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Books Online

January 29th, 2009 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

Reading books online...

  Of course, having the book itself is always better.  It's easier on the eyes and you can read it wherever need be.

 However, sometimes you may not have the book with you - say.. you left it at school or something.  And your class requires you to read it by tomorrow.  Here are some online sources I've found for reading books in my class.  I'm not sure what books everyone else is required to read, but maybe this list will help a few people.


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Last Updated May 18th, 2015 | 1054 unique view(s)

Buying Gadgets and Tech

December 29th, 2008 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #
I'm not going to say which brands or anything are the best (though they're usually the custom or off-brand ones Tongue ) because they're always changing. Below however are usually the sites I check to figure out what I'm buying before I buy them.
Review and Information Sites
Anandtech.com - Reviews mainly for hardware such as drives and memory.
CamcorderInfo.com...[More]
Last Updated Feb 2nd, 2022 | 1189 unique view(s)

Buzzing From Keyboard Piano

January 8th, 2017 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #
So I don't forget in the future.  If there is buzzing from the piano keyboard via headphones or speakers, it is likely from the MIDI cable plugged in.  Removing that or having your recording play from a USB thumb drive instead will fix the buzzing.

This pertains at least to me with the Yamaha P155.
1018 unique view(s)

Capture Card Latency in OBS

December 10th, 2022 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #
Almost bought a new capture card / second screen to avoid latency issues, but it turns out the solution was in OBS by 1) using capture only on the Properties > Audio Output Mode and then 2) Monitor + Output on Advanced Audio Properties.  For some reason, having Properties > Audio Output Mode set to Desktop introduces a 100+ ms delay.  Would've expected it to be the same as Monitor + Output.  If you're hearing an echo or need to also record sound from Desktop, you'll want to use Monitor Only (mute output) so it doesn't also record the capture card from desktop audio.
Last Updated Dec 11th, 2022 | 310 unique view(s)

CD and DVD Burning

January 2nd, 2009 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

What discs to buy, how to best burn them, how to print on them, how to store them.
  Those with interest in video editing will undoubtedly find interest in burning their works to DVD. General knowledge in burning DVDs can often be applicable to CDs and vice-versa.

Disc Brands
  In general, the only two brands I trust are Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim. The two are most highly recommended, and unlike many other brands, they can be played in most DVD players. Get the DVD-R for even higher compatibility (this is because -R has been around longer).

  Taiyo…[More]

1933 unique view(s)

Chrome as a Spider

June 2nd, 2012 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

Helping Google find pages not necessarily linked anywhere...

Interesting discussion at Webmaster World on how Google might be indexing pages that are otherwise private or hidden from the rest of the world.  Ran into this a few times myself when trying to set up a few heavy-load test scripts, only for it to get indexed and get outside hits as well. <_<
Some of the discussion floating around has been centered on the parsing of URLs in gmail messages, as well as indexing pages someone using Chrome or Google toolbar visits.
1181 unique view(s)

Chrome Tabs CPU

January 4th, 2020 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #
Below is a blog describing a great fix for the excessive CPU usage Chrome has with multiple tabs open.  Specifically the Suspender extensions will stop any tab not in the foreground from continuing to use up CPU.
https://www.socmedsean.com/butchering-the-google-chrome-cpu-hog/

Despite having a quad-core CPU, Chrome somehow still uses up 100% of my resources especially if any tabs open are Google Drive / Sheets.
469 unique view(s)

Click Race

June 11th, 2007 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

  The object of the game is to click the Click Me! links to go to the next page. If you aren't quick enough, you get sent back to the previous page. Each page gives you less and less time to click the link. There are 10 pages; the page number is displayed in the page name.
  Very basic and html pages.  Just something I made way back in 2006... when I didn't know any web design... and when I didn't know any better. Tongue
Last Updated Dec 21st, 2019 | 1173 unique view(s)

College Admission Tips

December 30th, 2008 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

Things to check when applying to colleges…
  Seems kind of late for me to be talking about college admissions since most of the people I know online have already attended or are in college.  Nevertheless, it’s now my turn, and yes I’m only just now applying. :P

  The general rule of thumb I’ve found is to simply be honest and real - don’t overemphasize things that aren’t really that important but don’t sell yourself short either.  However, I would presume most people who do come online are in search of more concrete tips and advice.

  The below…[More]

1201 unique view(s)

Comparing Options Contracts

June 12th, 2019 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

Bitcoin Options Price Feed Data and Analysis on LedgerX

This is a spreadsheet I created to compare what call or put options are best to buy, specifically using this for Bitcoin options on LedgerX but can be used with any options really.  You can essentially use this as an API for LedgerX options price data into your own scripts as well by using the ImportRange function.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dZbFjCrr2FykdPvE4UVLp8kOO5Iox9lmctSmfqSTq1I/edit#gid=0

Sometimes the...[More]
Last Updated Jan 31st, 2020 | 1248 unique view(s)

CSharp Notes and Pitfalls

December 5th, 2012 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

Things not to do and things to remember about C#...


Just notes and things I want to remember when I'm coding C#.  Sometimes these things take hours to catch when the fix is simple, if you knew about them in advance.
RichTextBox.Text - do not update in a background thread even if each thread has its own RichTextBox (building multiple control objects in parallel, for example).  This will cause a memory corruption error and either cause your program to crash or hang every so often (which makes it even harder to notice).
1061 unique view(s)

Death

June 11th, 2007 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

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Please wait…

744 unique view(s)

File Management

April 5th, 2009 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

Tools to sort, rename, and organize your files...


     Seems like the operating system would be best for managing your files, but this isn't always the case.  Several times, I'd want to rename a whole batch of files, or maybe I'd want to fix the creation times of my pictures.  As usual, the free stuff is always best - there's no reason to buy bloated software for essential needs as these.  Below are the best I've found.  Feel free to suggest more.

Programs and Tools

Last Updated May 24th, 2012 | 1032 unique view(s)

Fixing a Mac White Screen or Not Booting

May 21st, 2012 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

Failure to Boot on a Mac, White Screen of Death...


Had a few friends who have run into a white screen on bootup for their Macs after dropping it or having a power failure.  Rather than have to send in for repair (time + money), a much easier fix is detailed at The Pabster's Notebook.
The basic idea is that the Hard Drive boot sector got corrupted, but the Mac continues to try to boot from it.  The system disc doesn't help because the OS doesn't try to boot from anything else unless the hard drive is first disconnected.
Once that...[More]
Last Updated May 22nd, 2012 | 1334 unique view(s)

Free Fax Online

September 14th, 2018 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #
Save you the trouble of buying a fax machine or paying for a service.
https://faxzero.com/
431 unique view(s)

FTP Tutorial

September 28th, 2006 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #

A guide and tutorial to using an FTP for Windows

 Several people who I lend webspace to have had trouble using the FTP connection. Therefore, I've written a hopefully easy-to-understand tutorial and guide to using the FTP. Different hosts/servers may vary, but it is generally about the same. Just change the address to whatever your ftp would be. Using the FTP is simple.


1) First open your windows explorer browser (open a folder such as My Computer or My Documents) and enter your address. 


[More]
Last Updated Oct 26th, 2015 | 770 unique view(s)

Gmail Constant Password Change

January 1st, 2022 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #
Lately Gmail keeps asking me to change my password because it thinks my login patterns are suspicious.  I've probably changed my password 10 times now, and the worst part is I can't re-use old ones, making it harder to remember my login. 

The workaround it seems is to actually ignore the change password request if you get it and clear cookies in your browser based on the support thread here:
https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/73279572/my-gmail-account-kept-asking-me-to-change-my-password-every-time?hl=en
265 unique view(s)

Google Groups as a Mailing List

January 13th, 2024 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #
Seems there's not much competition driving down prices for mailing lists! A list w/ 200k ppl on Mailchimp or Constant Contact costs like $2000/mth. Made one for Waterflame on Google Groups instead, which is free w/ G-Suites. Will see if it hits any limits!

Waterflame's new mailing list :O
https://groups.google.com/a/waterflame.com/g/list/about

To create your...[More]
257 unique view(s)

Google Hangouts Timeout Extension

March 22nd, 2014 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #
Useful plugin for preventing Google Hangouts from timing you out if you're not there to check in every hour or so.

http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/131680
1254 unique view(s)

Google Maps Missing Starred Places

July 21st, 2019 | Posted by pftq in 42 | #
For those also running into issues with starred places on Mobile not showing on desktop:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleMaps/comments/97inxv/saved_places_stars_not_showing_up_on_desktop_when/

Basically the saved place is not being saved correctly with proper date.  To fix, you need to go to Bookmarks and resave each that has a Nan date.
450 unique view(s)