Recent Posts

501

Living Room / Re: Shake Your Head & Look At This Pic

« Last post by barney on August 20, 2012, 08:26 PM »

man, with all the advances we're making with light technology, i have a feeling that within our lifetime, the notion of "seeing is believing" is just going to be turned upside down.

-superboyac (August 19, 2012, 11:25 PM)

Going to be   ?

502

Living Room / Re: TV Technology Dilemma

« Last post by barney on August 20, 2012, 07:52 PM »

I just went from a 52" CRT (yes it weighed a ton) to a 55 LG LED last year and am perfectly happy with it. IIRC the whole rub with LCD vs Plasma is the contrast ratio on the Plasma is (or rather tended to be) higher so you got better blacks etc. But the tech has improved with the LCD/LED TVs to a point where it's really not even noticable anymore (if you need special equipment to see the difference...there isn't one - Ya know?). Add to that the power consumption with Plasma being somewhere between 1.5 - 2x higher than an equally sized LCD/LED TV and it tips the scale rather quickly (or did for me anyway).

-Stoic Joker (August 20, 2012, 11:31 AM)

+1 on that, and almost identical circumstance - 48" CRT to 55" LG (same one).  I also had a 36" plasma.  If there's a difference in video quality, my perception fails to notice it.  (Only drawback, for me, to the LG is lack of outputs.  Four (4) HDMI inputs, VGA and multiple RCA inputs, couple of USB ports, but output limited to headphones and TosLink (fibre optic sound port).)

503

Living Room / Re: Coffee Mug or when Plastic is done right!

« Last post by barney on August 20, 2012, 07:38 PM »

You might as well use Sanka instant

-MilesAhead (August 20, 2012, 06:04 PM)

Now, that would be gross   .  Have you thought about finding someone with a 3D printer?  Might be worth a thimk.

504

Living Room / Re: Is having everything available in "real time" where we really want to go?

« Last post by barney on August 18, 2012, 11:49 AM »

Note: If you've been doing the "web thing" for a while you're probably already familiar with some, or all of Vasilis' suggestions. But it might still be worth a glance as either a refresher or for something you missed.

-40hz (August 18, 2012, 11:32 AM)

Indeed, it was  .

Thanks, 40hz.  You've provided me with, finally, a valid reason to use cloud services without major security concerns  .

505

Living Room / it's about ... visual Windows history

« Last post by barney on August 16, 2012, 12:42 AM »

Evolution of Windows is a quick pictorial history.  Hell of it is, I remember every damned one of 'em, although I was using OS-9 (Tandy DOS), then Borland (MS-DOD) up until Win3.0.  Once again - or first time? - MS got it right on the third try  .

506

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by barney on August 14, 2012, 11:51 PM »

I am not saying there are not any problems with linux but windows and mac are just getting worst for support here in this region, despite the fact that large number of testing work for them is done here, which is shame.

-mahesh2k (August 14, 2012, 11:25 PM)

My point was not that Win or Mac is better - personally, any OS that works to do what I need done is acceptable - just that there does seem to be a bias here, and it's not always on the user side.  I've been shut down for using a *nix OS in the past - before I knew to check out providers instead of using the cheapest one  . 

Yes hardware support has significantly improved, as has ISP support.  But we were discussing why past experiences have alienated a number of US users.  I speak only from personal knowledge ... I'm not judging any OS, nor any particular hardware (although I could), just pointing out what has happened in the past here to a significant number of folk.

I haven't had any USB problems with any of the last six (6) or seven (7) distros I've tried, but my first try at Ubuntu was a disaster as far as USB was concerned.  And wireless was nonexistent.  That's not a complaint, it's a simple report.  While I've watched Linux grow in the US asfewartw4eqfgdgfdoasja'kja[seskaqFJDAowefrwE';Fa

507

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Everything 1.2.1.451a still Alpha?

« Last post by barney on August 14, 2012, 10:59 PM »

The way google is going these days the guy might have a tough time getting a job. I can see the interview now, "are you sure you're Dave Carpenter the software developer, not Dave Carpenter the serial killer?"  Ouch!!

-MilesAhead (August 14, 2012, 10:39 PM)

Back in the do no evil days, I could see that ... not so certain now  .

508

Living Room / Re: Morphing somebody's face/head over the years - how do they do that?

« Last post by barney on August 14, 2012, 10:40 PM »

Actually, it's pretty easy.  A decent morphing software, a series of images, then you specify pair points on each photo.  As the series progresses, you see apparent aging in the subject in supposedly real time.  There are some freeware applications available, you'd just have to check to see what would work for you.  

I use Abrosoft's FantaMorph, but it's not cheap - $49.95 US, and I don't recall whether that was BDJ or not.

If you try it, remember that the more pair points you set, the smoother and more realistic the transformation will appear.

[Sidebar
A pair point is, for instance, the tip of the nose in each image, the earlobes, the tops of the ears, the eyebrows, and the like.  The more pair points you have, the smoother the transition will be.]

You can also set a reverse morph, i.e. old maid to young girl, by changing the the photo order.

Oh, yeah, doesn't hafta be photos, can be any image set.  Once changed a Mercedes into a Model T that way.  Transformed from the Mercedes to a Pontiac to a Chevrolet to a Ford to a Model T, each one (1) older as the morph progressed.  All the images were commercial advertisements  .

Edit:  link for FantaMorph

509

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Everything 1.2.1.451a still Alpha?

« Last post by barney on August 14, 2012, 09:50 PM »

I guess when some people are done, they're done. "Nope, I'm done messing with hand grenades. Won't stoop to put the pin back in. I'm onto something new now."
 

-MilesAhead (August 14, 2012, 09:32 PM)

Nice metaphor!  Hope it isn't accurate, though.  Could be the case that they've, "... shuffled off this mortal coil."

510

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by barney on August 14, 2012, 09:44 PM »

Wireless support for debian and it;s child distros (ubuntu, mint etc) works just fine in india. If it works in india, I wonder what stops it from not working in united states. Hell, not even so called unixes, BSDs have this much plug and play support for the internet devices here in India. Almost any 3G/4G device in India is supported under debian without much hassle.

I don't know why wireless access should be an issue. If Indians are in position to switch to linux despite slow network and other hardware issues, I don't think people in US and Canada will have any trouble on connectivity end. Most of the time If it's USB device plugged for connectivity, there is hardly anything you have to worry about it on linux. 

-mahesh2k (August 14, 2012, 09:17 PM)

While I can appreciate the sentiment (and am somewhat envious, btw), that's not always the case here.  While I suspect it is provider dependent, I don't really have anything to support that opinion.  Nonetheless, what I (and many others, according to forae & blogs) have experienced is that it requires significant effort to get wireless- or even cabled - networking working (somehow, networking working just sounds wrong  ).  Not everyone has that problem, of course, but may of us do.  In fact, I've on occasion had problems getting even USB to work.  Now, that may be due to the really crappy network interface that exists in the US, I don't know.  Or it could be OEM dissuasion, again, I don't know.  (But I did have a conversation with tech support once that pretty much implied that if it ain't Win or Mac, it ain't at all.)  But it's a fact that many folk here have significant troubles with installation.

511

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Everything 1.2.1.451a still Alpha?

« Last post by barney on August 14, 2012, 09:00 PM »

I can understand moving on. But wouldn't you copy your last version to the download page? One anchor tag and a zip file is all it takes. It just seems strange.

-MilesAhead (August 14, 2012, 08:46 PM)

Well-l-l-l ... maybe they did ... unlikely we'll find out, though, at this late date <sigh />  .

512

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Everything 1.2.1.451a still Alpha?

« Last post by barney on August 14, 2012, 08:12 PM »

People get antsy(or is it ansi?)

-MilesAhead (August 14, 2012, 03:01 PM)

Have you been understudying Cranioscopical?

Kinda thimk Everything is like Identify Your Files (ify-x)   ... decided it was good enough and went on to something else .

Edit:  Only thing that counts insofar as copyright is concerned is the initial date of copyright ... although a bunch of developers don't seem to understand that  .

513

Living Room / Re: "Magic Pig Powder" May Heal My Wife

« Last post by barney on August 14, 2012, 07:37 PM »

Been there, done that, anent the medical snafus, so can truly offer sympathy ("same pain" ... except it's never the same).  If the prayers of an agnostic can be heard, mine go out to your wife and to you.  May you both prevail and prosper.

514

Living Room / Re: Why Linux sucks (and how to fix it) VS. Linux doesn't suck (and I can prove it)

« Last post by barney on August 14, 2012, 04:31 PM »

Been staying out of this - not really qualified to hold a valid opinion - but 40hz and Edvard triggered me, and I'm really curious 'bout somethin':  donations. 

I cannot help but wonder how donations to the Linux community [of coders] are handled.  Anyone - without derailing the topic - have a handle on that?  It strikes me as an important part of the equation, open source or no.

Donations at DC are simple:  donate to the site, or donate to an individual for solving a problem.  But I can perceive some complexities when donating to a community rather than to individuals.  Slush fund?  Server time?  Hire a specific person for a particularly difficult/complex bit of code?

Don't mind making the donations - best I can do to support the effort(s) of the people involved in doing the creation/innovation/work - but cannot help but wonder how they are handled  .

515

Living Room / Re: Staple of people from State and Europe !

« Last post by barney on August 13, 2012, 10:18 PM »

When I was in my schooling years, a professor proved, statistically, that I actually detested something I liked.  His aim was not to persuade me to change my mind.  It was to demonstrate that anyone even semi-competent at math could make statistics mean whatever that person wanted them to mean.

Statistics are like Aristotelian statements:  they are useless without qualifiers.  My favourite Aristotelian syllogism goes like this (substitute your own food preferences):
Premise one - Nothing is better than ice cream,
Premise two - Crackers are better than nothing,
Conclusion - Crackers are better than ice cream.

OK, two (2) unqualified statements lead to an untenable conclusion, but the apparent logic is unassailable.

Same thing applies to statistics - meaningless w/o appropriate qualifiers.

For instance ...
Once every four (4) years, I am a part of the nationwide statistic base.
Once every two (2) or six (6) years, I am a part of the statewide statistic base.
Apart from that, I am a part of a communitywide statistic base.

Recently, there was report of West Nile virus, three (3) cases.  Now, that number is insignificant on even a statewide scale, much less national or global.  But it's pretty damned significant within the community.  See, statistical numbers take all feeling and conscience out of whatever is being judged.  Instead of calculating percentages, count the number of deaths or illnesses directly involved. 

As an example, I know folk who are allergic to peanuts - ingestion will be serious and could be fatal.  Statistically, they don't count ... too many decimal places ... but the folk around them, close to them would damned well be impacted should they happen to slip, or eat  something they don't know has peanuts in it.

Statistics dehumanize reality (and sometimes morality).  That can be a helpful if you have to deal with a lot of tragedy.  But statistics aren't worth a damn in any kind of argument except between statisticians.  Numbers simply don't replace, nor compare to, facts.

516

Living Room / Re: In search of ... audio mavens

« Last post by barney on August 13, 2012, 03:30 PM »

Not sure what I'm missing.  Why can't you split the optical feed to the soundbar, one branch to the soundbar and the other to an optical/mini convertor to feed your wireless broadcast unit?

-AndyM (August 13, 2012, 02:00 PM)

That's what I tried to describe.  Obviously, I didn't do it very well  .

517

Living Room / Re: In search of ... audio mavens

« Last post by barney on August 13, 2012, 12:20 PM »

Problem seems to be by design (can the behavior be disabled?).

IIRC we have the same TV, isn't there a set of 3 RCA jacks (white/yellow/red) on the back of it? It shouldn't be to hard to get an adapter cable to get audio from that.

-Stoic Joker (August 13, 2012, 11:41 AM)

Yea, verily, they do exist ... for input  .  There are RCA jacks for component video, RCA jacks for AV, and an RS-232 port, all input.  (That was in one (1) of my lost posts just after I got the thing.  I was trying then to connect a laptop for remote viewing.)

Methinks 4wd has the right of it, although I was trying to avoid that route.  Guess I'll just have to put up with the cable clutter.  I had expected the sound bar system to have an auxiliary output, but not there.  (When I bought it, the sales guy I questioned was pretty sure it had one  .)  But I can get a TOSLINK splitter and an adapter that's male TOSLINK to female 3.5 mm jack that my sending unit will fit.  At least, that way, I don't have to replace the remote speaker system  .

518

Living Room / In search of ... audio mavens

« Last post by barney on August 12, 2012, 02:46 PM »

Here's the problem.
I have an LG 55" LED/LCD.  It has four (4) HDMI inputs, one (1) mini-plug output and one (1) fibre-optic output.  The fibre-optic output ties to a Samsung sound bar with sub-woofer that I bought.  The mini-plug is for headphones and derails all other audio output.

I want to incorporate wireless speakers for the patio - cable is not an option.  Bought a pair of wireless speakers, with a broadcast unit that plugs into the mini-plug output.  That won't work, since it disables all other audio.

Question is, what is my best recourse, short of replacing the TV, for allowing some kind of wireless speaker to work?  Don't want to disable the sound bar because folk may be indoors watching while I am outdoors, watching through the patio windows, and listening via the wireless speaker(s).  Sound bar has no recourse for attaching extraneous speakers.  (I could have sworn I used to have a plug that would work for this, but if so, haven't been able to find it.)

My current thinking is to put a wireless receiver close to the sound bar which will then grab the audio and transmit it to the patio speakers.  But I've no idea what system would be good for that sort of thing.  Or even whether there might be a better approach.  (Max distance will be roughly fifty (50) to seventy (70) feet, so that shouldn't be a problem, I thimk.)

Football (the US version) season is rapidly approaching.  I have a cigar-smoking friend.  We wanna see the game, hear the game, still be able to smoke and drink appropriately.  Sound quality is not a major issue - hey, we'll be drinking, smoking, talking  - as long as it is reasonably audible and more-or-less static free.

Any ideas?

519

General Software Discussion / Re: Arranges in a txt file

« Last post by barney on August 12, 2012, 01:16 PM »

You could try CSV Editor that has a lot of options specifically for csv files, also available in a Unicode-edition, and on top of that is free software

-Ath (August 12, 2012, 12:11 PM)

That looks like an awesome recommendation 

-jgpaiva (August 12, 2012, 12:27 PM)

It is.  Been using CSVed for years - nothing else I've tried touches it.  It's not the automated result requested, but 'tis a beautiful alternative.

520

Living Room / Re: Staple of people from State and Europe !

« Last post by barney on August 10, 2012, 02:33 PM »

Your risk of getting sick from raw milk is so infinitesimally small as to be of no significant consequence.

-Renegade (August 10, 2012, 05:57 AM)

Believe me, if that (getting sick) happened to me, I'd not consider it, "... of no significant consequence." 
Nor, I suspect, did the folk to whom it happened.

The state has ZERO business in telling people what they can and cannot eat. None.

-Renegade (August 10, 2012, 05:57 AM)

No argument whatsoever.  However, opinion seldom trumps reality  .

521

Living Room / Re: Awesome Desktop Background and IE Icon Placement

« Last post by barney on August 09, 2012, 08:54 PM »

Owls normally puke out the bones and other indigestible parts of their prey.
...
 

-Shades (August 09, 2012, 08:43 AM)

You intimatin' there might be a tux under that cloak of feathers  ?

522

Living Room / Re: How Blogging (or Coding) Can Rot Your Teeth

« Last post by barney on August 09, 2012, 05:38 PM »

When I'm coding, there's a constant stream of coffee (just black) and water going through my oral cavity. Actually, that statement is true for pretty much any time I'm awake.

-allen (August 09, 2012, 11:14 AM)

+1

If there's not a beverage on my desk, I'm not sitting at it  .  Coffee (two (2) cups in the morning), water, tea at midafternoon, adult beverage(s) later.  My mouth may not be a haven of health, but it is seldom, if ever, dry  .

523

Living Room / Re: Staple of people from State and Europe !

« Last post by barney on August 09, 2012, 03:18 PM »

Additionally, we lose our ability to process milk at a very early age.  Our bodies simply do not process it, but pass it through.  Adults get no benefit whatsoever from milk, raw or pasteurized.  Calcium?  Vitamin D?  Not from milk.  It has both, but our bodies cannot extract it.  Folk who are lactose intolerant simply have a greater reaction to it, are more sensitive to it than most, but we all are lactose intolerant insofar as our bodies using milk is concerned.  Just a very little research can validate this if you disbelieve  .  (Had to research this some time back - library stuff, pre-Web - because of remote family problems.)

524

Living Room / Re: Olympic coverage this year SUCKS!

« Last post by barney on August 08, 2012, 10:57 PM »

It's almost as if they're busking on the street with a guitar and open case for handouts. They're certainly not compensated for their participation in a major commercial event. I find the way they are used rather disturbing.

-Renegade (August 08, 2012, 10:11 PM)

That viewpoint can be appreciated, but I was thinking more of their viewpoint.  That's something that's been pretty much ignored here.  "Be all that you can be," was a fairly popular saying [relatively] recently.  If that is what they are trying to do, why should we belittle the venue - for better or worse, it's the only one they have.

As to Boycott's process, do we still drink Coke, one of the sponsors?  Do we still eat at the sponsoring eateries?  Drive the sponsoring vehicles?  If so, it's not boycott, it's denial.  A true boycott would mean having no truck with any Olympic sponsor, now or in the [assuming lack of change] future.  That's simply not practical on several levels.

http://www.merriam-w...m/dictionary/boycott
to engage in a concerted refusal to have dealings with (as a person, store, or organization) usually to express disapproval or to force acceptance of certain conditions

http://dictionary.re...e.com/browse/boycott
1. to combine in abstaining from, or preventing dealings with, as a means of intimidation or coercion: to boycott a store.
2. to abstain from buying or using: to boycott foreign products.

http://www.businessd...inition/boycott.html
Collective, organized, economic and social pressure by public groups against unfair trade and employment practices, environmentally irresponsible corporations, and oppressive regimens. See also concerted refusal to deal.

Boycott simply is not practicable on an individual level ... it requires group cooperation, crowd-sourcing, if you will.

Mind, I'm not at all comfortable with much of what goes on to organize/create/present Olympic events.  The Olympics is, always has been, likely always will be, a political event, meant to show the superiority of some political entity.  But I don't let that distaste detract from the real efforts of the participants.  They may be pawns, but they're damned talented ones.

525

Living Room / Re: Olympic coverage this year SUCKS!

« Last post by barney on August 08, 2012, 09:50 PM »

Well-l-l-l,

There's a lot of comment here about the politics/commercialism/restrictions of the Olympic event.  Most of it reasoned.  But there's been little comment about the participants, apart from a few comparisons like unto The Hunger Games.

I watch the Olympics.  I enjoy the Olympics.  There is no more beautiful sight to this old cripple than to watch some young body, male or female, surpass what we consider our physical limitations.  Doesn't matter why they are there, what their reasons might be - they press the borders of human frailty by performing feats heretofore unimagined.  Maybe they want the money from endorsements and merchandising, maybe they have ulterior motives for later activities, maybe it's just plain pride.  These kids - for the most part they are kids - put a lot of blood, sweat, & tears into getting there.  Maybe they're being exploited, but that does not reflect upon their art, their expertise, their ability. 

I cannot imagine anything more beautiful than the floor exercises or the bar exercises.  They demonstrate what the human engine can do, given practice and will and a dream. La misma with the diving and the track events.  Say what you will about the venue, these participants are physical and mental ideals to be lived up to.  (I say mental because, no matter their ability to speak or do mathematics, they had/have the mental ability to continue, to force their body into exertions that the body wanted to deny - if you don't like mental, call it force of will.)  These folk have learned a discipline very few of us will ever know - or have ever known.

Why have they done what they have done?  I neither know nor care their personal reasons.  They are proof positive that the human body can be more than compulsive consumption, more than sex organs and opinions.  And they give us dreams of grandeur that we'll likely never achieve, but at least know to be possible.  They give us dreams.

So, I watch.  Mayhap I cannot create art , but I can damned well appreciate when I see it  .