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Entertainment / A thread for sharing video« on: September 28, 2007, 07:09:26 PM »
Chris, there's a mod for smf that will add a YouTube button and allow embedded youtube video... should this thread take off.
Here's one they showed on the local news tonight. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/824477/6_volt_battery_hack_youll_be_amazed/ 77
Entertainment / Bad Covers« on: September 17, 2007, 03:32:49 PM »
Digitaldreamdoor.com came out with a few top ten lists and one of them was the top ten WORST cover songs.
10 I Love Rock 'N' Roll 9 My Generation 8 Sweet Child O' Mine 7 Dock Of The Bay 6 September Gurls 5 Stairway To Heaven 4 American Pie 3 Feel Like Making Love 2 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 1 Behind Blue Eyes Re: Behind Blue Eyes. I kind of liked it... until 2:33 78
Political Opinions / Hillary's NHC Program« on: September 14, 2007, 03:25:24 PM »
Hillary is scheduled to introduce her new National Health Care system on Monday. I really hope she isn't elected and they never go to NHC.
Here's one example of why: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/14/nsmoker114.xml I'm not a smoker (any more) and I even disagree with something like that. 79
Anarchy / Interesting suicide method« on: September 13, 2007, 03:06:15 PM »
http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=64879
I can think of a lot of ways that I might want to die. That's not one of them. 81
Anarchy / S.O.G.!!1!!1one!« on: September 12, 2007, 08:04:32 AM »Save Our Geekery! Last year, August was one of the best months at our fine hang-out. We had one of the highest thread starts of all time and the post count was right up there, too. This year... not so much. I know I did my fair share of F5 w/o Posting. I'm just as guilty as the rest of you.
So, what's the glaring difference? We don't have Demo any more. That's a big one. He was the primary thread starter around here. He was followed directly by Detta in that regard. She hasn't been around since August 4th. I'll see what I can do about that. So, I'm putting it on you (and me). Start a thread. Talk about something in the news. Talk about something important in your life. Talk about something... anything. Just don't let our Geekery whither on the vine. All statistics taken from here. 82
Anarchy / Faucet wide open« on: August 14, 2007, 08:27:19 AM »
Someone send me a PM when the faucet has been turned off. I don't have the time for this lame ass gangsta crap.
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Anarchy / Riddle Me This« on: August 04, 2007, 06:01:44 PM »
Many people suffer from SSD (Search Skill Deficiency), a serious condition resulting in the inability to use Google, Yahoo or other internet search engines in a useful way. Some of them have allowed SSD to effect their lives negatively. Some have given up on using search engines entirely. Most, however, struggle and endure. You may suffer from SSD and not even know it.
I'm here to help. My search engine search-phrase skills are to be envied! If you've ever wanted the answer to a question, no matter how difficult or silly, but just never were able to find the answer, post the question here and I'll find you an answer. I offer this service free of charge despite the quality of the results I'll produce. Many of you may remember the Riddle Me This thread over at HN. A few of you have no clue what "HN" stands for. Do you care enough to ask? Sure you do! Go on... riddle me this! 84
Anarchy / Geekery Grammar Gall of Shame« on: July 31, 2007, 02:16:30 PM »
Like the HECTAR HECTAR thread, only not so nice.
You know you shouldn't discriminate it not there faults they suck, it's there parents. 85
Hardware, Software, and Other Imperialist Crap / To: Bill Gates [mailto:william.gates@microsoft.com]{Please address this issue}« on: June 20, 2007, 08:48:01 AM »
In Microsoft Outlook - regardless of the version (as far as I know) - when sending a meeting request, it is possible to change the purpose of your invite to an individual. For example, if I invite you to a meeting, I can click on the arrow next to your name in the "Scheduling" view and change your attendance from "Required" to "Optional". Or, I can even mark you as a resource rather than a person.
Wouldn't it be cool if you could do something similar in an email message? I get dozens of emails every day that were sent to me just as an FYI in case I ever need to get really involved in that project even though I only consulted on the project when it was in the pre-sales phase. It would be really nice if there were either more fields than To:, CC:, and BCC:. Or, even better, if I could click on a person's name and mark their purpose on this email as "FYI", "You are the primary person I'm addressing on this message", "Your response is required", "You need to read only the blue text in this email", "Please address this issue", etc. Ideally, you'd be able to select from a preset number of standard "purpose flags" or type in a custom purpose flag. These flags would be visible only to the person to whom it applied (unless some 1337 h4x0r wanted to go in and look at the message header.) Then, I could set up rules that are based on those "purpose flags"! I wonder how many man-hours are wasted every day because people read an entire email that was sent to them just as an FYI, or a just-in-case-you-needed-to-know. 86
Anarchy / Find Fault« on: June 06, 2007, 02:56:46 PM »
I've attached a screen capture from an accident report. Tell me who you think is at fault based on the information provided.
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Anarchy / News Report: Ford Motor Company to sell luxury line« on: May 29, 2007, 10:27:06 PM »
Chevy Chase: And now, to comment on the recent news that Ford may sell off one of their luxury lines, our own Emily Litella.
Emily Litella: Thank you, Cheddar. It has come to my attention that the Ford Motor Company may be offering vulva for sale. If a company like Ford Motor Company can get away with selling.... you know... well, what's this world coming to? There was a day when you couldn't even SAY vulva in mixed company. Now, people throw words like 'vulva' and 'penis' around as easily as words like 'kitty' and 'Richard'. You have to won... Chevy Chase: Excuse me Emily Litella: ...der what.... Chevy Chase: Excuse me, Emily. That's Volvo, not vulva. Emily Litella: Oh. That's different. Never mind. 88
Political Opinions / 655,000« on: May 26, 2007, 09:35:11 AM »
Rosie comment that 655K Iraqi citizens had died since the 2003 invasion - and subsequent implication that the US soldiers are the terrorists really pissed me off. I wonder if she understands that except for among the kooks, she's seen as a complete idiot.
Quote O’DONNELL: …… I just want to say something. 655,000 Iraqi civilians are dead. Who are the terrorists?Now, Rosie has the gall to claim that she didn't want you to infer from her rhetorical question that the US military are the terrorists. She... she... she... something errrr... I mean... clearly. Assuming that the rhetorical question wasn't meant to point the finger at the US military, we're left to wonder just whom does Rosie mean? Does she believe that the insurgents (Iraqi citizens rising against the controlling force) are the terrorists? Does she believe that the new Iraqi police departments are the terrorists? Does she believe that there are terrorists being imported from other nations in order to secure chaos in the country? The sad part is that she doesn't speak to any of those. On her blog, it claims that she was referring to the policy of the current administration. So she believes that the average Iraqi citizen views the soldier on the street as a great guy who's following the orders of a state sponsoring terrorism. Obviously, (assuming that they see anyone related to the forces on the street as terrorists) they wouldn't place their hate and mistrust on the soldier. He's just doing his job. Nope, the Iriqis see past that uniform and gun. They see... pause for dramatic effect ...GEORGE BUSH (dun DUN DUNNNNNNNN). Of course, the number quoted by Rosie was provided in a study by Johns Hopkins University. There are many - myself included - who disagree with the results of this survey stating that the sample size was insufficient to extend and expect accurate results nationally. Here's a typical retort which is representative of those who make attempts to poke holes in the conclusions of the study. Even as long ago as 2004, the same types of studies were saying that nearly 100K had paid the ultimate price. I suppose that, in reality, we'll never know how many people perished as a result of the battle in Iraq. Quote Sidebar:I personally don't think the number is important. Nobody mourns like the people of the Middle East and they've done more than their share over the past 2000 years. At who's hand is the only part that changes. I just wish it would end. 89
Anarchy / Alternative work schedules« on: May 14, 2007, 07:43:14 PM »
I recently heard about the 5 day weekend movement on the radio and it sparked a discussion about alternative work schedules.
Among the variety of possibilities were... 4 nine-hour-days and 1 four-hour-day. (commonly called "summer hours") I'm not a big fan of this one, but some people really like it. Some employers have already adopted this one. Mine allows it between May and September - with your manager's okey-dokey. 4 day work week working 10 hours each day Under this schedule, you'd get 3 days off per week. Theoretically, you could take them as a 3 day weekend. I'd personally prefer to have a regularly scheduled 2 day weekend and 1 day to chase the wind and take when I wanted to - so long as it fell between the 2-day weekends. 12 hour work day with a day off between each work day This one sounds great to me. Work one 12 hour day and then have a day off? Awesome! This is the schedule worked by pharmacists, paramedics and fire fighters all across the USA. The funny part about this one is that you actually would end up working more than the typical 2080 hours per year at 2190 hours. Work 2-12s back to back and take a nice weekend. Want to take a 4 day weekend? Work 4-12s in a row, first. Hell, when I worked retail, a 12 hour day was the norm between Halloween and New Year's Day. I see the benefits to each of these alternatives for the employee. The question is, how can we make them attractive to the employer as well? Which one would you prefer to work? Or, are you happy with the standard work week? 90
Anarchy / News stories that they never follow up on...« on: May 09, 2007, 08:48:21 PM »
Don't you hate how the mainstream media never follows up on big stories?
For example, a recent discussion on the topic of assassination attempts reminded me of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenk You may remember when he looked like this after the dioxin thing. This story was the lead story for quite some time because... well, because the image was shocking.  ....which is a far cry from how he looked before he was poisoned.  Ever wonder how his face looked after the dioxin has left his system? Here's the most recent picture I could find of him... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Viktor_Yuschenko.jpg Not a bad recovery if you ask me. Sure, it made him look years older, but... wow. Got any follow ups you'd like to share? 91
Anarchy / Kiteboarding« on: May 05, 2007, 08:38:39 PM »
I reply to 12AX7's post - so as not to derail that thread...
It's really not that hard to get into kiteboarding. You need to live within an hour - or so - of a large body of water (unless you don't mind driving.) You need to take a couple of lessons. You need some gear. You don't have to have any exceptional strength. As you can see in the pictures, I can ride one-handed. The power of the kite goes to the harness you wear around your waist.             Lessons: Before you take lessons, I suggest that you buy a small foil (traction) kite like this one which you can easily sell after you're done with your lessons. Or, you can pass it on to a friend that you'd like to get into kite boarding. Spend as many hours as you can flying this trainer. Fly it - on a control bar, not handles - until you can LITERALLY fly it with your eyes closed. When it comes to the lessons, most places can get you up and going in a few hours. The learning curve for kiteboarding is not as steep as it is for windsurfing. If you're seriously interested, tell me where you live and I'll find a place nearby that gives lessons for you. Gear: If you watch ebay, you can pick up quality used gear for a fraction of retail cost. Kites: You'll need 2 or 3 of them. Depending on your weight you'll need a 17 meter (or more) kite for light wind days, a 13 meter kite which will be your bread/butter kite and a 9 meter kite which will become your favourite kite despite the fact that you don't get to use it as often as you'd like. Total cost for the 3 kites could range from $1,000 (used) to $3,000 (new) Board: Most people can get by with one board. A good board can be found on closeout for $400. They don't lose their value much, so you're not going to find them on ebay for much cheaper than a new board. Bar/Lines: If you buy new, your kites may come with a bar and lines. They may not. If you need to buy them separately, you can get a top of the line bar and lines for $400 Harness: Typical harness will run you about $100. Again, watching ebay can get you into one cheaper. I started with 1 kite, a board, bar/lines and harness for $250 (kite), $399 (board), $100 (bar/lines), $169 (harness). After one lesson ($150) - I was able to get up and ride down-wind. Two years later, I'm jumping and doing tricks. I've also spent an additional $2k on equipment since then. This isn't a single-season sport, either. With my wetsuit, I can ride almost year round. When the water is frozen, we still ride. However, instead of a water board, we strap on a snow-board and ride the snow/ice. Snow kiting is the fastest growing winter sport in the world. You don't need a hill/mountain. You just need a big field, some wind and the same gear you use in the summer (with the exception of the board, of course). 92
Entertainment / The Password Discussion Thread« on: May 01, 2007, 05:52:09 PM »
Okay... nobody has PMed me to play. I'm wondering if that's because I asked you to form your teams first, or if nobody is interested. If you want to play, let me know in this thread and I'll make the teams.
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Entertainment / The Password Is...« on: April 27, 2007, 08:24:19 PM »
I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember the gameshow, Password. It (the one I remember) aired on ABC from 1971 to 1975. I thought it might be fun to try it as a forum game.
Here's how it would work: (stolen and altered slightly from wikipedia) Two teams — each consisting of two players — will compete. The password (the word to be conveyed) will be given to one player on each team and shown to the remainder of the forum members in another thread. Game play will alternate between the two teams. On either team, the player who was given the password will give a one-word clue from which his/her partner will attempt to guess the password. If the partner fails to guess the password, or if an illegal clue is given (two or more words, a hyphenated word, or any part or form of the password), play passed to the opposing team. There are a possible 1000 pointless points per password. Each time a clue is given, the point value is reduced by 200. The first team to score 2000 points wins. Here's an example game: Quote Team 1: The Hawties -- Detta & Catwritr The only people posting in this thread are the 4 contestants and the "host" (me!). Meanwhile, in the other thread, where the clue was given, the rest of the forum members are all laughing at the answers that are given to the clues provided and wondering why they're not guessing right because, to us, it's soooooo obvious. Sound like fun? Make your teams and PM me for your chance to play! 94
Anarchy / Because I speak English...« on: March 27, 2007, 12:35:49 PM »
On the drive thru window at McDonalds, there was a sign:
In honor of our manager Mrs Sanner whom is suffering from breast cancer please enjoy a meal with us on Saturday. The conversation went like this: * BizB pulls up to the first window Her: $3.30* BizB hands her the money Her: Thank you.Me: Your sign is wrong. Her: What? Me: Your sign says "whom" where it should say "who". Her: Oh, really? How do you know? Me: I speak English. Her: Oh. * BizB pulls forward
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Anarchy / I need a little help« on: March 14, 2007, 11:49:54 AM »
As most of you know, I work for a marketing research firm. One of our new clients wants to identify IT professionals who are familiar enough with "Web 2.0" to be able to contribute to a discussion in a meaningful way. We need to be able to ask 3 or 4 multiple choice questions that will enable us to weed out those people who aren't familiar enough.
The project director's initial though was to see if they could correctly pair technologies used in the development of user-supplied/owned content web sites with the purpose that they serve. I contend that this method will identify the people familiar with the development of ANY type of web site, not just "Web 2.0" sites. If you wanted to identify people who understand the benefits of user supplied/owned content via a few multiple choice questions - without letting them know that the survey was about user supplied/owned content - what might you ask? 96
Anarchy / Let's get some cardio« on: February 14, 2007, 10:21:40 AM »      We got 9 inches out of the "Winter Blast of 07". I can't wait to go play in it! 97
Anarchy / I can't read« on: February 13, 2007, 09:11:23 PM »
Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. I can't read well. I've always been a slow reader and I've always known that. I can remember being required to stand and read aloud in class (second/third grade?) and being completely embarrassed, humiliated and thoroughly disgusted with myself. I'm not dyslexic, but I do enjoy being ADHD (I consider it a benefit, not a disability.) Unfortunately, one of the down sides of being ADHD is that your eyes will dart around on the page. Because I'm planning on attending law school next fall, I decided to investigate speed reading and ways in which I could improve my reading skills.
In that effort, I found and took 4 or 5 different reading speed/comprehension tests. I found that my average reading rate was around 140 wpm. Your typical college educated adult reads 250-300 words per minute. I knew I was reading slow, but I didn't know I was reading THAT slow. I did find some programs online that describe the typical bad reading habits that most slow readers fall prey to. I fit most of them. I "say" the words in my head. I pause to focus my eyes on each individual word. I reread the same sentences over and over. Those are the biggies. One of my Xmas gifts was a Border gift card. I used that card to go by "Break-Through Rapid Reading" by Peter Kump. I started last Monday with another reading test and then 2 more chapters of this book. On Sunday, after having done 3 days worth of the exercises listed in those first two chapters, I began reading Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code. I read it on and off through the day. I'd guess that I spent about 4.5 to 5 hours reading. I finished the 309 page book that day. Yes. I'm bragging. I feel more confident in my reading skills than I ever have. That's one of the biggest aspects of learning to read faster... becoming more confident in your reading skills. Once you're sure you're not going to miss something, you feel more free to speed along. I've still only read the first 3 chapters, but I'm applying all of the lessons that I've learned so far every time I read something. That includes reading online. It's a whole different wold, now. I can only imagine what my life will be like once I've finished the other 33 chapters in this speed reading book. By the way, the Artemis Fowl series is fun reading. I'd recommend them to anyone. 98
Hardware, Software, and Other Imperialist Crap / Microsoft Excel VBA PageSetup Class Printer Driver Error« on: February 07, 2007, 02:12:51 PM »
I'm writing this in an effort to alert others to this stupid undocumented "glitch" in Microsoft Excel. If you don't work with Excel and you don't use any Excel workbooks that contain macros, feel free to hit your back button and go on with life. Clearly this won't affect you.
I recently took over a project from a programmer who was laid off (fired with advanced notice giving him time to pass off his work.) This particular Excel add-in has been the bane of my existence for 2 weeks. The macro reads in a plain-text file (actually a pst file but it's just text inside) and formats it so that each page is represented on a single Excel worksheet and it does a bunch of stuff to make it more readable and generally pretty to look at. When I took over the project, there were 2 outstanding requests that needed to be implemented. I added those features and delivered the add-in to the assigned testers. In addition to my own testing, there were 6 people who would eventually be end-users who were also testing it. Myself and three of the testers were able to run the add-in every time without error. The other 3 testers would have some success, but often the program would just hang. Other times, it would stop running and fail to produce any output. In either case, it wouldn't display an error of any kind. The programmers who were experiencing the problems often reported that Excel was taking up 99% of the processor resources after the macro appeared to hang. Since I was unable to produce the same symptoms, I had to rely on the three people who were experiencing the problems. I added a ton of additional error-trapping code and distributed it for testing, again. When I say "additional error-trapping", I mean "In place of the 'On Error Resume Next' that was in there presently." The myriad problems that were being reported occurred throughout the macro. The only commonality that I could find was that each error was related to a With-statement and that the With-statements were all acting upon the worksheet.pagesetup class. Included in one of the error-message alert emails sent by one of the testers, he tossed in a casual comment regarding an observation that he made. He said, "It seems like only the Toledo testers are cursed." This eventually lead me in the right direction because it triggered a memory about Excel 95 needing to actually communicate with the default printer when doing page setup stuff. If the printer was busy printing, Excel would "wait" until the printer could say, "Yup, I'm here!" In my searches on Google attempting to find an answer to my problem, I looked for "microsoft excel 2003 with statement pagesetup errors problems hanging" and any/every combination of those terms. I kept coming across pages saying that Excel couldn't do page setup related VBA code unless there was a printer installed. Questions came to mind:
Of course, each of these people were working right here in the Toledo office and I knew each of them had a printer installed. Their jobs require that they print things all the time. I asked the primary tester to map to the same printer that I use as my default printer and run the program again. Here's his email reply Quote Congrats Pete! Great job figuring out the problem.An HP driver! My printer uses an HP driver even though it's a Dell printer. The printer that they had been using was utilizing a Dell driver. Some more investigation revealed that Excel must maintain a connection with the printer driver while it's executing the page setup methods. Unfortunately, Excel has a hard time maintaining that connection. There are several solutions to this problem. They include but are certainly not limited to:
So, if you're ever running an Excel macro and it's running slowly, try pointing to a different printer. Try switching to a different printer driver. Or, don't rely on Excel to format your printouts. 99
Entertainment / BB vs NF« on: February 05, 2007, 06:20:53 PM »
Yesterday, I switched from Netflix to Blockbuster. I had Netflix for 5 months and they got slower and slower every month.
Blockbuster's latest deal allows you to have 3 movies out at a time. You can return them via the mail, just like Netflix. Or, you can take them in the sealed envelope to the Blockbuster store and exchange for a movie without waiting. That in-store movie has late fees etc associated with it just like any other in-store rental. They mail in the online DVD for you and then the online service sends out another movie from your list. So, for $2.00 less per month, I can get double the number of movies. And, to top it off, Blockbuster has a deal with the post office such that your returns get scanned at the post office, not at the warehouse. Once the PO scans them, Blockbuster sends out your next queued movie. As for the 2 sites, they don't even compare. Blockbuster offers way more categories and breaks them down into sub-groups. The queue operates similarly. Blockbuster's rating scale is more finely tuned than Netflix, too. Something to consider. 100
Entertainment / Google Books« on: January 25, 2007, 10:07:11 AM »
Okay, I just found out that books.google.com is out there in beta form. I may be behind the times. I had heard that they were in the process of scanning all books into this database; however, I had no idea that the were already putting them online.
I just did a search for "Actionscript" because Flash programming is my latest fling. It returned 567 books in multiple languages. The second on the list, "Actionscript Cookbook" retails for $50. All pages of the book except 870-873 are included in the free preview of the book. There is something to be said for having a book that you can hold in your hand; however, for reference things like above, this is great. There's almost no point in joining O'Reilly's Safari if these books are available through google. And, unlike a book, you can actually search this! |
