Stuff That Really 'Grinds My Gears...'

Software True Up.

I mean, I really don’t have to add much here. My gears are ground down very finely at this point. Especially as I’ve just realized one of my queries doesn’t account for a nomenclature change that happened a few years back, so now I need to go and double check that we don’t still have this old version of the software out there.

Who am I kidding? Of course it is still out there. Installed on someone’s machine. Because it does that one thing that the new version does in a different way and I don’t want to change.

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Also in the software realm, but only one machine. For the second time now, Windows 10 Explorer was using 20% of my four CPUs, and Firefox 58.0.2 was using the other 80%. Anti-virus found a trojan and got rid of it; then SuperAntiMalware got rid of about 7 “deprecated.cookies” (but only one at a time! I had to keep rerunning it), whatever the heck they are, and the two programs were still hogging 100% of the processors. I did a Windows update and that fixed it. ???

I’m set for automatic updates (I think) so why didn’t it, I wonder, after using up my entire fund of curse words for the day.

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I’m trying to find a way to convert pdfs so they:

  1. Do not rasterize text.

  2. Preferably compress images so pages are 800 pixels wide by 1180 pixels high.

  3. Definitely convert jpeg-2000 to jpeg, or to something faster and Kindle-readable.

  4. Definitely retain text layers, regardless of script.

Willus’s k2pdfopt is good, but it rasterizes text and converts all colors to grayscale. So it isn’t always ideal.

from here: http://www.willus.com/k2pdfopt/

Ghostscript gs -dPDFA -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dPDFACompatibilityPolicy=1 -sOutputFile=sample.pdf sample.pdf rasterizes text and loses text layers on some pages. Not good.

from here: https://projects.artefactual.com/issues/852

Mutool mutool clean -d emblackens jpeg-2000 images and screws with compression tools. Not good.

Automator on MacOS doesn’t have an option to print to pdf. I think I can print to cups, if I can debug cups. I hope I can get appropriate pixel count, if I can get a set page size using cups.

But cups-pdf hasn’t been updated since 2014 and has required more an more hacks. Now someone’s saying there’s an easy fix with a simple wrapper. What on friggin’ earth is a wrapper, how do I create one, and where do I put it? This sort of thing isn’t explained:

from here: https://bitbucket.org/codepoet/cups-pdf-for-mac-os-x/issues/55/file-doesnt-print

Also, I need to kill jpeg-2000.

P.S. Making a lot of progress, and much less frustrated. Couldn’t get cups-pdf working, but had no trouble getting rwts-pdfwriter working. Set up automator app to print to pdfwriter. Automator scales source pdfs down to the stated page size, but not up, so a smaller size is helpful. Set up suitable pdf sizes at 8 x 11.8 without margins and 4x 5.9 without margins. Should be able to sample these at 100 ppi and 200 ppi respectively. Haven’t been able to clear out jpeg-2000 at least not yet.

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And another stabby-stabby. Must be the 6th today.

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How many people do you typically get around to stabbing in a day?

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0, I keep getting hit with backup stabbers. Like backup beaters, but with sharper incapacitating pain in each ear, instead of the usual blunt incapacitating pain. I hate getting hit with backup stabbers or backup beaters or strobe lights or any of these things.

If you kept getting hit with sharp stabby pain in each ear, several times each day, wouldn’t it grind your gears?

If you had been incapacitated by similar pain in each ear, knocking you to the ground while you were crossing the street, wouldn’t you wonder about whether these safety signals are safe enough to use around people?

If you kept having drop falls after rapid-fire beeping, wouldn’t you worry about the rest of the beeping?

I wear heavy ear protection whenever I run errands, rated 52 to 63 nrr depending on the setup, providing 12 to 15 dB of attenuation, but it’s not enough to protect against backup beaters or backup stabbers, and it’s too uncomfortable to wear the rest of the time.

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I’ve very allergic to something here. My doc recommended cetirizine. I’ve looked online and it’s called a “non-drowsy antihistamine.”

It’s not non-drowsy. It doesn’t fuck with my eyesight like gabapentin, or cause severe hives and skin peeling off like benadryl, but it causes the same sleep half the day and wake exhausted knockout effects as gabapentin, and benadryl.

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I take it you’ve tried Claritin? Over-the-counter, which is good and bad. We get a generic form which is much cheaper. Richfield, I think.

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Haven’t tried claritin. With all my adverse reactions, I’m loathe to try any antihistamines except in an emergency.

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That would be the worst time to try them, if you already know you have rare adverse reactions to them.

Claritin is a good one to try, especially for those who do have funny side effects (I’m one of those people), because it’s a lot less likely than other antihistamines to cause side effects.

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I’ve been reading around and flexofenadine is the least likely to knock someone out. But I can’t find any advice on how to stay awake after taking antihistamines. I’ve slept, and slept, and I’m still exhausted today.

Apparently, not only is cetirizine considered “non-drowsy,” but 10 mg is considered a “low dose.”

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Also, whenever I try to find self-care resources for my medical issues, results are infested with stuff directed to doctors, saying patients should be told to practice self-care, or to “optimize self-care,” but not… you know… stuff to help figure out self-care for each condition.

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Google translate switching numbers.

309301 becomes 30,933.

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Some days, this thread really ‘grinds my gears.’

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The “gingers have no souls” meme needs to go die in a fire.

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Yeah, I’ve never understood that one – nor how it survived while so many literary icons (Anne of Green Gables, Pippi Longstocking, the entire Weasley family in Harry Potter, and that’s just the children’s books) are redheads.

Snarking on inherited physical attributes is just boring.

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Nor have I, but I know why it’s still a thing; fuckin’ South Park, the bastards.

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Agreed. I have a ginger daughter and anyone that said that to her would find my boot up their ass.

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I used to substitute teach grade school and it wasn’t uncommon for me to find kids picking on a redheaded kid, saying those exact words. And now that I work a lot with high school students it’s not uncommon for me to run across kids who have internalized that message after a decade-plus of exposure.

It just needs to stop. Adults need to stop saying it, even in jest, because it filters down from the grown ups, to the teenagers, to the tweens, to the elementary kids.

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As far as I can tell, it’s new. Like, in the past 10-15 years new. Drives me up the wall, and we don’t even have any redheads anywhere in our family, so it’s not like I’m taking it personally.

It’s like we’ve got to say something nasty about everyone now. No, we don’t.

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