Ask MetaFilter posts by onshi

Craig won't list my posts

onshi — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:14:26 -0800

I posted to craigslist >48 hours ago. Post comes up perfectly via the direct link, but won't show up in the category listing or through various spot-on searches. What's the deal? Curious, I tried posting to several other categories (nothing offensive or otherwise likely to be flagged) but still, no dice. I've tried using Firefox, IE & Safari in Vista. In the past I have been able to post to Craigslist with great success. What might I be doing wrong this time?

The joys of a well-stocked desk

onshi — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 05:55:31 -0800

WhiteCollarFilter: For the very first time, I now have a desk (and office!) to myself at work. What handy, practical, useful, or fun things should I keep at hand? I'm not really seeking desk toys and the like so much as the kind of creative, thrifty, perhaps unexpected objects, tools, and supplies you've found useful over the years. I've got some of the basics covered, including:

Misc. medicines (Advil, Tylenol, Pepto, etc.)

Tide detergent pen for lunch spills USB charger(s) for my mobile phone and iPod

Water pitcher, kettle & mug for making tea and a cache of snacks (granola bars) and diet cola to save money and so I don't have to carry as much with me on the way to work each morning

A small amount of cash (mostly change)

A backup umbrella

Lens cleaning solution and cloth for my glasses

Ideas?

DIVX/XVID from PC to TV by DVI

onshi — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 15:08:45 -0800

I want something just like an Apple TV, but without the reliance on iTunes. Specifically, I want to view DIVX/XVID content from my Vista PC, wirelessly, with DVI output. With a $200 budget, have I no hope? All the CES coverage has reignited my interest in this product category. If streaming devices are too expensive, are there any simpler products analagous to the SanDisk TakeTV... again, with DVI or HDMI out?

DVI out (or HDMI in a pinch via a converter) is important because I'll be viewing content on an LCD monitor lacking component inputs.

Now you're scanning with... well, with what?

onshi — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:57:47 -0800

What software might a large Canadian IP and tech law firm use for scanning documents and records management? I'm interviewing for a position with a large Canadian law firm that specializes in intellecual property and technology law.

I have some background in scanning with various software packages, and was hoping to explore some of the more popular legal records management solutions to get my feet wet (or at least to be famillair with vendor names and their product offerings).

Googling turns up a ton of plausible hits, but it's hard to get an authoritative sense for which software actually has decent market penetration. Is there anything approaching an industry standard -- i.e. is there anything with the sector-specific dominance of a Photoshop or an AutoCAD?

How to activate Vista with an uprgrade key?

onshi — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 21:47:05 -0800

Windows Vista Activation: can I move from and un-activated install to Home Premium Upgrade in one fell swoop? One of my PCs was BSOD'n like nobody's business, so I wiped it out and installed Vista from a DVD.

I don't have a valid product key, but I knew from the PR blitz and buzz surrounding the Vista launch that one can be purchased and entered later on, so I soldiered bravely onward.

I now have 17 days and counting to activate. The activation dialog points me to a place where I can buy a Home Premium license for ~$270 CDN, but I have a valid XP Media Centre license and would prefer to pay less for an upgrade license.

Can I just buy Home Premium Upgrade anywhere and plug in the key, or must I choose between paying for a 'full', non-upgrade license and wiping everything out to start from scratch?

Ubuntu ate my XP bootage

onshi — Wed, 09 May 2007 17:11:05 -0800

Ubuntu ate my WinXP via Grub: help me induce vomiting? After an apparently botched Ubuntu installation, I now only have Ubuntu boot options visible in the GRUB bootloader. From inside Ubuntu, I can see that all of my Windows XP data and NTFS partitions are alive and well (thankfully).

How do I get back into windows?

Backround: XP on disk 0, NTFS data partition and Ubuntu partitions on disk 1. The Ubuntu installation is totally expendible.

iTunes library moving issues

onshi — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:22:36 -0800

I've moved my iTunes folder from a network drive to a local drive. I need to reformat the remote drive... but Apple says I need to leave certain files from the old directory in place. Also, there's a big size difference between the old and new folders. Help! Apple's support page says its safe to delete the old iTunes folder, but not "the iTunes library files that may be in the same location as the iTunes Music folder" (see step 13 in the link above).

I need to wipe the network drive clean, but I'm concerned that I'll nuke some critical aspect of my music collection.

Another concern: on the 'old' drive, the iTunes folder took up 97 gigs of a 126 gig partition, but the new iTunes folder is only 53 gigs. I ran the 'consolidate library' function in iTunes, so the new folder should have everything, but what might account for the missing 44 gigs?

(Oh: I'm on a PC).

Decent TV-to-LCD boxes?

onshi — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 09:25:42 -0800

Are those inexpensive, make-yer-LCD-a-TV boxes decent? Along the lines of this AskMeFi question, I'm looking for a way to pipe Wii through my 19" Widescreen LCD.

I'd ruled out external TV (and s-video, and component, etc.) to LCD boxes as most ran upwards of $200 CDN and none would drive my monitor @ its native 1440 x 900. Enter the Kworld TV 1440 [see Tigerdirect for $50 after rebate, and Newegg].

As a class, are these things any good? Has anyone tried this particular model, or others by Kworld?

Wii to LCD via DVI @ 1680 x 1050?

onshi — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:24:00 -0800

Wii to LCD via DVI @ 1680 x 1050? Pipedream? Is it (or will it soon be) possible for a Wii to drive my Dell e228wfp 22" widescreen LCD monitor via DVI-D or even analog RGB/D-Sub/whatever at 1680 x 1050 without a ludicrously expensive device to convert the signal?

Do DVI-out PCI-Express cards work?

onshi — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 19:09:48 -0800

Will this [see Newegg] DVI-only, PCI-x add-on card work with many/any motherboards? My new Dell E521's onboard video is DVI-less, and I was pondering the merits of a cheap, low-end 3D card to hold me over until I can afford something fancier. Then, I saw these barbones DVI-out cards. Any rants, raves, or cautionary tales?