Exactly... Look at Mahir. Somebody pulled a prank on his website, and he turned it around into a more than 15 minutes of fame with his guest appearances and talks. Of course, his fame is over, but it ended up being a good thing for him.
Worse, in those rare instances where things were put into sub-menus, you had to look under the vendor's name to find the product. So you not only had to know that "Photoshop" means "graphics editor", you also had to know that it's published by someone named "Adobe".
You hit the nail on the head with that one... I guess it's marketing, but I notice that everything I install first goes into a directory with the company name, and then puts the software in a accurately named directory under that. Trying to find it later proves almost impossible, especially for some of these game companies. It has to be marketing, right? Or do the manufacturers out there really expect me to buy so much of their other merchandise that it will be so handy to have it all grouped together?
These days, when I install something, I take out all the company name heirarchy and just start with the name of the software. I know all the names of the software that's on my system, but I'd never think to look under "Applied Software Technologies" for anything. Okay, that's my rant for the day:D
I also feel a little groggy in the morning after having had the melatonin the night before, but after my exercising that goes away. Like I have said in a previous post, if I don't get that exercise, I'm groggy for a few hours more in the morning. The exercise seems to help a lot.
On the weekend mornings after I haven't had any melatonin, I'm not as groggy, but I don't know if that's because I'm not waking up to an alarm, or due to no melatonin. I think it's a mixture of both.
What happens when you don't have pills in the evening? Are you calm? Can you fall asleep just like without them? Have you even tried?
Yes, on Friday and Saturday night (when I don't need to get up early) I've tried not taking the melatonin. I still sleep, but like I said, it's not until 1 or 2 in the morning. Then, I sleep in until 10am usually. If I had the luxury of doing that on weekdays everything would be fine. But, since I have to be up at 5:30am, 1 or 2am doesn't work well.
I can definately fall asleep without them, provided I don't mind needing to sleep in the next morning. When I have to be up earlier than 10am, they help.
Yes, it's quite a challenge the first few times you do it, but wouldn't you rather be outside and biking than watching the same old dreary news in the morning?
Not if you're a procrastinator. I found that the only way to get me to consistently exercise was to eliminate all my excuses. Weather used to be a big one: "Oh, it's raining/icy, I'll skip today". And time: "Well, there's not enough time to make it to the gym today, so I'll skip it." And noise: "All my roommates are sleeping, and the bike pedalling wakes them up, so I can't exercise."
So, I got a "bike" where you pull with your arms and push with your legs (I don't know what that's called, though). It doesn't make noise and it's indoors. As for the time issue, I just set my alarm earlier to compensate.
If you have a microwave, baked potatoes are a cheap easy way to get nutrition. If you want to stay away from the salts, search your grocery store for the no-salt alternatives, like Mrs. Dash. Mrs. Dash makes a "hot" version that is wonderful on anything you'd normally put salt on (well, except popcorn maybe). If you have the means, try making a turkey (they're not only for Thanksgiving!) and it'll keep you in sandwiches and salad toppers for a week afterwards.
Now, none of these things are fast (except maybe the baked potato which can take around 5 minutes) so for fast snacks I would recommend oranges, grapes, or apples. You can carry them with you back and forth to class and eat them whenever. Granola bars are good too (read the labels and get the healthier ones) but they can get to be expensive.
For years I had trouble getting to sleep. I just didn't get tired until there was only 4-5 hours left to sleep before work the next day. I'd try to will myself to relax, or do my exercising before bedtime (which they say not to do). A friend at work suggested melatonin, which I now take each night about a half hour before I want to be asleep. It works like a charm, and I'm always asleep after that half hour (or an hour at most). Supposedly after you take it for a few weeks, you shouldn't need to anymore (as your body will fall into a schedule of increasing natural melatonin at the usual time). However, I still take it each night just to be safe. I highly recommend it for anyone who has trouble falling asleep.
As much as I hate exercising, I think you're right. On the days I don't exercise before going to work it takes me about 3 hours to become completely alert. On the days I do exercise, I'm alert after my 20 minute commute. Coffee helps get my energy up in either case, but it doesn't do anything for my mental acuity.
And remember the old adage: Fail to plan, plan to fail. If you don't plan your meals, you'll end up grabbing something quick and easy. Most quick and easy meals aren't all that good for you. Even the healthy frozen meals and fast food items really aren't that healthy. I find that broiling boneless chicken is the best multi-purpose food for eating healthy. You can eat it with a salad hot from the initial cooking, you can chop it up and put it on a salad for lunch the next day, you can mix it up with some low fat gravy and make hot chicken sandwiches on toast, and sliced up it makes a good sandwich.
I sometimes eat vegetarian too, but I've found that tofu and tempe digest faster and just make me hungrier earlier. Chicken tends to fill all afternoon for me.
Last September, I used this method for listening to / archiving the tertiary phase:
1) Grab RA WAV Recorder
2) Open this location with it, at the appropriate time: BBC4 radio feed. Last September, it played Tuesdays at 10:30AM on the west coast (US).
3) Convert WAV, if you want to (or put right to CD for the car).
4) Profit (no, not really)
Just tried it again, to make sure the address hadn't changed, and it still seems to work great!
Oh, don't get me started about Experts-exchange. Most of the time someone there is asking the exact question I'm trying to find the answer to. However, once you've paid (and I did, once, because the person I was working for was under time pressure) you inevitably discover the "answer" is something you're already tried. Just try getting your money back. Of course, after registering, you can always ask your own question. Didn't help me, though, since I couldn't wait a week (or however long it takes) for the answer. After about an hour of extra searching, I ended up finding what I was looking for. Its was just too bad I paid for Experts-exchange first.
Unless Bill Nye is a common name, back when I worked for public television (read: volunteered) we used to play a show called "Deep Dish TV" from out of the northwest US that had a segment called "Bill Nye: Nye On Hollywood". He wore a press hat type of thing and did a Hollywood beat. From what I remember, it looked like the same guy.
Having a well stocked kitchen helps. Most oriental recipes I cook take around 10 ingredients. The fresh ingredients don't cost a lot (chicken, veggies). However, it's the other ingredients that cost you. Don't have soy sauce? Have to buy a whole bottle. Don't have the chili sauce with garlic? Buy a jar. Sure, at first it might cost more, to get the ingredients in their quantities. But eventually you don't have to buy the garlic salt, or the basil, or whatever, because you've already got it. In that way, cooking can be cheap. Especially when all you have to buy to make up a recipe is chicken and green onions.
I'm not so sure of that, have you ever seen one actually degrade?
The problem is the filter. The filter should be thrown out, as it does not degrade as fast as the paper/tobacco part. Most of the people I know, when there isn't a trash can around, will pocket the filter and let the rest blow away on the wind. There's not much to blow away, since the filter is normally all that's left, but it saves having bits of paper and tobacco in your pocket (which is harder to remove than a fliter you've been storing there).
Personally I think outright bans are unfair to smokers (I'm a non-smoker and cigarette smoke makes me sick), but you hit on a key point there. I think the fairest way is to leave it up to the resteraunt, but require certain measures to keep the air "safe" for the non-smokers.
In our town, we have banned smoking in all public places. I agree with this, especially for "public" public places. However, I think it should be up to the restaurant/bar to decide.
We've passed a law that forbids smokers to smoke in restaurants. However, we can't pass a law that forbids non-smokers to have the ability to non-smoke in restaurants. I wonder why this is?
If I don't like the lighting in a bar, because I can't read there, should the law step in and force the bar to increase their lighting, if that's the way the owner and regular patrons like it? There's a health risk (ie: my eyes). What if I thought the music they played every night was too loud and was hurting my ears? Should the law step in and make them turn it down, or should I find another place to go where I'm happier? Switch that to smoking: If the owner and patrons want to continue to smoke in the bar, why should they have to change it? Why wouldn't I (as a non-smoker) just go to a different bar where smoking is not allowed? Where does this end?
When they passed the law in town, a lot of bars went out of business due to customers switching bars (the adjoining town has no law about smoking). Most remaining eating/drinking establishments have had to construct covered outdoor heated/lighted spaces so they don't lose the business. But that was their decision. Conversely, if a smoking-only establishment cares about losing non-smokers' business, they could do the same thing.
I've only seen a few benefits of smoking, and since there are other ways to create the same benefit without the drawbacks, they're somewhat discounted.
My father put a padlock on the front of the box, and leaves the box open with the unlocked padlock inside. He worked out with the mailman so that when the box is filled, the mailman locks the padlock on. After my father gets the mail, he puts the unlocked lock back in the mailbox.
Works great, except that he's lost two locks in three years. But, he bought about six locks all keyed the same way, and they're pretty inexpensive.
I was introduced to computers when I was about 8 or 9 (approximately 1979). My sister and I were signed up for a Technology Can Be Fun type class, where kids got to play with a lot of electronic games. One of these was the Merlin, and another was the TRS-80 Model I. We enjoyed the class so much, that my father talked with the instructor and purchsed the Model I from him. It only had 4K or memory, no lower case, and a tape drive, but I must have typed every BASIC program from the instruction manual into the thing. This is me, with my bunny friend helping out with the trickier lines of code. My sister helped, and together we had entered the crux of Model I computing: Fire When Ready Gridley (an actual graphic display of a castle getting a chunk blown out of it by a pong blip). My family went through the whole TRS-80 gambit, right up to the Model IV.
Then, I broke down and got a Leading Edge IBM clone in the mid-80s or so, and life got a lot more interesting.
Think: if it was a picture of a beautiful landscape, what would be worth zooming in on? That's the best part of this large image, is being able to zoom in on just about anything in it and see it in detail. It's not a pretty scene, but it sure shows off the detail.
It's also good for answering questions like: "Did I leave that pack of smokes on Building A or Building B?"
Nothing spells NERD like a bunch of bright colored LEDs decorating your living space when it's not Christmas.
I'm proud to be a huge nerd, then. I have a two-story house with an upstairs hallway that, when lit with all the lights on the switch, is bright enough to do surgery with. Sometimes, you want that kind of brightness, but not at 2am as you make your way to the stairs for a late night snack.
So, rather than switch out the bulbs to lower wattages in the evening/morning, I hooked up about 6 strands of LED Christmas lights and ran them around the door/wall frames, set on a timer for dusk/dawn. Works great, and since the power consumption is so low, I leave them on all night, 365 days a year. Plus, it gives the hallway a very festive look year-round.
They are just bright enough to see by in the dark, and they also run up and down the stairs, so you can see the steps and not trip.
It was pretty tricky finding these strings of lights two years ago, but they're probably much easier to locate now.
This is the way I do it, too... Plus, it's something of a challenge to figure out how to convert the latest obscure codec to a an (S)VideoCD format.
Programs like VirtualDub (for splitting out audio), GSpot (for determining which audio/video codecs are involved), and TMPGEnc (for splitting out video and creating VideoCD formats).
Plus, a bonus is that once the work is done once, you can simply copy the resulting CD with any copy software, or loan it out to friends with compatible DVD players (most tend to run VCD, some run SVCD, and some run DVD-R or +R)...
I get a lot of the TV shows I forget to tape off of Torrents.
If they're in VideoCD MPG format already, great! It's simple to use Nero to make a VideoCD. If they're (more commonly) in AVI format, I split out the audio as a uncompressed WAV file (converting it to a MP2), and split out the video using TMPGEnc. Then, put them back together using TMPGEnc as a VideoCD MPG. Nero after that to get it to disc.
Of course, now with a DVD burner (and fortunately a DVD player that plays DVD-R's) I collect all those MPG's, author them with TMPGEnc DVD Authoring, and burn the DVD Video disc that way.
It's not simple, and it takes more time than it takes to actually watch the thing to do it, but it beats buying a lot more expensive hardware or running cables from upstairs to downstairs in the house.
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Exactly... Look at Mahir. Somebody pulled a prank on his website, and he turned it around into a more than 15 minutes of fame with his guest appearances and talks. Of course, his fame is over, but it ended up being a good thing for him.
You hit the nail on the head with that one... I guess it's marketing, but I notice that everything I install first goes into a directory with the company name, and then puts the software in a accurately named directory under that. Trying to find it later proves almost impossible, especially for some of these game companies. It has to be marketing, right? Or do the manufacturers out there really expect me to buy so much of their other merchandise that it will be so handy to have it all grouped together?
These days, when I install something, I take out all the company name heirarchy and just start with the name of the software. I know all the names of the software that's on my system, but I'd never think to look under "Applied Software Technologies" for anything. Okay, that's my rant for the day :D
Yes, but could you do it using the tools available at the time? That's a fair comparison.
Whatever works, I guess... Even if it's the placebo effect, I'm still happy.
I drink the occasional cola, but only with rum. If I have juice around, I use that instead, but it doesn't last like canned cola does.
On the weekend mornings after I haven't had any melatonin, I'm not as groggy, but I don't know if that's because I'm not waking up to an alarm, or due to no melatonin. I think it's a mixture of both.
Yes, on Friday and Saturday night (when I don't need to get up early) I've tried not taking the melatonin. I still sleep, but like I said, it's not until 1 or 2 in the morning. Then, I sleep in until 10am usually. If I had the luxury of doing that on weekdays everything would be fine. But, since I have to be up at 5:30am, 1 or 2am doesn't work well.
I can definately fall asleep without them, provided I don't mind needing to sleep in the next morning. When I have to be up earlier than 10am, they help.
Not if you're a procrastinator. I found that the only way to get me to consistently exercise was to eliminate all my excuses. Weather used to be a big one: "Oh, it's raining/icy, I'll skip today". And time: "Well, there's not enough time to make it to the gym today, so I'll skip it." And noise: "All my roommates are sleeping, and the bike pedalling wakes them up, so I can't exercise."
So, I got a "bike" where you pull with your arms and push with your legs (I don't know what that's called, though). It doesn't make noise and it's indoors. As for the time issue, I just set my alarm earlier to compensate.
Now, none of these things are fast (except maybe the baked potato which can take around 5 minutes) so for fast snacks I would recommend oranges, grapes, or apples. You can carry them with you back and forth to class and eat them whenever. Granola bars are good too (read the labels and get the healthier ones) but they can get to be expensive.
For years I had trouble getting to sleep. I just didn't get tired until there was only 4-5 hours left to sleep before work the next day. I'd try to will myself to relax, or do my exercising before bedtime (which they say not to do). A friend at work suggested melatonin, which I now take each night about a half hour before I want to be asleep. It works like a charm, and I'm always asleep after that half hour (or an hour at most). Supposedly after you take it for a few weeks, you shouldn't need to anymore (as your body will fall into a schedule of increasing natural melatonin at the usual time). However, I still take it each night just to be safe. I highly recommend it for anyone who has trouble falling asleep.
As much as I hate exercising, I think you're right. On the days I don't exercise before going to work it takes me about 3 hours to become completely alert. On the days I do exercise, I'm alert after my 20 minute commute. Coffee helps get my energy up in either case, but it doesn't do anything for my mental acuity.
And remember the old adage: Fail to plan, plan to fail. If you don't plan your meals, you'll end up grabbing something quick and easy. Most quick and easy meals aren't all that good for you. Even the healthy frozen meals and fast food items really aren't that healthy. I find that broiling boneless chicken is the best multi-purpose food for eating healthy. You can eat it with a salad hot from the initial cooking, you can chop it up and put it on a salad for lunch the next day, you can mix it up with some low fat gravy and make hot chicken sandwiches on toast, and sliced up it makes a good sandwich.
I sometimes eat vegetarian too, but I've found that tofu and tempe digest faster and just make me hungrier earlier. Chicken tends to fill all afternoon for me.
1) Grab RA WAV Recorder
2) Open this location with it, at the appropriate time: BBC4 radio feed. Last September, it played Tuesdays at 10:30AM on the west coast (US).
3) Convert WAV, if you want to (or put right to CD for the car).
4) Profit (no, not really)
Just tried it again, to make sure the address hadn't changed, and it still seems to work great!
Oh, don't get me started about Experts-exchange. Most of the time someone there is asking the exact question I'm trying to find the answer to. However, once you've paid (and I did, once, because the person I was working for was under time pressure) you inevitably discover the "answer" is something you're already tried. Just try getting your money back. Of course, after registering, you can always ask your own question. Didn't help me, though, since I couldn't wait a week (or however long it takes) for the answer. After about an hour of extra searching, I ended up finding what I was looking for. Its was just too bad I paid for Experts-exchange first.
This must be Thursday... You could never get the hang of Thursdays...
Unless Bill Nye is a common name, back when I worked for public television (read: volunteered) we used to play a show called "Deep Dish TV" from out of the northwest US that had a segment called "Bill Nye: Nye On Hollywood". He wore a press hat type of thing and did a Hollywood beat. From what I remember, it looked like the same guy.
Having a well stocked kitchen helps. Most oriental recipes I cook take around 10 ingredients. The fresh ingredients don't cost a lot (chicken, veggies). However, it's the other ingredients that cost you. Don't have soy sauce? Have to buy a whole bottle. Don't have the chili sauce with garlic? Buy a jar. Sure, at first it might cost more, to get the ingredients in their quantities. But eventually you don't have to buy the garlic salt, or the basil, or whatever, because you've already got it. In that way, cooking can be cheap. Especially when all you have to buy to make up a recipe is chicken and green onions.
The problem is the filter. The filter should be thrown out, as it does not degrade as fast as the paper/tobacco part. Most of the people I know, when there isn't a trash can around, will pocket the filter and let the rest blow away on the wind. There's not much to blow away, since the filter is normally all that's left, but it saves having bits of paper and tobacco in your pocket (which is harder to remove than a fliter you've been storing there).
In our town, we have banned smoking in all public places. I agree with this, especially for "public" public places. However, I think it should be up to the restaurant/bar to decide.
We've passed a law that forbids smokers to smoke in restaurants. However, we can't pass a law that forbids non-smokers to have the ability to non-smoke in restaurants. I wonder why this is?
If I don't like the lighting in a bar, because I can't read there, should the law step in and force the bar to increase their lighting, if that's the way the owner and regular patrons like it? There's a health risk (ie: my eyes). What if I thought the music they played every night was too loud and was hurting my ears? Should the law step in and make them turn it down, or should I find another place to go where I'm happier? Switch that to smoking: If the owner and patrons want to continue to smoke in the bar, why should they have to change it? Why wouldn't I (as a non-smoker) just go to a different bar where smoking is not allowed? Where does this end?
When they passed the law in town, a lot of bars went out of business due to customers switching bars (the adjoining town has no law about smoking). Most remaining eating/drinking establishments have had to construct covered outdoor heated/lighted spaces so they don't lose the business. But that was their decision. Conversely, if a smoking-only establishment cares about losing non-smokers' business, they could do the same thing.
I've only seen a few benefits of smoking, and since there are other ways to create the same benefit without the drawbacks, they're somewhat discounted.
Works great, except that he's lost two locks in three years. But, he bought about six locks all keyed the same way, and they're pretty inexpensive.
Then, I broke down and got a Leading Edge IBM clone in the mid-80s or so, and life got a lot more interesting.
It's also good for answering questions like: "Did I leave that pack of smokes on Building A or Building B?"
I'm proud to be a huge nerd, then. I have a two-story house with an upstairs hallway that, when lit with all the lights on the switch, is bright enough to do surgery with. Sometimes, you want that kind of brightness, but not at 2am as you make your way to the stairs for a late night snack.
So, rather than switch out the bulbs to lower wattages in the evening/morning, I hooked up about 6 strands of LED Christmas lights and ran them around the door/wall frames, set on a timer for dusk/dawn. Works great, and since the power consumption is so low, I leave them on all night, 365 days a year. Plus, it gives the hallway a very festive look year-round.
They are just bright enough to see by in the dark, and they also run up and down the stairs, so you can see the steps and not trip.
It was pretty tricky finding these strings of lights two years ago, but they're probably much easier to locate now.
Programs like VirtualDub (for splitting out audio), GSpot (for determining which audio/video codecs are involved), and TMPGEnc (for splitting out video and creating VideoCD formats).
Plus, a bonus is that once the work is done once, you can simply copy the resulting CD with any copy software, or loan it out to friends with compatible DVD players (most tend to run VCD, some run SVCD, and some run DVD-R or +R)...
If they're in VideoCD MPG format already, great! It's simple to use Nero to make a VideoCD. If they're (more commonly) in AVI format, I split out the audio as a uncompressed WAV file (converting it to a MP2), and split out the video using TMPGEnc. Then, put them back together using TMPGEnc as a VideoCD MPG. Nero after that to get it to disc.
Of course, now with a DVD burner (and fortunately a DVD player that plays DVD-R's) I collect all those MPG's, author them with TMPGEnc DVD Authoring, and burn the DVD Video disc that way.
It's not simple, and it takes more time than it takes to actually watch the thing to do it, but it beats buying a lot more expensive hardware or running cables from upstairs to downstairs in the house.