Click here to get the latest version.

This is a minor release with two fixes: the "No" button of the check for updates dialog was broken, and files on the results page are now in alphabetical order (in the next release, I'll make all the columns sortable by clicking).

Count Anything is free and released under the MIT license.

1. It's easier to buy a game on Steam than to pirate one
2. Steam offers advantages over pirated apps

When you buy a game from Steam, it automatically downloads to your computer, and then you're ready to start playing. It eliminates most of the hassle of installing a new game (getting a refund if the game won't run, however, is something they need to work on).

And Steam offers some extras that pirates don't get, like access to an online gaming network.

So in short, Steam is successful because it removes all the friction that drives people to pirate, other than price. And that's why having geographical embargoes on games is so dumb.

Twice now, Steam has refused to sell me games because I live in Japan: once with Napoleon: Total War, and once with Civilization V.

Oops, sorry!

Dear Steam: This is not the way to keep people from pirating your games. In fact, it's an almost perfect way to convince them to become pirates.

In most if not all cases, the geographical embargoes are mandated by the game publishers, and not by Steam. Japanese localization houses will sometimes require the publisher to give them exclusive rights to sales in Japan.

Back in the 1990s, giving up the rights to sales in Japan seemed like a good deal, since very few non-Japanese game publishers are able to handle selling in this country.

But this is a piss-poor excuse today, when you can sell in Japan through intermediaries like Amazon and Steam.

Steam, you have the clout to bop some sense into the game publishers. Convince them to let you sell their games worldwide, or face lost sales opportunities and a growing pirate population.

Download the latest version here.

This version adds support for Open Office files (Writer, Calc, and Impress), and features a newly designed front page.

Support for Open Office

Count Anything now supports Open Office document formats. You don't need to have Open Office installed to get word counts of OO documents.

New front page design

Using Count Anything, I found that I always did the same thing: launch the program, and then call up the "pick files" dialog. This seemed like a waste of effort, so I replaced the front page with an add-files form. This saves a step and I think it makes getting a word count faster.

About Count Anything

Count Anything is a free program for Windows that counts words, characters, and Asian characters in a large variety of file formats.

Download the latest version here.

Sadly, this version isn't any smaller despite complaints about the installed size (in fact, the installer is about 500 KB larger), but it does include a couple of new features/improvements:

• You can now get word counts for Web pages by entering the URL
• There is now a command-line interface for programmatic access
• More file extensions are recognized, and users can customize file extensions
• There's now a more complete manual available online

About Count Anything

Count Anything is a free program for Windows that provides word counts for a wide range of file formats.

The fact that some people don't like the program doesn't bother me — there are many word-counting programs out there, some of which are also free. I wrote mine because I had a few specific needs with my word counts, and if some other people can find it useful, I'm satisfied.

But one part of the criticism did catch my eye:

… and for what it does I think it's a prime example of bloatware (over 32MB as opposed to under 250KB for some of the others mentioned below).

Is 30 MB or so really a burdensome size? The installer itself is just under 9 MB, and I had thought that with today's disk sizes, most people wouldn't bat an eyelash at 30 MB.

More than half of the installed footprint is due to the fact that the program includes several needed libraries (Python and wxPython), on the assumption that most users won't have these installed.

I could release a source-code version for people for whom 30 MB is too large. I don't have anything against releasing the source; it just hasn't seemed worth the effort, since until now nobody has mentioned a desire to have it.

Hypnotic Waves by Tearsandrain

Wave essentially brings together all the forms of online communication we already use — email, chat, wikis, blogs, and so on — and combines them into a single (mostly?) open architecture.

I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around what this will mean. As a software developer, I can see some tremendous ways that this can help me. For example, when I release a new version of one of my software programs, I need to pull in information from several different sources — bug tracker, build information, screen shots, updates to documentation — and push this information out in many different formats — blog announcement, update docs, update download page, "what's new" list, etc.

Right now, I have a kind of hodgepodge of scripts that automate some of this for me, but there's still a lot of manual work. It seems that Wave would make it possible for me to manage all this information centrally, and push it all out in the proper formats/places with a single operation. That would make publishing software updates a lot easier!

In addition to making this process easier, Wave could also let me improve things. For example, it would make it easier to keep docs up to date and complete. Users could comment on the docs, ask questions, or ask for more information on a certain subject. Features listed in a blog post could include links to the relevant sections of the documentation. In short, it seems like Wave could make the work of creating good documentation a lot easier, and with more powerful results.

On the other hand, it seems like the real power of Wave will depend on adoption. Obviously, the more people using Wave, the more useful it will be. And since a lot of people are still using IE6, the requirement for html5 support is going to be a pretty big hurdle. Also, how many people are going to give up their beloved Facebook/Instant Messenger/whatever for this new, slightly strange platform? Google's record for putting out kind of cool-looking betas and letting them wither on the vine is not too hot.

So while I'm excited about the potential of Wave, I'm also going to wait and see before uninstalling my email client.

I was going to write this as a comment to the article, but the site's registration process is just too 90s to endure.

In case you haven't heard about this tempest in a teacup, the Firefox add-ons Adblock Plus (which blocks Internet ads) and NoScript (which blocks JavaScript) had been engaging in a back-and-forth battle for a while, as NoScript tried various means to display ads on its update page, and Adblock Plus (ABP) blocked them. This culminated with a version of NoScript that silently modified ABP so that it would show NoScript's ads by default.

When the ABP people reported this, it created a big stink, and NoScript quickly backpedaled, removing this functionality in an updated version.

The Register attributes the whole uproar to prototypical antisocial/passive-aggressive nerd behavior, saying the two sides should have talked their differences through instead of airing them in public. It also poo-pooed the importance of the incident, stating that ABP and NoScript "only" have about 50 million downloads each (although I'm sure The Register would love to have that many readers ).

This really misses the point, because it fails to realize that NoScript crossed a big line when it modified ABP. We have a name for programs that maliciously modify other programs for their makers' profit: malware. And NS's behavior did in fact violate the ToS of the Mozilla Foundation. This is what the uproar was about, and it was much deserved. There was no display of "nerd rage" until NoScript's tactics crossed over into malware territory.

To me, this is a great example of self-correction in the software community. As long as NoScript's tricks were limited to modifying its landing page, ABP users could be annoyed at seeing unwanted ads, but there wasn't any reason for outrage. When NS's behavior slipped over to the dark side, however, the reaction was swift and effective.

The Register's articles are usually witty, often insightful, and sometimes funny, but this article unfortunately falls short of the mark on all three.

This is horrible news for all the big software companies with huge patent portfolios, because now their IP is going to be worth a lot less. But it's great news for small developers like me, who have to worry about getting sued by some company with deep pockets because they've patented a "buy now" button, or page scrolling in a document, or even hyperlinks.

You can do this using the win32com.shell.shell module in the pywin32 module:

In addition, I've written a simple module that does this. It depends only on ctypes, and provides a simpler interface to the Windows shell API. Usage:

You can install it using easy_install:

Here's the link on pypi.

Here are the folders it provides access to:

get_local_appdata — Local App Data folder for current user
get_appdata — App Data folder for current user
get_desktop — Desktop folder for current user
get_programs — Programs directory under Start menu
get_admin_tools — Admin Tools directory under Start menu
get_common_admin_tools — Start Menu -> Admin Tools
get_common_appdata Common App Data folder
get_common_documents Common My Documents folder
get_cookies — Cookies folder for current user
get_history — History
get_internet_cache — Internet cache
get_my_pictures — My Pictures folder for current user
get_personal — My Documents
get_my_documents — alias for get_personal
get_program_files — Program Files under root drive
get_program_files_common — Program Files -> Common Files
get_system — Use care and discretion
get_windows — Use care and discretion
get_favorites — Favorites folder for current user
get_startup — Startup folder under Start Menu -> Programs
get_recent — Recent files for current user

[Update] — winpaths now has a permanent page here.

About Count Anything

Count Anything is a free program for Windows that counts words, characters, and Asian characters in a variety of formats, including MS Word/Excel/PowerPoint, as well as HTML,
XML, text, and others. See the documentation for more information.