SOFTWARE

My own software

There's too much software that tries to do too much without doing any of it well.  Why can't people write simple programs that do one simple thing easily.  That's what I like about command-prompt programs:  each program does a specific task, and if you want to do something else, you write a separate program and chain them together.  People forget how to do that with GUI apps.

These are simple programs that I have written that I thought might be of use to people;  Free to download and use (unless marked otherwise).  They aren't anything spectacular, and some of them (like DOSamp) could conceivably be written by anyone with minimal programming knowledge and the ability to read a How-To manual.  But seeing as how few people have written programs like this, I'm picking up the slack.

Since I work as a programmer, there are a number of programs that I have written that I do not personally own, although you can see an overview of them and contact their owners.

Just The Pic  1.0.65 (Beta  6/2001)
An incredibly simple picture viewing program.  I've finally got it to the point that it can be released.  I'm sure it has bugs in it, so if you find one, send us an error report .  Basically, this program just lets you browse to pictures, and then displays them, letting you view them sequentially.  Simple.  Minimal.  Just the way I like my software.  I'll get screenshots and other support up later.  Right now I'm just happy to get this first public pre-release finished.

 


If the file doesn't execute, you probably just need Microsoft's Windows Installer:
Windows Installer for 95/98
Windows Installer for NT/2000
Offline/Online
Online Offline Online - Disconnected Offline - Disconnected
Created for use on laptops (or any other computers) that spend time doing offline browsing using Internet Explorer applications. For anyone who is frustrated with using "Work Offline," This program gives the user unparalelled control over the offline state of the computer. It adds an icon to the system tray which both indicates and sets the global online/offline state. Most importantly, it can prevent other programs from bringing the computer into "Online" mode when the user is trying to work offline.

Click here for instructions and technical information.

Click here to download.
offline.exe (59.5kB)

 
SilentSound
This is a very simple program that causes Windows to play a WAV file with no visual cues and no other program.  When used as the target of Windows Scheduler, it allows you to have your system play various sound files at specific times as alarms.  It can also be used directly from the command line if it is in the command path.
Usage:  The program takes one command line argument that is the name of the file to be played.  Do NOT use quotation marks, because whatever is in the command line is passed directly to Windows.  e.g.
C:\>SilentSound C:\Multimedia Files\Sneaker Pimps shutdown.wav
C:\>
Click Here to Download SilentSound.exe (40kB)

 

Mouse-Speak (Unreleased/Not a Web Release)
(This is one of the reasons that DOSamp and KeyAmp haven't been released yet.) 
MouseSpeak allows you to give voice commands to your computer and have your computer talk back.  Specifically, MouseSpeak allows you to control your volume, Winamp 2.x and ATI Multimedia Center 7.1 with your voice, as well as a few other features like reading the date and time.  For a list of commands that MouseSpeak accepts, click here.  There may be commands that are not on this list.
Since this program uses Microsoft's Speech Engines and ATI's Remote Control, the distribution package is too large to put on this web site.  Also, there are some licensing issues involved with distributing those components.  If you ask nicely, I might be able to get you a CD of it or walk you through getting those components on your own.  If you're gutsy and think you already have both of those components, you can try downloading a minimal install here (not released yet).

 

DOSamp / KeyAmp (Unreleased)
A collection of wonderful tools for anyone who uses Winamp (VERSION 2 ONLY) and has a multimedia/programmable keyboard, or anyone who spends a lot of time in a command-prompt or terminal window. 
KeyAmp is a collection of small utilities that silently call the Winamp API.  For example:  make "play.exe" the target of the Play/Pause button on your keyboard and you have virtually direct control of the play/pause button in Winamp.  These programs are very small and are not memory resident.  In other words, they won't steal processor time or memory space.  How clean and simple can you get?

(Unreleased)

DOSamp is an expanded set of command-line utilities that call the Winamp API for Winamp 2.x.  These utilities, however, are not silent and will return the status of Winamp to the command line.  This is great if you're working in a command-line window while listening to music, or if you want to control the music remotely through a telnet session (For example, you can be on the deck using your laptop and control the music you're listening to on your desktop computer indoors.)
Syntax examples:

C:\>DaPause
Winamp paused.
C:\>DOSamp
Winamp is paused. "3297. Rufus Wainwright - Evil Angel".
C:\>

Download DOSamp 1.0 (218 kB)

DOSamp Instructions

 

Got an error to report?  Send and email.

 

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Copyright © 2001- Martin Miller