custom Synchronisation,see diagram. Sliding Stop = S -------------------------------------------------ISI-----------------------------I<End of Music Set 'Sliding Stop' with Mouse: up <------I------> down 2) Numeric Access to JPeg Image(s) Have a "New Button" in PTE Program = NK Button (Numeric Keyboard) Press this and 'Type In'.... 22 or 37 or any Slide numbers- Press 'Enter' after each number. Create an Exe.with the Numbered Slides and a "Numbered Row Start Screen" The user "taps-in" 22 or 37 or any No + Enter. The Program goes to that Slide + Sound. ________________________________________________ 22. The Mona Lisa........................................Key in No + Enter ________________________________________________ 37. The Tate Gallery.....................................Key in No + Enter ________________________________________________ 41. Buckingham Palace.................................Key in No + Enter ________________________________________________ Purpose:- So PTE can be used for "Public Information" in Libraries, Galleries etc; NO Mouse needed- Uses a simple ~Number Keypad~ like on a 'Cash Dispenser' or on a 'Bank Counter' I think item (1) would make it easier to use PTE -and- item (2) would greatly expand the use of PTE into other "user markets" not yet catered for ~ Here's Wishing, Brian.Conflow.

Hi Igor, To make this simple -(I can't speak Russian)- here is example:- Type in---> "J-27"--->Press Enter--->PTE jumps to---> Slide 27. This is a "summary" of what Jim wants to do - it may be easier another way ? I hope this helps. Brian.Conflow.

Igor, That's great News...I did appreciate that you were very busy with PTE4.30....Wonderful job. Many thanks again, Brian.Conflow.

Hi Jim, I completely agree with you about a "Jump Mode" in PTE- I had mentioned this before on the Forum and I also asked Igor about it. He did say... "he would look at it"...but I expect that got lost as he was up to his neck in finishing off PTE 430. Brian.Conflow.

Aldi "Gericom" Laptop Hi BethAlan,Roger and all, The Aldi 'Gericom Laptop' advised in 'Postings to New Laptop-Graphic Card' satisfies the Specs I outlined to the Forum today 6.9.04. Its a "Aldi Market Brand" product but is essentially a 'Centrino Spec Laptop' with the exception that it uses the 'Radeon 9700 Chip Set' with a 'Pentium-M Processor' - This is an improvement on the basic 'Centrino Type Specifications'. Whether this Laptop will be available in the U.S or the E.C or elsewhere would be wishing too much for a 'Promotion Product'. PRICE: Sterling 999 Pounds = Euro 1475 = $ 1778 Dollars. In the U.S this is not exactly a bargain because the Laptops I listed in my posting are all around the same price - some a little cheaper that that. Those listed are top 'Name Branded Products" WHICH WILL BE THERE TOMORROW for those who have no access to an 'Aldi Stores'. For those who bought the 'Aldi Gericom' -you got a fair deal- make sure you have the 'Aldi 3 Year Guarantee'. Someone also mentioned the "Medion PC Titanium MD8000XL" - This is NOT a Laptop its a PC - I just mention this to avoid confusion. For those interested in the "Aldi Gericom Specifications" as a guide to support my 'Outlined Specifications' you would need to contact me "Off-List" as I can't post attachments to the Forum. Hope the information is useful to you- Brian Kelly.Conflow. conflow@iol.ie

Beth and Roger, Apologies fotr the delay in getting back to you about Laptop-Notebook PC's. As I said many times before on this Forum, Laptops are by nesessity a "compromise" between Desktop PC performance and Laptop performance when one takes into consideration just how 'little' hardware the Manufacturer can physically pack into the Laptop enclosure - not much ! The following are the fundamental criteria when selecting a Laptop:- 1)...Size and Type of Display Screen. 2)...The 'Processor(s) Chip(s) 3)...Hard Drive Unit 4)...CD-Rom Drive Unit. 5)...Communication Ports. 6)...Battery & Power Management. Everything else falls into line after those choices- Forget Weight & Physical Dimension's Screen Has to be a 14" or 15" inch TFT Active Matrix Screen to handle 1024 x 768 pixels Full Colour. Anything else simply can not handle the quality demands of good graphic Presentations. Graphic Driver System has to be XGA-Graphics or WXGA-Graphics. Graphics System is built on the Mother Board and is not an afterchoice - be careful. The Processor Minimum requirement is the new "M-Series Pentiums" or "Prescott-M Processors" type 705 and upwards. Speeds of 1.4 to 1.8 GigByte are more than adequate. Its not the speed that counts its "sheer processing power within unit time" thats required in Graphic Presentations. Hard Drive Unit The criteria here is "Reading Speed" or access time - the faster the better. The smaller the HD the faster the access time (generally speaking). 40 Gigabyte is ideal - 60Gig is upper limit. 100 Gig and more and you are not at the races,simply because the Processor spends too much time trying to 'access your Data or Show'. The HD Interface should be EIDE or SATA Standards. CD-Rom Drive This is the "kernel" of the Laptop - wrong choice here and you are in serious trouble. Best choice is a CD-DVD Rom Drive (Forget everything else). You want reading speeds in excess of 12X preferably 24-48X WORD OF WARNING IT MUST HAVE ITS OWN MEMORY CACHE -(Most don't). This is vital on a Laptop because of other limitations you need to "Stream your Show" into the Cache Memory so that it plays in a "Seamless Presentation" on the TFT Monitor. (No jerking nor loading delays) Comm Ports You need at least 2 x USB Ports and a Parallel Port and a Mouse Port and a PCI Adaptor Port. You also need Mic Input, Earphone Socket, also a 'Plug-In Modem' - it must be plug-in type because in some applications you may need Wi-Fi (Wireless Comms). Battery & Power Management Plug-In Lithium Ion Battery is an absolute must - together with a "Universal Power Adapter" thats capable of running the Laptop WHILE Charging the Battery- Operating System I must admit my preference is for Win 2000 Pro - its extremely stable and is a 'much harder' and time tested system compared to XP-Pro and the new XP-SP2 which has lots of problems. Finally make up a small-tight 4 minute PTE Show (lenght of a Mp3 Music Track) as a Test-CD and use this on any chosen Laptop you may be considering. Keep in mind what you are looking for:- Its a 'Business Laptop' not a 'Domestic Laptop' Hereunder is a list of suitable Manufacturers and Model Types you may wish to consider:- HP - ACER - SONY - IBM - DELL - TOSHIBA Top of the Heap HP.Notebook NC600 - Dell Lattitude D400 & 800 - IBM ThinkPad T42 - Sony VGN-A190 The Dell 800 is the cheapest - The IBM is the smallest. Other good Candidates HP 2720 US - Sony V505DX - Toshiba 8200 Tecra - Dell Inspirion 5150,9100,and 8600c ACER tend to be Specialist Laptops. All these Laptops have been well Reviewed - BUT TEST FIRST Hope this can be of help to you guys, Brian Kelly.Conflow.

Beth' I would like to get back to you on this subject about a "New Laptop"- Be extremely careful about the "correct choice of Laptop" as both it's Hard Drive and CD-Rom Drive are by 'design necessity' -compromises- compared to the same functional Hardware you would use on a PC. "Low-End Laptops" are notoriously 'unstable' with any form of A/V Show and this has absolutely nothing to do with PTE Presentation Programs. Brian.Conflow.

XP-SP2. Uploaders Chuck is dead right, get an XP-CD (Latest version) - That's the XP-Database I was talking about -but still- prudence,prudence,prudence ! Upgrading -via- Download or CD-Download is the very same scenario we all had when we all decided to 'Upgrade '98' to '98.Se - do you remember the mayhem, with that ? and it was never really successful compared to a "New PC with '98.Se Pre-installed" Please, please.please, read the "feedback" from www.microsoft-watch.com Brian.Conflow.

Lumenlux - XP.SP2 Upgrade Dilema, Shall I upgrade to XP-SP2 or not ? I am the first to say that there are great advantages in XP-SP2 System, however If you intend to 'upgrade' via "Microsoft SP2 Download" then I would recommend a very large helping of Prudence and the XP Database before going down that road. There are 4 major issues as yet unresolved as far as the PC Industry is concerned:- 1)...Ms.Java -v- Sun Java issue. 2)...MS Java.VM is 'unloaded by SP2' and is no longer supported by MS. 3)...The fact that some 'older' expensive Programs will not Load nor Run on SP2. 4)...Security Code Encryp: issues as stated in previous post, which impacts 1,2,3,above. For those of you who have an interest in this go to:- www.microsoft-watch.com This is the Industry "Watchdog" on Microsoft products. (The above is not a link,type it in) You will see for yourself what's going on in the controversy over the XP-SP2 Op.System. Brian Kelly.Conflow.

XP-SP2 Operating Systems This new Microsoft Operating System is causing considerable problems through out the PC.Industry and it's not 'reserved' to Forum Members. The problem being that few people have 'read-up' on the Instructions as how to use the 'New System' properly. It boils down to 'Internet Security & Privacy Algorithms' - Let me try and simply explain this:- When you go on the 'Net' to Download or Upload its a 2 way Communication Process with the 'Remote Host Server'. The data is sent in 'Blocks' and the recipient checks these with amongst other things an 'Encryptionation Code' depending on the Security Settings used. If the Transmit & Reply Codes "check-out" then the process continues on to completion. PUT SIMPLY:- If the "Send & Receive Security Codes" are similar then all things are O.K - However because of malicious abuse of 'Microsofts Security Codes' they decided to re-write the Book prior to the release of XP-SP2 (It was well advertised and its on Microsoft HelpNet) The 'Security Algorithms' are now extremely high and if the 'Recipient' of your Uploads is not geared to handle these,then you have a problem. Likewise Downloads to an XP-SP2. PC are treated in the same way - rejected. You have 2 choices:- (a) Reset your Internet Security Levels - or- ( Download Microsofts "Add-Ons" for the SP2.System released a few weeks ago. Hope this might help you -if not- at least you are now aware of whats going on with XP-SP2. Brian Kelly.Conflow.

KerryA, Before you do anything drastic, and because this seems like a large 'Presentation' may I ask a few simple Questions:- Concerning the last 4 Slides - Q1. Whats the approx.duration of each of these Slide's ? Q2. Whats the approx.duration of each Transition Effect between these Slide's ? Q3. Whats the total Background Music duration ? Q4. Whats the total duration of Slides+Effects ? (Without Background Music) I think you might have a problem whereas the end of the Music File is coinciding with the last "transition effect" and because you have that last Slide "locked" and the "Show Synched" you have put yourself into a 'mobilus loop' - in effect locked yourself out !! This would be the case if the last 4 slide's durations were= and the Transitions were= and even more so if you don't allow at least 500millesecs settling time between Slides & Effects. A way out is to RH.Clk the last Slide and "Remove it" from the list. You may have to do this a few times until the Program resolves the issue - I hope this helps Brian Kelly.Conflow.

Hi Granot, You must be back from your Holidays ? - How is your XP behaving ? Just saw your "Multi-Show" Utility- Really great job,its a vast improvement on the 'old version' Looks as if you and Ken were really busy on that one. Brian.Conflow Services.

Trev & Lumenlux Many thanks Trev for the advice. We have a Video Card installed on the PC and we use a 'Scart Cable' to the VCR. What I was looking for was a Utility that would get the PTE-Avi File into 'Pal Streaming Video Format' - I think I found something that may do just that and its damn fast, not only that but you can buffer delay it, so it works on slower PC's. Its called "Crystal Video Player" - boy does it do a job on the PTE Avi - and any Avi File for that matter. I posted it on the forum the Link is:- www.crystalplayer.com Lumenlux, I take your points about DVD but it was not what I was after, but many thank for your response.I am producing CAD Drawings for Students, and then I wish to distribute the Program via 'Video Link' to many TV Sets and I don't want to spend hours compiling and rendering Avi's and then more hours Burning the programs - TV quality is just fine and O.K for the applications I have in mind. Brian.Conflow Services. conflow@iol.ie

Hi Folks, I have been using a great 'Utility' for the past month called -"Crystal Player" some of you may know of it,but for those who don't here is some data on it:- It will play the PTE-AVI File without fuss, indeed it played an AVI from 1997 no probs. It also plays Video Clips and virtually anything that's VTR or DVD or Video sourced complete with Mono or Stereo Sound. There is a full range of 'Edit Facilities' including Frame x Frame,Cut,Fade,Colour correction etc; Two versions are available:- Fully functional Test Version (Free) and Pro-Version for $30 and most important it 'identifies' Speed-Rendering problems on your PC. Available from: www.crystalplayer.com Hope you enjoy it - Brian Kelly.Conflow. conflow@iol.ie

OOPP's Had a fault - see revised Post. Brian Kelly.Conflow.