I built a PC recently for someone in another city, and did think of Hamachi before shipping the box (it works fine, btw), but if I hadn't I'd just install it again on a different PC, do a bunch of screen captures of the process, and send the screen caps to the PC owner as an aid to talking them through it. Hamachi struck me as really simple, both installing the client and joining the PC to a VPN network. (I think I'd also send the Hamachi client install files on a CD along with the screen... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 12:29 PM on April 8, 2008

tracert:
> Virtual adaptor or network bridge installed?

Yes, he has a Hamachi VPN client running (I hoped to be able to do fixes for him and be able to see a remote desktop to work in. And I could, for a while.) Hamachi causes another adapter to show up in the ipconfig output. But I installed and tested Hamachi before I shipped the PC off, and it didn't do anything odd to the MAC address reported by ipconfig for the "Ethernet adapter Local Area... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 5:03 PM on March 8, 2008

You know, this is why I never ask relationship questions in askme. The answers to techie questions are just so much more fun.

I did another phone session concerning the problem(s), this time with the lady who wants to get on the net with her laptop (though she was actually typing at and making changes to my son's PC. All in the interest of getting it out of her way, heh.) I still don't know what the problem was or is but I just punted on DHCP. The... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 9:34 PM on March 8, 2008

Earliest favorite books read to me: Thornton W. Burgess animal stories.
Best books read to me: Oz books, particularly calling out Ozma of Oz as spectacularly good. If I'm ever trapped in a dark alley between Alien and Predator I want princess Dorothy (the Dorothy of the books, not poor sad useless Judy Garland) watching my back.

Earliest favorite books read by me: Wind in the Willows, Just So Stories, Kim.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 7:06 PM on February 18, 2008

> since I won't be able to keep track of what sort of spyware-infested things she might get into.

I just built an XP machine for my son, who lives in another town. I wouldn't offer to do this for anyone I didn't love dearly but for him and a couple of other non-geeks on my I-love-you-dearly list I check in remotely from time to time and just have a look for anything that needs attention, and am available if they call for help on any specific occasion.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 9:40 AM on February 17, 2008

P.S. if anyone was wondering--no, hamachi doesn't require opening any ports, on either end.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 9:42 AM on February 17, 2008

> it has a kernel Hypervisor that constantly monitors what's running.

OK, that description of the hypervisor made me feel warmer and fuzzier about the whole topic. I've previously tried the experiment of visiting known drive-by sites while running in a VMware virtual machine, and even opening email carrying a known payload; nothing much happens, and any damage to the session goes poof when you end it. Thanks for the link!


> Do... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 9:33 AM on December 23, 2007

> I've read almost everything recommended above (and I love this sort of stuff too) so I'm hoping there's some life left in this thread yet.

I'm loving it too and hoping the same. It will take something astonishing to be better than Name of the Rose, though. (Melville and Tolstoy qualify, but they're not recent and also already read--though both of them stand up to rereading pretty well, I can't be the first to have noticed that.) The wonderful... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:37 PM on December 20, 2007

Happened to me a couple of months ago--pretty much everything that should have an uninstall entry in add/remove programs is gone. They should all appear in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\; I checked and they were MIA there also.

I export the registry once a week and do a full Ghost image of the C: drive every two weeks. I first tried restoring the registry I saved most recently before this happened. That put most of the right... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:31 PM on December 15, 2007

P.S. for anybody who doesn't want to spend money on Ghost, a free drive imager called Driveimage XML has been dead reliable for me so far. Conveniently, it comes already installed on the equally free (and wonderful) Ultimate Boot CD for Windows.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:53 PM on December 15, 2007

Around here (Athens GA) The American Association of University Women puts out bins all over town once a year for donated books, and then they have a booksale (which benefits... uh, them, I guess. Something Worthy, anyway.) I believe this is pretty widespread. I have a spot in the attic for about a year's worth of culls AH MEANS deaccessioned items from the heap AH MEANS collection, and I offload whatever's in this spot on the AAUW annually.

The books I accumulate are,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 4:22 PM on December 15, 2007

> If your VPN server is a multi-purpose box, is it possible that something is eating both bandwidth
> and CPU at that time? For example, a backup script?

I'm pretty sure it's for vpn only, but that's part of the problem--I work for radiology, not I.S., and don't have the inside knowledge or access that might help a lot. I have an mcse, for what that's worth, but no ccna and definitely no collection of switch or router passwords and can't go poking at... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 12:06 PM on December 2, 2007

> iperf is a great tool for this kind of thing. It's more accurate than tracert since it does actual data transfer.

iperf looks really interesting for an unrelated problem I'm working on--the rads say the workstations on their hall all get slow around 5pm, and once again IS says they can't find anything wrong. Is there actually a problem here, or are the doctors all just getting the same subjective time dilation when it's almost time to go home? (That traffic doesn't... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 1:06 PM on December 2, 2007

> If you're technically competent and you have a Linksys WRT54G (or variant) you could try installing
> a release candidate of DD-WRT v24.

Flashing your router firmware is totally cool and all that--just be aware that it is a tiny bit experimental and a person might want to think twice about doing it if he's, say, more than 500 miles from his nearest router store. I have a very nice working WRT54G now running DD-WRT. But that was... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:19 PM on November 26, 2007

Does WNC = western North Carolina? If so, lucky you! If it were me I would hang on to that house like a limpet, work my tail off to pay down the credit card debt, and stay put for the moment. An older house in fair condition can stand to let most forms of expensive maintenance ride (for a few years, anyway) except termites and active water damage. If you've got creatures in the walls or a leaky roof, those are emergencies it's worth borrowing money to fix. Otherwise I strongly recommend sweat... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 11:37 AM on November 22, 2007

I third the folks who say it's Miro-ish but not Miro himself, more likely somebody who has a lot of Miro in his swipe file. I miss Miro's wonderful, mad little people/creatures. There are some almost-creatures in this one but thjey look like they were done by somebody who has also seen Pokemons.

(Now watch somebody come up with proof that it is actually Miro. So, Joan, they stole Pokemons from you!)
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 4:21 AM on October 31, 2007

Moving the Earth
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:14 PM on September 11, 2007

Thanks very much to every one who responded, and thanks especially for the pointer to SUMIF. That's what I need.


> The most important thing is to first think hard about how you organize your data.

You mean I can't just jump in and start writing code before I know what it's supposed to do? Darn, what fun is that? (Some may suspect, correctly, that I learned BASIC first and then assembler, neither of which exactly forces an orderly... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 8:16 PM on September 2, 2007

Do you happen to have a shop-style vacuum? These can suck up liquid. First empty out any previously vacuumed-up detritus in the vacuum's crud chamber and remove the filter. Then pour water on the detergent spot and vacuum it up; repeat as necessary. This is quick and will get all the detergent, right down to the under-carpet flooring. Check the inside of the shop vac now and then to make sure it isn't filling up with suds. Empty the vacuum and rinse it out as needed. Bonus: you'll have a nice... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 1:26 PM on September 2, 2007

> Also note that airline tires get retreads frequently.

I wish you hadn't told me that. Considering all those dead black alligators you see on the Interstate which turn out to be the remains of eighteen-wheeler retreads blowing their tread layer off, I hope the folks who do retreads for aircraft know how to do a more durable job than the outfits who recap truck tires!
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 12:30 PM on September 2, 2007

Using mozilla or foxfire? As a general answer for questions like these: 1. go here and install Chris Pederick's web developer toolbar; 2. locate a page that does what you want; 3. in the toolbar, open the css dropdown menu and select "view css."

For learning any kind of coding, there's nothing like looking at the code of programmers or web developers who are better than we are. Then we (to channel Tom Lehrer) stea I MEAN adapt what we see to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 2:26 PM on August 9, 2007

For the apple ii by chance? Come hang out on page 0 ram with the rest of us redundant types. Have some mad dog 20/20.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 7:45 PM on August 9, 2007

> What Im wondering is... is this material even film-able?

I'm sure it is, but there's such a great deal of material in the book (and very little is cutable if you want people to understand what's going on; narration is a really cheesy solution to this problem) that doing a proper job on it would take an effort of peter-jackson-does-tolkien proportions. If you try to do less, even if you're talented, you'll pretty inevitably get what we got, namely... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 11:56 AM on August 9, 2007

I thoroughly enjoy ProgressQuest. Explanation. Download. I mailed these links to my daughter, who is heavily into WoW, and she didn't speak to me for a day. Windows only, but you can run Win apps in an OS X wine session if you're Geek Enough©.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 7:01 AM on August 4, 2007

I'm guessing this thread is over and no more answers are coming, so... Thanks very much to everyone who responded!

I've marked some "best answers." It surely goes without saying but let's say it anyway: that means "best answer" for my particular need and is no reflection on the quality of your answer if I didn't mark it. Like the children of Lake Wobegon, all your answers were above average :)

I have no... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 5:48 PM on August 3, 2007

Has it got a case you can open without a hacksaw? If so, since it has an FM receiver there's bound to be an FM antenna in there somewhere and you could attach an external T-antenna from Radio Shack to the same contact points.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 8:04 AM on August 2, 2007

Bearing in mind that it used to be "country and western," don't overlook Marty Robbins' all-time great Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:28 PM on June 23, 2007

The objects themselves aren't the point. Shrinks want you to talk--take stuff you're going to want to talk about.

And not neutral talk either, if you follow me. In your place I could take a CD of some Haydn string quartets and talk the shrink's ear off about chamber music from pre-Bach to post-Elliott Carter without really revealing anything personal about myself, other than that I have an interest in the subject. Or I could bring in an old photo of my great grandfather... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 4:32 PM on June 23, 2007

> My one word reply (amphetamines) got deleted, but I wasn't being a smartass.

My one-word reply is adderrall. But there's a much cheaper generic now, containing amphetamine aspartate, amphetamine sulfate, dextroamphetamine saccharate... you get the picture. I persuaded a doctor I was ADHD by (truthfully) describing myself as having the attention span of a retarded grasshopper, but the prescription doesn't have some mysterious effect on some mysterious mental facility... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 2:39 PM on June 5, 2007

I see you're all carefully not mentioning the elephant in the room, so here's the decrescendo version.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:19 PM on May 31, 2007

> Is it an older turntable?

Oh yes. I would call it old or even very old (but of course now you get to say "vintage.") It's a Sansui, model DA-P550, intended to get its power from a Sansui DA-T550 amp. I do have an old sorry, a vintage Samsui amp , circa 1972 and still giving very good service, but it lacks the power take-off.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 4:24 AM on May 25, 2007

> the Anglican splinter parishes who use the 1928 BCP, do so not because they're particularly keen on the epiclesis
> (or any other liturgical aspect of the 1928 rite) but because they regard the 1979 BCP as doctrinally unsound?
> In other words, the use of the 1928 BCP is not so much a positive choice as a negative one -- an act of opposition
> to the modern Episcopal Church and all that it stands for.

Being a splinter... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:34 AM on May 4, 2007

> If you're "seriously" on a budget, why not just replace the belt?

Mainly because this turntable is only a few months old. If it can't stay on pitch at 7-odd months out of the box I don't trust it. I'm also time-limited, I have a demanding, any hour of the day job and I'm also a single parent. My life is basically work, be Mr. Mom and occasionally sleep so this has to be a parallel-thread, running-in-the-background project--rip the vinyl while in the shower,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 1:37 PM on May 2, 2007

> go with a belt drive for lower noise.

If it's a constant background noise audible both during the program tracks and during the between-track grooves (as you would expect if it's turntable-generated) , you just take your noise-removal profile between the tracks and Audigy wipes it out clean as proverbial whistle. Actually I'm doing both noise and click/pop removal with a light hand, reducing but not eliminating. I grew up with vinyl; tuning noise out with the mind... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 1:50 PM on May 2, 2007

Well, I have a turntable. Two of 'em actually, I found a Sansui DA-P550 on ebay for buy-it-now $24.99, and then I saw another one just like it for buy-it-now $14.95, and I got both. I've had wonderful success with Sansui equipment over the years, the first amp I ever bought (Sansui AU-555A, circa about 1972) is still in use in my bedroom. This seemed to be MOR stuff when it was new but I see it's considered "vintage" now, heh. If these turntables last as long as the amp (and the tuner... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 7:15 PM on May 2, 2007

This must not be all that uncommon. My AV--the free one from AOL, by Kaspersky--keeps insisting that frieze.com (an utterly harmless add-on for the ancient PC PaintBrush for DOS, which I'm still giving houseroom to) is an imminent threat.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:32 PM on May 1, 2007

> only to find halfway into it, that there was a ten minute fix right in front of me.

Is it really all that unusual to have this experience? I don't think you're likely to have that Aha moment of clairvoyant insight in any complex situation with more than a few variables until you're pretty well immersed in it, and reaching that point takes some digging and getting dirty.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:27 PM on May 1, 2007

When you've finished making your chocolate, here's how to make your own creme-filled chocolate Easter egg with it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 6:42 PM on April 8, 2007

> I don't see what your request has to do with soundcards as this doesn't seem to be a hardware question.

Just mentioned soundcards to anticipate the "use your pitch wheel, silly rabbit" answer.


> Most decent sequencers (eg Logic, Cubase) let you draw/edit controller data in a window, or enter it manually in a table,

The last time I got this particular itch I was using what is now Sonar (then... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 3:00 PM on April 8, 2007

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Alas, the Avast site warns "This product cannot be installed on a server operating system (Windows NT/2000/2003 Server families)." NOD32 (Home and Home Office edition) does appear to be willing to install on servers, if I'm reading their site correctly. $39/year is within reach, I may give those guys a try.


> So you know how most viruses and trojans are unleashed on a machine by the idiot
>... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 8:46 PM on March 11, 2007

P.S., I wrote:

> I definitely feel the need for AV on it (along with Zonealarm and AdAware and Spybot and HijackThis.)

Doesn't pertain to the original question but I'd just like to offer a hat tip to all these outfits for their long-term good work, with an extra gold star to Zonealarm and AdAware--these both have for-money versions but did not insist that I install one of them just because I'm running a server OS.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 9:39 AM on March 12, 2007

> Coming out personally to the kids/clients/customers is not necessary unless it's relevant.

It's anything but clear how relevant it is in this particular job situation, and that's critical. It's taken quite a bit of back-and-forth both here and in the parallel meta thread for dash_dot to make it clear that he doesn't do "teen counselling" of the sort where a lot of intimate personal revelations are unavoidable. But (we at last find out)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 8:43 AM on November 21, 2006

You could always play your Vier Letzte Lieder CDs through a karaoke machine. Otherwise, Here's a free vocal remover you can try out. I've seen others. Software like this works best when the vocal to be removed is centered between the two stereo channels, but that describes solo art songs pretty well. Also, in my experience, it reduces the vocal level down pretty low but doesn't remove it absolutely. For that you need ProTools (and a skilled ProTools geek.)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 5:38 PM on October 26, 2006

> A fish.

My mother is a fish.

Mmmmmm...momma!
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 11:06 AM on October 19, 2006

Wynkin, Blynkin, and Nod
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 4:36 PM on June 22, 2006

Are you interested in being Pope? Almost all the guys destined for the throne of St. Peter have gotten there quite late in life.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 2:31 PM on June 19, 2006

> and an amplifier to drive them.

Forgive the iggurunt question--that's just a power amp. Are you saying the audio out from a movie projector can go direct to a power amp, without any sort of preamp stage, or were you assuming the presence of some sort of sound board to accept the projector's audio feed and in turn feed the power amp?

More generally, is it true that any "line level" signal can go directly to a power amp, and it's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 7:25 AM on May 26, 2006

Thanks, all. I'll certainly look into the organizations that carmen and joannemerriam mentioned.


Gearspring writes:

> Can you publish instructions on how to do this? You may end up
> helping more people than you can reach otherwise. Make a website
> where people who try it can come for help. Write your goals on
> your website, and the right situation may come to you.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 7:57 AM on May 25, 2006

Speaking as a believer--of course the Bible is rife with fiction, by which I mean accounts of historical events that not only aren't confirmed by archaeology but could never be so confirmed, because they didn't objectively happen. But as others have pointed out, it's not a work of fiction in the sense that The Da Vinci Code is, since it isn't a single-author work written at a sitting, as it were, but instead a collaborative and assembled compilation of texts from different... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 4:25 AM on May 16, 2006

"threat or menace" plus "?"--thus, as a joke--I recall it from the Harvard Lampoon in the sixties. Later swiped and used regularly by the National Lampoon.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jfuller at 4:21 PM on April 7, 2006