The Techno-Bleg Thread

[Painboy]

I was thinking more Pedobear in the shirt

Oh, like over the A on the shirt?

[Ellie]

I was thinking more Pedobear in the shirt

[Andrew]

... and Ellie just won the internet.

[the innominate one]

Any recommendations for epub file format readers?

I assume it's better to save my Google Play Books purchases locally as epub files instead of pdf files. Does anyone have an opinion on that? Both are ultimately .acsm. Neither will open in Chrome, but I think there's an extension for epub. Experienced individuals willing to share?

[dbcooper]

Any recommendations for epub file format readers?

I assume it's better to save my Google Play Books purchases locally as epub files instead of pdf files. Does anyone have an opinion on that? Both are ultimately .acsm. Neither will open in Chrome, but I think there's an extension for epub. Experienced individuals willing to share?

I use calibre to manage them. You can read them on the google play books website. I don't read them on my PC generally (use a tablet).

[the innominate one]

Cheers.

I usually read them on a tablet also, but my tablet just died. Also, I might be paranoid, so for no particular reason I thought I might want to be able to store and read them locally. Google Play Books app doesn't allow books to be stored on microSD cards, so space is even more limited.

[dbcooper]

Cheers.

I usually read them on a tablet also, but my tablet just died. Also, I might be paranoid, so for no particular reason I thought I might want to be able to store and read them locally. Google Play Books app doesn't allow books to be stored on microSD cards, so space is even more limited.

Amazon's Kindle app is pretty good for PC reading (you need to convert to mobi first). It's best to install version 1.17, so you can remove the DRM from your kindle book purchases:

https://filehippo.com/download_kindle_for_pc/69970/

[the innominate one]

Many thanks again. You're the man, db.

[Jennifer]

Does anyone have experience with Open Office 4.0.1? I am having a mysterious and frustrating problem -- documents will NOT save paragraph indentations. By which I mean, I do a document with the "automatic" indentation settings, type stuff, save it, close it -- then re-open the file and none of the paragraphs are indented. So: select-all, go into "Format" and click the "automatic indent" option, the indentations return, save the document, close it, re-open and the indentations are gone. Repeat ad infinitum.

I've had these difficulties with two documents which were originally done sans indentations, so I though MAYBE the problem had something to do with trying to add indentations relatively "late" in the lifespan of a document? But I tried again with a test document: open a brand-new doc, set the automatic indentations BEFORE I type so much as a single character, save, close the document, re-open the document -- no indentations.

[the innominate one]

I don't use Open Office, but two suggestions are: 1. try updating to the latest version 2. try using Office Libre, which is a fork from Open Office and should be compatible with documents saved in their default file formats.

[Jennifer]

I was able to devise a workaround -- the automatic indentation doesn't save, but manually setting the indent by moving the little triangle-thing on the "ruler" at the top of the page does. Still baffled as to why automatic didn't work in the first place.

Jeff is my IT guy; when he wakes up I'll mention your suggestions to him.

[D.A. Ridgely]

So, a few years ago I asked for advice about getting a laptop for my younger son. He's a junior in college now and the laptop we eventually got him has held up well, adolescent wear and tear notwithstanding. I've never really liked laptops, don't like what I find the discomfort of typing on one (can one still say typing? / get off my fucking lawn!), but cruising the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales I thought maybe I should revisit that position, especially with an eye to getting out of the house to write at coffee shops, book stores, etc.

OMG, what a fucking mare's nest! The insane number of models and configurations guarantees my mind numbs long before I pare down the options to a manageable number. I'm actually leaning toward a MacPro, having not owned an Apple computer since my Apple II+ in 1983.

So, if anyone who has purchased a relatively new (as in, 2017 model) laptop and is actually happy or completely buyer's remorseful with it, I'd be glad to hear the pros and cons of your purchase. I'm looking for something sturdy but relatively light and it must have an optical drive. It would be used in descending order of importance for writing, web surfing, email, music and everything else. No games or video streaming requiring high end graphics, speed and memory. (But, truth be told, I'll probably decide against anything that doesn't have those things because if it doesn't I know I'll end up thinking I should have bought one that did.)

[dbcooper]

I'm looking at buying this Asus notebook (UX330UA) from amazon:

https://goo.gl/3bRPbs

Good reviews from anandtech and notebook check.

[D.A. Ridgely]

I'm looking at buying this Asus notebook (UX330UA) from amazon:

https://goo.gl/3bRPbs

Good reviews from anandtech and notebook check.

I'd get the model with the larger screen, but no optical drive is a deal killer for me.

[lunchstealer]

I'm looking at buying this Asus notebook (UX330UA) from amazon:

https://goo.gl/3bRPbs

Good reviews from anandtech and notebook check.

I'd get the model with the larger screen, but no optical drive is a deal killer for me.

That's the only remorse I have about my MacBook Pro (previous generation to the current one). Well, that and I'd kind of like it to have a standard 1080P screen instead of the Retina Display, as one of its uses is remoting in to my MacPro with the 27" Cinema Display and you can't match screen resolutions.

Otherwise it does what I want it to do.

[Mo]

I thought I would be annoyed by no optical drive, but in the grand scheme of things, I need it at most once a quarter, so having a USB DVD player is good enough for me.

[Sandy]

Yeah, Apple’s external optical drive is $50, and I imagine everything else is cheaper.

[Mo]

You can get a decent one for $20

[Highway]

I don't think I've used the optical drive on my computer in the almost 3 years I've had it since installing Windows 7 on it for the initial setup.

[D.A. Ridgely]

Those are encouraging rebuttals. I'll have to at least reconsider whether the drive is a must.

[Eric the .5b]

I don't think I've used the optical drive on my computer in the almost 3 years I've had it since installing Windows 7 on it for the initial setup.

Yeah, I bought one of those tiny separate optical drives...and I've used it once in the six years I've had the computer.

[Jadagul]

I've used an optical drive to play Playstation games on my computer.

Well, to rip them to the computer and then play from the images, anyway.

[JD]

I don't think I've used the optical drive on my computer in the almost 3 years I've had it since installing Windows 7 on it for the initial setup.

Yeah, I bought one of those tiny separate optical drives...and I've used it once in the six years I've had the computer.

I've used mine a little more than that, but yeah, basically the same story. Admittedly, I am not doing that much photography anymore; back when I was, I would use DVDs for archival purposes.

[D.A. Ridgely]

Okay, maybe I can live without an optical drive. Now I've got to convince myself I don't need the most expensive model of whatever I decide upon.

[Dangerman]

The MacBook Pro that I got two years ago doesn't have ethernet, HDD, or any optical media support, and I've never missed it.