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Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

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Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#161

Post by InGodsName »

robbiemitchell wrote: post #145
InGodsName wrote: post #75

I want an app which let's me design webscrapping workflows visually. Then once workflow is completed, upload it to cloud and run N instances of this workflow. There was a software called SpiderClimber for this. Unfortunately, the author disappeared and software too. Edit: i want to extract ad banners from websites, think Google ads or any other ad network ads. Pop ads etc... Including redirect sequence and page's scr…

You can build this with scrapinghub.com — IIRC it’s a portia project. Kimono was the best for this until it went through a quiet exit to Palantir.

I've tried scrappinghub i think in past. Extracting a redirect sequence was not possible at that time.

Also, it didn't handle popup windows. And you couldn't select which popup window to switch to.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#162

Post by 4ad »

ghaff wrote: post #107
wgoodall01 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Iirc, you can buy Lightroom 6 perpetually, no creative cloud needed. Might be worth looking into.

That's what I still use but it's getting long in tooth and you're starting to notice lack of support for new formats and the like. I wouldn't really recommend someone who isn't already using it to switch. I don't really mind the subscription because it's software I use frequently but I need to get around to cleaning out my catalog before I switch over.

You can use Adobe DNG converter (free) or other 3rd party tools to convert new raw files to DNGs understood by Lightroom 6.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#163

Post by noitsnot »

lewiscollard wrote: post #29

WinAmp 2. I still use Audacity in "classic" mode to make it feel like WinAmp.. Old habits die hard :) Going further back, I think Symantec JustWrite was an extremely fine piece of software; I remember it being blazingly fast on the 486 monster I had at work. But my glasses may be rose-tinted :)

The big thing I liked about Winamp was the equalizer. It should be built into streaming apps. I think Spotify has one, but it's not advanced enough. It would help my car's mediocre settings and speakers, also.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#164

Post by michaelbrave »

fuball63 wrote: post #8

Lots of old video games come to mind, especially the online ones that had proprietary servers that were shut down (medal of Honor heroes 2, halo 3). I was going to say BlitzPlus but that's open source already.

In my wishful thinking daydreaming I imagine a service kind of like steam for dead MMO's call it the MMO graveyard or something. Pay a monthly fee but it works for all the games on the system, maybe an integrated friends list too if it's possible. Would be really cool for history and game design reasons.

I want to say I heard that a law passed about not closing server based games anymore but I can't remember the details.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#165

Post by sheepybloke »

ilmiont wrote: post #122

Windows Phone. To this day no Android phone I've used ever as fast, reliable or plain refined as WP8 was. Unique design and many genuinely useful features, and it reflected a time when smartphones could have been vibrant and diverse, not our current two mega-platforms or nothing.

My first major phone was a windows phone and I loved it! My favorite was the tile app design. My phone's Bluetooth also had a crazy long range. I could have my phone in one area of the house and use my Bluetooth on the other side.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#166

Post by stevoski »

pgrote wrote: post #36

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint_(word_processor) Sprint was a powerful, capable word processor. It was lightning fast and darn near impossible to lose files. Alas, it lost out to WordPerfect and was quickly dropped by Borland.

Sprint was so far ahead of its time. It took many years for Sprint’s “always be saving” technique to be widely adopted by other word processors.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#170

Post by iscrewyou »

wtmt wrote: post #57

Games on iOS: Flight Control, Flight Control HD and Flight Control Rocket, all by Firemint (later Firemonkeys after being bought by EA). I have an old device on which I can play a couple of these until those devices die. Features to add: I wouldn’t really add anything more than what they had. Pay for resurrection: Yes, I’d certainly be willing to pay for their resurrection. But EA is a lousy company for games. So I h…

Flight control!!! I would pay for that game again. I wish I could query apps in App Store that are from a certain year. I would go all the way back to early 2010s.
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