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Recent Posts

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901
@c.gingerich: HTTrack looks pretty nifty and seems to be kept up-to-date.
I used to use SiteSnag(ger) from Ziff-Davis (FREE) for that sort of thing when I needed it. Haven't used it for ages. It was very good, but I don't know whether it would cope properly on the more modern websites.
902
@HankFriedman: Ditto. +1 from me.    :Thmbsup:

As I progressively discovered what xplorer² could actually do, those discoveries developed into "new" requirements for me. Now nothing else can actually meet those requirements nor replace xplorer², for me.
I'm stuck with xplorer².    :D
My now 7 y/o son likes it too, as well as my now nearly 16 y/o daughter.
903
Living Room / Re: good Videos [short films] here :)
« Last post by IainB on August 24, 2017, 07:49 AM »
Consider the following:...
(An excellent introductory video about the scientific explanation as to why there are - and can only be - two genders amongst humans, and which even my now 7 y/o son understood by age 5 or 6.)


904
Living Room / Re: good Videos [short films] here :)
« Last post by IainB on August 24, 2017, 07:31 AM »
@p3lb0x:


I laughed (political commentary)
__________________________
Thankyou! What a brilliantly rational little satire!
Actually, it would probably/arguably be more correct to call it a comment on the absurdity of cringeworthy political correctness, rather than the more serious business of "politics" per se.
Some of the comments about that video are rather interesting/amusing too.

For example: (edited for brevity/sense)
  • To be consistent, if a Google employee (James Damore) can be legitimately fired (sent to the GOOLAG™) for an unspecified "social crime" of "encouraging the use of sexual stereotyping", or something, when in fact he seemed to be merely applying logic/reason/evidence and exercising his right to free speech, in writing a 10-page evidence-based essay (including related research statistics and associated diagrams) entitled "Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber", then the account for this video should be blocked/closed/GOOLAGed for the same offence. By the same token, it could also bring into question the general social acceptability of the use of logic/reason/evidence for anything that is published on the Google networks, or the Internet or used in public discourse in the future.
  • The video is hateful content. If the zeroes notice this hateful content, then they won't show up in the office, and the rest of us who do will have to make stuff just with ones! Be more thoughtful next time!
  • It could be claimed that 1's are better than 0's, because - Would you want to be: an ON or an OFF; a TRUE or a FALSE; a YES or a NO?
  • The problem of 63 (where binary 111111 = decimal 32+16+8+4+2+1) not being "diverse" enough could perhaps be "fixed" by adding 6 or more [non-significant] zeroes before the ones - i.e., 000000111111. This would give an even distribution - 50% ones and 50% zeroes - but where all the zeroes would be adding nothing to the number, which latter point could make for an interesting analogy.
  • ..."1 is the loneliest number".
  • "Bringing 4:30 ( after the red 1 says: 'Today, I numerically identify with the square root of 2 divided by Pi.') and not going into the complex identities of irrational numbers? Bigot! The lack of representation of i (imaginary unit) offends me as well!?"
  • Politiekman: "There are only 10 sexes."
    Bolek Lolek: (in response) "the word "sex" comes from Latin "half", so by definition there can only be two.
    _____________________
    sex/sexus: ..."Commonly taken with seco as division or 'half' of the race" [Tucker], which would connect it to secare "to divide or cut" (see section (n.)). ...
     - Copied from: Online Etymology Dictionary - <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=sexus>
  • Parabalani: "I think people who did not study computing will find it difficult to understand this."
    Marc: (in response) "Having a brain is enough for this video."
  • Adrian Blom: "this video will fly over many a head."
    JG: (in response} "Like an attack helicopter, which I happen to identify as."
    wolfie498: (in response) "Most heads unfortunately."
905
Living Room / Re: Anti-procrastination Hacks: Dynamic Unordered Todo List
« Last post by IainB on August 19, 2017, 05:45 AM »
@Contro: What are you smoking? I think I'd like some, please.    ;)
907
Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Interfaith Explorer (FREE) - Mini-Review
« Last post by IainB on August 18, 2017, 01:47 PM »
The folder should be placed in the DATA directory (wherever you installed Interfaith).
e.g.,  C:\UTIL\Religion\Interfaith\DATA
19_575x205_D14362E2.png
908
Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Last post by IainB on August 17, 2017, 09:37 AM »
They wear red flight suits to do this in Snowdonia. I think I'd need brown trousers...
909
"Too good not to share" (hat tip Samizdata.com):
think-different-apple-vs-google-001 [fascism].jpg

think-different-apple-vs-google-002 [fascism].jpg

Says it all. Absolutely brilliant art work by Sabo.
910
Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! Some humorous cartoons.
« Last post by IainB on August 17, 2017, 12:42 AM »
I just today came across the website investors.com, where they seem to have quite a few clever and amusing cartoons about US current affairs (where "the American condition" seems to be  the object of mirth) and politics (where the borax seems to get poked equally at all parties).

In current affairs:
(a) there's this one, where I think the elephant represents the US voting public. In the first image, he has a blue tie, in the second a red tie and also in the third - where he seems punch-drunk from all the strong but polarised (they polarised him) and conflicting messages. Subtle.
Elephant changing its colours US election 2016 [humour].jpg


(b) there's this pragmatic puzzle - an externality caused by political correctness aligned with religio-political ideology - and that plainly now remains to be addressed/solved by society:
LBGT gender confusion restrooms [humour].jpg


(c) there's a child explaining the real climate problem to an utterly confused scientist. Look at the amusing detail on the chalkboard, chalking up the "decline" in the scientist's thinking, echoing "the writing's on the wall". Subtle. The cartoonist doesn't seem to miss a thing in the details.
Climate - diminishing settled science [humour].jpg


(d) then there's this "other side of the coin" one.
Mexico should build a wall 2016 [humour].jpg
911
Living Room / Re: I need more English knowledge - TRY THIS
« Last post by IainB on August 16, 2017, 12:52 PM »
@Contro: For many years, dedicated English teachers (religious and atheist) the world over have relied on a single book as a de facto ideal training tool for speaking/writing English - it is the 400 year old (updated) King James version of the Bible. The reason they use the Bible is the highly efficient, concise and correct use of the English language that the many learned translators and editors were able to produce to correctly and fully reflect the original scripts which they worked from.

For reference, see also:

As a free and potentially excellent English study aid, I would also recommend that you download Interfaith Explorer (current version 2.4.0): Interfaith Explorer (FREE) - Mini-Review
You can download the Interfaith Explorer application and the English, Spanish and other language modules from the downloads page: http://bahairesearch.com/WinApp/Pages/Download.aspx

Interfaith Explorer is produced by the B'hai faith and has the King James version in English and Spanish, or whichever languages you select, and, once they are installed, you can compare them in the Interfaith Explorer viewer.

There is also the Jehovah's Witnesses' New Testament Recovery Version, which can be obtained free of charge in some countries. Translated directly from the old (I think mostly Greek) scripts, I am unsure how it compares to the KJV.
The word "Recovery" in "Recovery Version" refers to the regaining of biblical truths that have been lost, misunderstood, or misapplied throughout history. The Recovery Version, with its accurate translation of the scriptures and extensive study aids, presents these truths and relates them to the Bible's central theme - God's plan to dispense himself into man.
- Copied from a note in a 2017 brochure issued by the Bibles for New Zealand (bfnz.org.nz) and offering the New Testament Recovery Version for free.
________________________________
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity.
- Copied from: Jehovah's Witnesses - Wikipedia -
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses>
________________________________

Coincidentally, for some time I had been meaning to order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version, and writing this comment has just reminded me to do it!    :-[
912
General Software Discussion / Re: Edit this Autoexec.bat?
« Last post by IainB on August 16, 2017, 09:03 AM »
@hulkbuster: I'd suggest that you check on the correct usage of the PATH statement first, and in the particular version of Windows being used in each case. (Apparently, it's not necessarily the same for all versions of Windows.)

For example, refer:
  • Microsoft DOS path command - https://www.computerhope.com/pathhlp.htm
    - which provides general info/Help.

  • How to set the path and environment variables in Windowshttps://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000549.htm
     - where it says:
    Setting the path and environment variables will differ depending on the version of Windows you have on your computer. Choose a link below for your version of Windows.
    Note: Administrator privileges are usually required to modify the path and environment variables.
    _________________________________

Hope that helps/is of use.
913
Living Room / Re: I need more english knowledge
« Last post by IainB on August 16, 2017, 08:37 AM »
...Meh, I always immediately think 'sexpot' when I see them mentioned.
______________________________
Yes, "dexpot" is not a proper word on its own and always seems to me to be a cunningly and deliberately ambiguous typo.
My Scrabble and crossword-solving habits automatically kick into action and I get confuzzled. For example, "sexpot" is my first try, because, working from left to right it rather looks like a typo - the "S" key being just to the left of the "D" key on the standard QWERTY keyboard. Then, I get to the "X" in "dexpot" and think it might be "despot", because "X" is just below the "S" key on the standard QWERTY keyboard. But both keys can't be "S", because "sespot" isn't a proper word either.

Ergonomically then, that CAPTCHA could seem to be a tad confusing for English or non-Engrish speakers/readers/writers, especially since, phonetically, "depot" sounds nothing like "dexpot" - the "x" not being silent.

The key is "warehouse", yes, but as @Curt says:
...I didn't even understand the question! Why didn't they include the word almost? : >>Our software is almost spelled like another word<<. ...
_______________________
...and:
depot /"dEp@U/
· n.
1 a place for the storage of large quantities of a commodity.
2 a place where buses, trains, or other vehicles are housed and maintained. Ø N. Amer. a railway or bus station.
3 the headquarters of a regiment.
– ORIGIN C18 (in the sense ‘act of depositing’): from Fr. dépôt, from L. depositum (see deposit).
Concise Oxford Dictionary (10th Ed.)
______________________________________
...and:
warehouse /"wE;haUs/
· n.
1 a large building where raw materials or manufactured goods may be stored.
2 a large wholesale or retail store.
· v. /also -haUz/
1 store (goods) in a warehouse. Ø place (imported goods) in a bonded warehouse pending the payment of import duty.
2 N. Amer. informal place (a prisoner or a psychiatric patient) in a large institution offering unsatisfactory care.
– DERIVATIVES warehousing n.
Concise Oxford Dictionary (10th Ed.)
______________________________________

 - are not necessarily one and the same thing - e.g., I would almost never equate depot-->warehouse in my use of English.
914
General Software Discussion / Re: easy peasy website building
« Last post by IainB on August 16, 2017, 07:43 AM »
I coincidentally stumbled upon this today (might be useful and looks rather powerful):
(Translation via Google Translate - in Slimjet - from French, is copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)
WHAT IS SPIP? (for beginners and coders)
http://info.spip.net/

SPIP stands for:
 * Système de Publication pour un Internet Partagé
 * "Publishing System for Shared Internet"

A tool for publishing content for all, SPIP allows to create and to evolve a website without special knowledge.
SPIP is also a technical platform for building real online applications. It benefits from the support of a very dynamic community of developers and users.
GNU / GPL License 3 - PHP + MySQL, PostgreSQL or SQLite

  • Download SPIP - on Spip.net
  • Try SPIP - on the demo site
  • Automated installation
  • Simplified publication of editorial content
  • Collaborative work tools
  • Multilingualism
  • RSS feeds integration
  • Many extensions and themes
  • Dynamic interfaces
  • Completely customizable

Copied from: Publishing System for Shared Internet - SPIP.Info - <http://info.spip.net/>
_______________________________
WHAT IS SPIP?
PRESENTATION
SEE WHAT SPIP LOOKS LIKE
INSTALLATION
EVOLUTIONS AND UPDATES

Copied from: What is SPIP? - SPIP - <https://www.spip.net/rubrique124.html>
_______________________________________________

My personal website
http://info.spip.net/Mon-site-personnel

SPIP is ideal for the creation of webzine, associative sites, personal sites or blogs ... thanks to the numerous turnkey resources available.

Free software, so free
Under the GNU / GPL license, SPIP can be used free of charge and without advertising, and will remain so. It is the fruit of the work of a community that has chosen to make this tool available to all.

A dynamic and dynamic community of users
Many sites, forums and discussion lists help find finding help easily. Many people who add new features to SPIP are sharing them, thus meeting a growing number of needs.

Automatic installation
The installation of SPIP is fully automated. The access given by your host is sufficient for its installation. The required database is configured during installation. The extensions are installed by a dedicated interface of the administration space.

Possibility to install it at virtually all mainstream hosts
The technical bases required to run SPIP are very widespread and most hosts offer offers compatible with a Php / MySQL application.

Multi-users: a tool for collaborative work
SPIP is particularly suitable for collaborative work. A team of editors can participate in the creation of the articles to publish on the site and exchange messages and comments in the private space of the site.

Many skeletons (themes) extensions available
A hundred "skeletons" (the "themes" of SPIP) and more than two hundred extensions (plugins) are available on the site spip-contrib .

Considerable customization possibilities
Knowing HTML and CSS allows you to quickly customize skeletons shared by the community. Beyond that, SPIP offers a metalanguage which allows to display at will the data entered in the administration space. No a priori structure is imposed.

A gentle learning curve for who wants to go further
The numerous tutorials, the very complete documentation and the help of the users make it possible to take the first steps in the implementation of SPIP. Learning the specific syntax of SPIP quickly allows to modify its site then to create one of any part, without knowing to program.
___________________________________________________
915
Finished Programs / Re: FINISHED: Play a sound when a color appears on screen
« Last post by IainB on August 16, 2017, 07:16 AM »
I'll look at using NAudio to allow playback of files other than wave at some point in the foreseeable future.
___________________________________

...but, the future is not foreseeable (except maybe for clairvoyants?)!    :o
916
This Hitler "Downfall" spoof video probably expresses how I felt a few years back when Google Reader was killed off (now I use Bazqux, which in most ways is a superb alternative and in some ways seems even better than the original):

Hitler finds out Google Reader is shutting down



Here's an extended clip of the relevant part, with English subtitles, from the original Downfall movie:
917
Living Room / Re: Reader's Corner - The Library of Utopia + resource links
« Last post by IainB on August 14, 2017, 05:14 AM »
It seems that there's "...something rotten in the state of Denmark...", except it's apparently in Holland:
(Copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)
German universities take on Dutch publishing giant Elsevier.
BY NED STAFFORD5 AUGUST 2017
Consortium seeks country-wide licence for journals at reduced prices

Image: Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
Source: Shutterstock

Humboldt University is among a number of German universities that have cancelled contracts with publishing giant Elsevier
A consortium of German universities, research institutes and public libraries has rejected the latest offer from Dutch publishing giant Elsevier for a new country-wide licensing agreement for its research portfolio. Germany’s chief negotiator says the offer does not meet the requirements of German researchers.

The rejection in early July, comes after nearly a year of negotiations during which time rock-hard positions on both sides have scarcely budged, leaving a huge gap yet to be bridged. The German side, represented by a consortium founded in 2014 called Project DEAL, includes the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Fraunhofer–Gesellschaft, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Helmholtz and the Leibniz associations, and the Max Planck Society. Backed by these research giants plus dozens of universities, Project DEAL is demanding a nationwide contract from Elsevier that includes fair pricing, open access in Germany to all papers authored by researchers at German institutions, and permanent full-text access to all electronic journals published by Elsevier. Project DEAL will also lead negotiations for nationwide licensing agreements with Springer Nature and Wiley.

Horst Hippler, a physical chemist and chief negotiator for Project DEAL, tells Chemistry World that after a year of negotiation with Elsevier, the consortium had expected to ‘finally receive’ a proposal that could serve as a basis for further discussion in early July. But he said the offer ‘does not meet any of the requirements and expectations of the German scientific community’.

Hippler, who is also president of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), Germany’s main university association, says Project DEAL submitted a ‘fair and transparent’ proposal to Elsevier in July. ‘We asked Elsevier to finally enter into serious discussions on the basis of our principles and our proposal but we are still waiting for an answer for that. Elsevier is constantly trying to talk institutions into individual negotiations.’

Chemistry World contacted Elsevier for comment but did not receive a response.

Pressure building
As the negotiations between Germany and Elsevier now enter the second year, both sides will be feeling mounting pressure to reach agreement. Late last year, more than 70 universities, institutes and public libraries cancelled contracts with Elsevier to ‘improve their negotiating power’. Earlier this year, the institutions went several weeks without access to Elsevier’s portfolio before the publisher restored access in February ‘while good-faith discussions about a nationwide contract carry on’.

However, Project DEAL’s negotiating stance remained firm and Elsevier’s public statements indicated a growing frustration with the lack of progress. In late June, Project DEAL received a huge boost when three highly influential Berlin universities and Charite university hospital announced that they would cancel Elsevier contracts at the end of 2017. A few days later nine universities, including heavyweights Freiburg, Heidelberg and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), made similar pledges.

Tim Gowers, a mathematician at the University of Cambridge and an open access supporter who led a boycott against Elsevier in 2012, tells Chemistry World that he is ‘following the situation in Germany with great interest’. ‘I am very impressed that the German negotiators have had the courage and vision to stand up to the bullying tactics of Elsevier, and that they have had the necessary support from researchers who use the journals.’

Gowers is critical of the agreements that Dutch and UK research institutions have reached with Elsevier. He argues that UK negotiators ‘failed to obtain, significant changes’ and have ‘a lot to learn from the German example’. ‘We should be aiming for radically cheaper deals, rather than slightly improved versions of the current deals.’

Gowers hopes that German negotiators and Elsevier will both ‘refuse to budge’ and that contract talks break with no agreement. Under such a scenario he believes it will become clear that Germany’s researchers have not suffered any serious inconvenience. ‘This, I believe, is what would truly embolden other countries and lead to a collapse of the current system.’

Global reach
Hippler says that Project DEAL is in ‘close contact with many nations’ in Europe and the US too. ‘We are receiving a lot of positive feedback and recognition, especially regarding our negotiating goals for transformation to open access and for a fair and sustainable price model,’ he says. Project DEAL is open to compromise Hippler says, but compromise must be fair for both parties. He says that Elsevier thus far has not even addressed Project DEAL’s content requirements for a Germany-wide licence that reflects open access and the rapidly changing scientific landscape.

‘In the course of digitisation, science communication is undergoing a fundamental transformation process,’ he says. ‘Comprehensive, free and – above all – sustainable access to scientific publications is of immense importance to our researchers. We therefore will actively pursue the transformation to open access, which is an important building block in the concept of open science. To this end, we want to create a fair and sustainable basis through appropriate licensing agreements with Elsevier and other scientific publishers.’

‘There can be no mistaking how serious we are about this,’ he adds.
___________________________________________

Elsevier would - presumably years ago - have prepared for this, having seen it coming a mile off, and would have a ready-made amelioration strategy for profitably dealing with it. For all we know, the idiot universities' chancellors may have already bought into that amelioration strategy, for a publicly-staged profit advantage, where the State (taxpayer) pays up.
We shall see.
918
@Deozaan: Thanks for posting that ^^. Virtue-signalling apart, it stirred a couple of cogs in my brain.
I had belatedly donated $5 in DC Credits to @f0dder on 2014-01-01 for something that he had done in  2012   :-[  and which I am still using on an ad hoc basis - Re: DONE: "Filegrab"-like functionality integrated into the file explorer.
So I am making another donation to @f0dder - even though he is a cantankerous bugger - because (though I could be wrong. of course) that would seem to be within "the spirit" of DC.
919
Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"
« Last post by IainB on August 14, 2017, 02:44 AM »
20 Present - Day Facts No One Could Have Predicted Five Years Ago
_____________________
No-one can predict the future. Well, except maybe a neighbour of mine, though her ability seems to extend to the future of those around her and in her family. Very strange, but spot-on.
920
Living Room / Re: Show us the View Outside Your Window
« Last post by IainB on August 14, 2017, 02:27 AM »
Yum - Deer.
Where I used to live in the UK I would drive home along a gated road in countryside where there were few fences to the surrounding forest and fields. The roadkill would include Muntjac deer, pheasant and rabbit. I would always stop to clear up the still warm carcasses. Our larder was usually full...
921
Living Room / Re: Arizona sunsets
« Last post by IainB on August 14, 2017, 02:17 AM »
I thought the "triple-colored cloud" was kinda special, but the "sitting cloud" is most unusual, because the depth differential is provided by the sitting clouds - not the natural light-and-shadow (as in earlier shots of that range of mountains).
922
FARR Plugins and Aliases / Re: FARR Plugin: TimeZone [Update version 1.4.2]
« Last post by IainB on August 12, 2017, 03:21 AM »
Cross-posted from Re: Intelligent Time Zone display (online or local)
This might be of use, so I shall mention it:
I recall that the FARR plugin TimeZone was very good    :Thmbsup:   but I uninstalled it as it stopped working for me (on Win XP), and I never went back to reinstall it after that. I think it worked OK with Win7 though. I might try it on Win10 now that I have recalled it.

See discussion: Re: FARR Plugin: TimeZone [Update version 1.4.2]

EDIT: 2017-08-12 2012hrs: Nope. Cannot get FARRTimeZone to work. It installs OK (from a .ZIP file), but the all-important Options settings page seems to be inoperable. The user has to stop the FARRTimeZone process before that page can even be accessed.
Maybe that might have been why I gave it up years ago; not sure.
Maybe it has been abandoned? The author (@Perry Mowbray) doesn't seem to have updated/fixed the proggie since v1.4.2 - 2010.12.08.
923
General Software Discussion / Re: Intelligent Time Zone display (online or local)
« Last post by IainB on August 12, 2017, 01:31 AM »
but I use a windows phone :-( lol
Holy shit! There are two of us!
______________________
+me makes 3.

It is a Nokia Lumia 830 that my son gave me to use - he had it lying around unused when he was working at a telco.
The phone's app. Lumia Office Lens integrates superbly for document/OCR capture and image capture into MS OneNote.
924
General Software Discussion / Re: Intelligent Time Zone display (online or local)
« Last post by IainB on August 12, 2017, 01:22 AM »
This might be of use, so I shall mention it:
I recall that the FARR plugin TimeZone was very good    :Thmbsup:   but I uninstalled it as it stopped working for me (on Win XP), and I never went back to reinstall it after that. I think it worked OK with Win7 though. I might try it on Win10 now that I have recalled it.

See discussion: Re: FARR Plugin: TimeZone [Update version 1.4.2]

EDIT: 2017-08-12 2012hrs: Nope. Cannot get FARRTimeZone to work. It installs OK (from a .ZIP file), but the all-important Options settings page seems to be inoperable. The user has to stop the FARRTimeZone process before that page can even be accessed.
Maybe that might have been why I gave it up years ago; not sure.
Maybe it has been abandoned? The author (@Perry Mowbray) doesn't seem to have updated/fixed the proggie since v1.4.2 - 2010.12.08.
925
Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Keyboard Kard
« Last post by IainB on August 12, 2017, 12:30 AM »
@c.gingerich: That's rather nifty.    :Thmbsup:   Thanks. I think I might use this...
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