Messages

101

Coding Snacks / Re: backup(restore) files in a printed paper

« on: December 06, 2015, 08:06 PM »

With regards to QR codes, I found on Wikipedia that the longest text string encodable in QR is 1852 characters - not even enough for the first line of the google source I posted (>3000 chars).

There are already QR code generators/readers available for Android that will let you encode/decode text.

-4wd (December 06, 2015, 06:53 PM)

102

Coding Snacks / Re: backup(restore) files in a printed paper

« on: December 06, 2015, 07:45 PM »

OK, that's actually pretty cool. Inspired by a recent xkcd, I tried the google source code as a data source:

first part of 32-page PDF:


complete ½ page output of paperbak


Edit: source files attached.

103

Coding Snacks / Re: backup(restore) files in a printed paper

« on: December 06, 2015, 06:46 PM »

Also I wonder if the program accepts JPG input, or is a bmp conversion required first?

Note: I am just thinking aloud (such as it is). I have no ability whatever to actually accomplish what you want. However I think the original program is pretty neat; I'd never heard of such a thing. Funny how a concept that seems like it should belong in the 1970s is really something like a predecessor to a QR code.

104

Coding Snacks / Re: backup(restore) files in a printed paper

« on: December 06, 2015, 06:42 PM »

Have you tested data recovery using a photograph rather than a scan?

105

Living Room / Re: CAT5 splitter?

« on: December 03, 2015, 07:22 PM »

Aren't you gaining a lot of interference this way?

-Shades (December 03, 2015, 05:58 PM)

I'm not sure how a couple inches of "untwisted pair" is going to introduce that much interference. I guess I am worried about having that much less "amplitude" by dividing the signal into two runs, which in turn may worsen SNR.

For the price I guess I can try it!

106

Living Room / Re: CAT5 splitter?

« on: December 03, 2015, 04:30 PM »

"parallel" is the key word I was looking for, I guess. I was confused by conflicting reviews of e.g. this product which has the typical problem of amazon combining reviews of many products, or this one which has a pinout explicitly not what I want.

I guess cheap is what I need!

107

Living Room / CAT5 splitter?

« on: December 03, 2015, 02:13 PM »

Hi, I'm hoping the collective wisdom will help me find something I'm looking for: a 1:1 CAT5 "Wye" or splitter or distributer.

I have audio distributed in my house via CAT5 (and sometimes CAT6) using AV "Baluns" at each end. These Baluns are expensive and I need two for each connection. I have a audio splitter in the basement that divides the audio to these baluns, one for each destination.

However it occurred to me today that I really only need one balun at the source, if I can find a way to divide the signal among the CAT5 cables after the balun. So what I need is a CAT5 splitter. However I'm having trouble figuring out if these exist.

To be clear, this is NOT an ethernet connection, it's something else, using 8-conductor twisted-pair wiring.

The little phone-splitter-like plastic thingys seem to mostly divide up the pins, four to each side of the wye. I don't think a switch would work, and I'm not sure about a hub. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!
Eric

108

Living Room / Re: Micro Reviews of Board Games From a Non-Competetive Perspective

« on: December 03, 2015, 02:07 PM »

I would definitely recommend this to couples looking for a different kind of card game to add to their collection.

-mouser (December 03, 2015, 11:43 AM)

My wife and I played this occaisionally. I liked it, she didn't. But she won every time. So annoying

109

Living Room / Re: Show us the View Outside Your Window

« on: November 22, 2015, 07:08 PM »

my family closed on 5 acres of vacant land out in the country

-ayryq (November 20, 2015, 12:26 PM)

I'll probably leave this alone until such time as there is a window out of which to have a view... but I first wanted to post some more pictures from today (pictures above were from two days ago).

110

Living Room / Re: Show us the View Outside Your Window

« on: November 20, 2015, 12:26 PM »

I started to post this in the "Gadget WEEKENDS" thread since I made a (fairly expensive) purchase yesterday for what is essentially a "novelty" or a "toy." However it is essentially an "anti-gadget" and not at all mechanical or electronic, so I'm posting here instead: Yesterday my family closed on 5 acres of vacant land out in the country near our (in-town) home. It's a big hill, mostly wooded. We'll be using it for recreation... I bought my oldest son a bow-and-arrow set and he'll be getting his first pocketknife soon... we are planning a pumpkin patch and a small barn... I have science projects in mind for all the kids... we'll have a fire pit and cookouts and picnics and (maybe later) overnight camping trips... but right now it's just a place to go kick around the woods and choose the best stick you can find.

Here's some pictures:

111

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« on: November 16, 2015, 03:33 PM »

Here is an article I found interesting. Be sure to read the sole comment, made by the blogger mentioned in the first paragraph.
http://www.cruiseshi...-laughable-math.html

112

DC Gamer Club / Re: Any interest in Grav 4-pack?

« on: November 14, 2015, 07:22 PM »

OK, I downloaded the free-for-the-weekend version and it totally won't run on my PC. About 5min into loading I get a Windows out-of-memory error. Apparently 6Gb is no longer enough for "current" games.

Edit: should have checked here first: http://grav.gamepedi.../System_Requirements

113

DC Gamer Club / Re: Any interest in Grav 4-pack?

« on: November 14, 2015, 06:05 PM »

Interesting... it's been "free to play" and the reviews have dropped from "mostly positive" to "mixed"

114

DC Gamer Club / Re: Any interest in Grav 4-pack?

« on: November 14, 2015, 09:17 AM »

I'm in if you'll take DonationCredits!

Eric

115

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: My note, task and project mangement web application

« on: November 10, 2015, 02:13 PM »

Signup was easy. I like the concept of boxes. Is there a way to incorporate code (html, bbcode, etc.) into descriptions? Or maybe you could at least auto-link urls? Here's a test published item:
https://oneheap.com/...a322a38baede128835f6

116

Living Room / Re: Our experiences with LED light bulb replacements

« on: October 31, 2015, 06:19 PM »

can I put a greater light source in the same enclosure?

-barney (October 31, 2015, 02:47 PM)

This relates to both heat and also electrical current (limited by wire gauge in a light fixture). I think LED bulbs are awesome because I can put a "60W equivalent" bulb in old lamps that specify no more then 25W!

117

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: SoftMaker Autumn giveaway

« on: October 24, 2015, 02:47 PM »

Not sure but this "giveaway" may be the same product which was previously called "SoftMaker FreeOffice" and which was always free.

Also, the links which are sent upon "purchasing" the product are not tied to your account and do not require logging in or anything. So as long as the web link is not changed, redownloading should be possible.

118

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: SoftMaker Autumn giveaway

« on: October 24, 2015, 08:54 AM »

Well, I tried it. I had to enter my name, address, and email to go through their normal shopping cart process. 2012 is the "old" version of Softmaker; they recently released 2016. The two products are sold separately so you could get just the fonts or just the office suite if you wish. The fonts are all .ttf files so you don't have to use their font manager.

119

FARR Plugins and Aliases / Re: FARR Plugin: FCalc v1.12 (Mar 25, 2015)

« on: October 19, 2015, 04:38 PM »

I've not had any problems, but I just checked and troubleshooting log is enabled (is that the default?). I just turned it off on one computer to see if it crashes.

120

General Software Discussion / Re: The Hostile Email Landscape

« on: October 19, 2015, 02:56 PM »

My main email address is hosted on a shared server at Bluehost. Not only is my  email occasionally marked as spam but the shared IP address is often blacklisted. It's very frustrating when you send a cold email and no reply is received... you don't know if the person just didn't respond or if your email just never got through.

121

Living Room / Re: thinking of some earning

« on: October 13, 2015, 09:48 AM »

I've never done it, so I have no practical advice. But I'll say there isn't much of a downside to adsense ads. They're pretty unobtrusive, quick-loading, and so pervasive I doubt anyone will think poorly of you. Test your site with an adblocker on to make sure it doesn't break layout, and I'd add a "donate" link as well.

122

Living Room / Re: How to download the archive program of the following internet radio

« on: October 11, 2015, 02:52 PM »

This link may be helpful.

123

N.A.N.Y. 2016 / Re: NANY2016 idea - Cursor Control

« on: October 09, 2015, 04:23 PM »

How is this currently implemented? Is it a system control, or does each programmer implement it? Are the differences you've noted because of the base programming language or IDE, or something?

I just wonder how "low-level" the functionality is. And presumably you'd want this to affect every place text is not only editable, but even "highlight-able" as ctrl-shift-right arrow works in practically every application.

Eric

124

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Drop Zone for Web Images

« on: October 09, 2015, 04:14 PM »

Nice! Does it do the same for yahoo/bing?

-lifeweaver (October 09, 2015, 02:04 PM)

Dragging from the "expanded" view in Bing works fine, though it grabs only the smaller thumbnail if the original image is no longer available.
In Google I have to drag from the "expanded" view as well (i.e. it is required to click once on the image; dragging from the "grid" view doesn't work.
Yahoo works exactly the same as Bing.

125

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Drop Zone for Web Images

« on: October 09, 2015, 01:49 PM »

Please realize that when you do an image search on yahoo/bing/etc you are seeing thumbnails not actual images as such. Trying to drag these images will only create a shortcut to wherever that thumbnail goes, not an image.

-lifeweaver (October 09, 2015, 01:43 PM)

My irfanview/bat method with Pale Moon web browser gets the actual, full size, image, from the google image search results list. Also, no security warning has ever been shown on my Windows 10 system.