Recent Posts

1751

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 20, 2013, 07:33 AM »

Haha!

Maybe Zork closed the book on this in 1981:
"A maze of twisty little statements, all alike. And if you believe them, you are likely to be financially ruined by a grue!"

 

1752

Living Room / Re: 14 Year old Thiel Fellow creates his own nuclear fusion plant

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 20, 2013, 07:28 AM »

Genius "Terrorist" at work in the basement: 14 Year old Thiel Fellow creates his own nuclear fusion plant

-IainB (November 20, 2013, 06:02 AM)

"Fixed That For You!"

 

1753

Living Room / Re: Adblock Plus Letting Ads By

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 16, 2013, 12:07 AM »

That seems to mostly work 4wd!

I got stuck a bit on the way, but it seems to be working!

1754

General Software Discussion / Re: convert MOBI or EPUB ebook format to PDF while influencing font size?

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 16, 2013, 12:06 AM »

Okay, this is an old thread, but it popped up so here it is.

My instinct is to do it in two stages. Converting "into" PDF is pretty easy. So take your source .mobi or whatever, open it into a word editor, fiddle with the fonts or even the text, then hit "export to PDF".

Going the other way is the one that's hard - PDF's were sorta made not to be easily messed with.

1755

General Software Discussion / Re: Heeee's Baaaaack!!! Stephen Wolfram is going to revolutionize everything again.

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 16, 2013, 12:01 AM »

This guy is such a fascinating character, and obviously not always in a good way.  ...  I can't stand him normally, but then his website really is pretty genius.

-superboyac (November 15, 2013, 06:21 PM)

Prologue: What is his webpage link and why is it genius?

Re: his book "A New Kind of Science", it is kinda neat, and somewhere between "beautiful" per above and Mouser's remark. What I got from it was a metaphor/analogy, that sometimes it just takes "processing" to do something, and that it truly can't be short-circuited.

Very broadly, I think we're in one of those points with the Snowden Theme. The "2nd Term Obama + Snowden" feels different from say 2007.

But it's odd because I think Bradley Manning and/or Julian Assange also had about the same grade of info, but the Powers managed to silence them. But maybe they proto-woke-up the public, like subtle precursors, before Snowden's stuff seems to stick far more.

Looping back: Wolfram - New kind of Science. Sometimes stuff "just needs to be processed".

1756

Living Room / Re: YouTube finally forces creation of google+ A/C to comment

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 15, 2013, 10:51 PM »

...
I also don't see how you can claim that Google is a monopoly in any of the services it performs. For search there's Bing and numerous smaller players; for video there's Vimeo and others; for email there's Outlook.com and too many others to even think about; for social networking, they're playing second fiddle at best; and so on.

So where you're using Google, it's because, in one way or another, you believe they've got a superior product.

-CWuestefeld (November 14, 2013, 04:15 PM)

Heh ... well that's why I use Yahoo, because they're Not-Google! Even though they had Inferior Products for a decade! 

But there's a nebulous zone of Near-Monopolies, where theoretically there are some bit players, but it's "almost a monopoly". The rough def of Monopoly is % based.

For example, in Microsoft the newly-returned from his Submarine Mine job over at Nokia, I think Stephen Elop was pondering killing Bing. So while it's *currently* there, it might be gone soon! Yahoo is already "powered" by Bing on the back end. For email, basically only like four companies have been around over a decade, mainly Google, Yahoo, MS, and your choice of a fourth.

1757

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 15, 2013, 10:38 PM »

Wow.

Just Wow. : )

1758

General Software Discussion / Re: Manually recovering text from corrupt MS Word DOC and DOCX files

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 15, 2013, 11:54 AM »

I would like to remark that sad as it is, .doc and .docx are two wholly different use cases. For about a year in my old job, I was the only one who knew that the contract writing software didn't in fact accept docx-anything, so I converted it behind the scenes.

Broader level:
The "expectations" remark (paragraphs!) is about right.

If you're dealing with dead files that by all rights should open, you're already in trouble. The rest is guessing hoping you get lucky. Some ideas:

A. Try to write as a Rich Text RTF file. Sometimes that's a middle ground to pure text.

B. Change File Formats.
Sometimes X native program refuses to behave but Y or Z "import" function works. Not to be sloppy, but in this category just save a "scratch" copy to play with, and abuse the scratch copy as aggressively as you like, since you're looking at Data Zero on the real copy, who cares? Typical tricks include just changing the file ending of the copy to .rtf, ignore the crap and save 38 of the 50 important lines of text! Other tricks include opening in custom semi-custom software, and more.

1759

Living Room / Re: Adblock Plus Letting Ads By

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 15, 2013, 11:42 AM »

This was the most relevant thread I could find.

See this page:

http://en.wikipedia....8season_3%29#Writing

It refuses to AdBlock the pic of Andreas Katsulas. (About midway in the page.)

When was I not aware that certain random pics were not able to be AdBlocked?!

It's not even the Ad-Beg of the previous thread. This is total and simple even Ad-Block Edge "No. I don't feel like dealing with that. Go away."

1760

Post New Requests Here / Re: Anti-Wikipedia-Beg methods?

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 10:54 PM »

(see attachment in previous post)
I don't know if you can block DIV elements in AdBlock but here's the one you want according to Inspector, (Menu->Web Developer->Inspector):
 (see attachment in previous post)

-4wd (November 14, 2013, 09:00 PM)

I've tried, on rough attempts it's killed lots of other page elements!

But I'll file your note for a day I want to spend two hours on this!

ReStated, the AdBlock Element rule that quieted this also nuked lots of other important page frames! (Who knew that Wiki had like seven frames?!)

1761

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 10:52 PM »

Do you think this company has a hiring policy?

http://archive.is/KDtBJ

-app103 (November 14, 2013, 08:52 PM)

Haha! To put it in words, Hire White-ish women, up to the Glass Ceiling, then hire White Men at the top?

 

1762

Living Room / Re: YouTube finally forces creation of google+ A/C to comment

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 10:49 PM »

-wraith808 (November 14, 2013, 08:37 PM)

At one time gmail was superior.  Now, not so much. 
...
[/quote]

Going all Weakest Link here...

"Is gmail superior? Maybe not. But it's the Votes that count"

That's the devastating news of 2014.

I've been using Yahoo Mail for a decade. Sure, it's had a couple hacks. But as an Anti-Google thing for a decade, not bad for a "newbie"! I won't discuss any superiority of anything. It's terrible. Only LAST WEEK did Melissa Mayer (new head of Yahoo) roll out the first new changes in three years. But it's Not-Google.

1763

General Software Discussion / Re: The Open Source debate

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 10:42 PM »

Still staying general, let's watch out for the word "Idiot." Because even "subconscious insult" one day creeps into places you don't expect!

-TaoPhoenix (November 14, 2013, 11:22 AM)

Amen. Heeding that bit of wisdom could go a long way to heading off a needless future work vendetta. Most people don't mind being silly. But they dearly resent being called silly. Best not to let the discussion head in that direction.
 

-40hz (November 14, 2013, 07:28 PM)

Let's go one step further.

Not even Silly vs Idiot.
You have Managers used to slinging $400 Mil around per day. And then an IT issue comes up? It's a strange clash of Value-Per-Time. No one who makes Reverse Dividend Hedges against a Margin of Performance per Share ... is an "Idiot".

Just say they are out of their waters. Oh, find a friend to vent to! To me, that's becoming CRUCIAL! But when you get all formal, it's all cleaned up!

1764

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 10:39 PM »

P.S. How are you doing the "faded shots"? I only know how to capture the whole thing!

1765

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 10:34 PM »

We all missed your 2800'th posting...
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Ath (November 07, 2013, 07:12 AM)

Awww. That's so sweet! I feel luved! : )

Ath and Tomos are my heroes! For ... uh... Five hours and thirty eight minutes ... until my amnesia takes over again! : )

1766

Living Room / Re: The most disturbing news story I've read all year

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 10:33 PM »

Naw, posted without reading the thread (sorry!), the whole 1984 theme is So Past Due ... that we have to go to the more extreme SF works to find our Salvation.

I don't know what they are. Only that I won't be here in seven years time so use me well while you got me!

1767

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 11:38 AM »

Well, I guess that is an indication of how out-of-touch I am with the "Modern World" ... Because I see nothing wrong with the comment what so ever. Then again, I also do not consider political science to be a real science either.

-Stoic Joker (November 14, 2013, 11:27 AM)

Heh. Well you "are out of touch". Because "I see words in that math problem that make value judgements and we can't ever have anything beyond pure facts and graphics-major's diagrams in our books now!!"

    

1768

General Software Discussion / Re: The Open Source debate

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 11:22 AM »

We all know that viewpoint's nonsense. But I could really use a short, understandable-by-idiots, refutation of the "common sense" view that open source software is "obviously" a security disaster waiting to happen.

The fact that 80% of the internet is running on open source software probably won't cut it. The idiots all "know" that the internet is a dangerous place and clearly everything's held together by string, cobwebs, eggstains, a little glue and the determined efforts of the only software houses worth mentioning, Symantec and Microsoft, and trying to tell them otherwise needs something solid, instant and understandable.

So does anyone have anything helpful -- and preferably unarguable -- I can throw at them?

-oblivion (November 12, 2013, 05:27 PM)

Still staying general, let's watch out for the word "Idiot." Because even "subconscious insult" one day creeps into places you don't expect!

Ideas:
1. Develop an Open Source Saint. "Two out of three ain't bad" - Meatloaf. So of "solid, instant and understandable", which two do you keep? I'll leave that for a further discussion. Broad point is, play the 2/3 game hard, let one go (whichever one it is), and slam the other two. "Anderssen Security rated it HIGHER than Microsoft..." or "Costs go down by 30%..." or something.

2. There is no 12 line "crush" of that meme. So you have to slide it in. It will take some work. But maybe get a quiet boss's approval that magically clears your schedule to develop the alternative and have it "flip ready" - something more than a debate point. Do parallel data mgt. I know, I'm a bit out of my depth here, but the general idea is to have already worked behind the scenes at the problem and be damn close to an answer so it's a "Mgt say yes please" discussion rather than "My word vs his" thing.

1769

General Software Discussion / Re: The Open Source debate

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 11:13 AM »

I am still fuming over this.

Today, in a meeting at work, I mentioned that one of our senior doctors was looking at an open source product that might be a worthy replacement for the aging and soon-to-die (it won't run under Win7) clinical information system we use.

One of the IT attendees said straight away that he wouldn't allow anything open source running in our environment. Why? I asked. "Well, it's insecure. If the code's available to anyone, then anything could happen. A security nightmare."

Aghast as I was, I had no instant answer. I mumbled something incoherent about open source encryption tools that probably nobody there gave any credence to at all and the conversation moved on.
...

-oblivion (November 12, 2013, 05:27 PM)

Well let's "evolve" an answer. (Eek! Don't hurt me for sounding all PHB!) The "let's share a laugh" joke-but-half-true fantasy is:

"Oh, remember that free day you all got two months ago? I already replaced it. But I copied the front end exactly, so you never noticed, and remember how much y'all said it was better than ever? Exactly."

But yes. Fantasy land.

"...and the conversation moved on."

Bingo. Because there was no secondary higher level Mgt proponent who said "hold on, let's look at this!"

So sounds to me like there's a bit of networking to do before some Big Meeting. Because Joe from the Controller's Office might have chipped in, "ya know, he's got a point, it does X and Y and Z that we can't do, and it would save five grand per audit..."

But even a General Manager could have called a halt and said "let's go into this a few minutes. Why is it insecure? Do we assume Windows is safer?"

1770

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 10:58 AM »

That's Epic App! When was the date of that book!? 1977, before "political correctness"?

Sidebar:
I never learned calculus. I'm a Squares and Grids guy. Curvy-Anything ruins me. But I did have a bit of fondness for Days Past when I had an old 1950's calculus book, before the era of huge white space and color diagrams. I still only learned like three of the huge number of (shorter) chapters, but it just had a strange appeal, back maybe when education was education, and not a Graphics Design contest!

Earl D. Rainville, circa 1957ish.
And the language was subtly different. Hard to describe, but just the phrasing... I even worked through the first twenty pages. My stuff should be out of storage in the next couple of weeks. And there's a 1-in-3 chance I kept it for Old Memories sake. But I'll never learn calculus. Just not my thing. Skies know I have plenty else to do.

But just sayin' ... the days when they could put comments like that in textbooks, before they were marketing-spinned to death!

1771

Post New Requests Here / Anti-Wikipedia-Beg methods?

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2013, 10:54 AM »

Wiki's begging is getting worse.

Now they're whining in NEON ORANGE "Give us money!!"

But I've tried things like AdBlock and each time I try that type, it crushes more necessary elements. And it's not an "image".

Anyone with ideas? Does it take a Snack?

It's intermittent. I'll chime in later with a screen shot.

1772

Post New Requests Here / Re: Separate out and move files to subfolders

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 13, 2013, 09:50 AM »

I'm confused why his seems to work and you version was hitting glitches

-TaoPhoenix (November 12, 2013, 08:49 PM)

I'm not certain you ever got F2F installed properly on your computer.

-skwire (November 13, 2013, 12:22 AM)

One leads to the other. I installed and unstalled it about five times. I wonder if it has to do with shell hooks vs whatever Chris is using.

1773

Living Room / Re: What keys can't fit in your pant pockets?

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 13, 2013, 09:49 AM »

Don-keys and mon-keys! ha! 

-dantheman (November 13, 2013, 08:33 AM)

Played more straight up:
Building key, Apt Key, Brother's Building and Co-Op Key, Post Office key, storage locker key, animal totem ring, key to mom's house at home, car key, two bike lock keys, and about five more!
  

1774

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Kingsoft Office Professional 2013 Free Download Offer

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 13, 2013, 09:47 AM »

Hmm. I already am using Kingsoft Spreadsheet from one of the earlier offers. So is it two offers for a year each, at 6 month intervals?

1775

Post New Requests Here / Re: Separate out and move files to subfolders

« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 12, 2013, 08:49 PM »

...
At their core, yes, both move files into a new folder/folders but, really, I don't think they're similar.

-skwire (November 12, 2013, 11:29 AM)

Any comments on the "move mechanic internals" how it gets processed? So when you for ex balance out the same number of files to be procesed as F2F, I'm confused why his seems to work and you version was hitting glitches, when as an end-user the resulting goal was the same.