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This week's projects......
Days are numbers. I've stopped counting some time ago.
My sleep pattern is starting to resemble that of my cats.
This week's projects to keep my mind and body occupied have been:
1) [Ongoing] Go through some more old newspapers (no, I just can't throw them out without skimming through them).
2) Go through some old computer printouts of Usenet news.
3) Work on getting together with out-of-town friends B and D in a few weeks.
4) Finish the video CD of B and D's son, which was videotaped last fall when we last saw him.
5) Consider starting on digitizing some old cassette recordings of mine.
6) Expanding the offsite storage cell.
7) Continue to look for work.
Earlier this week, I found a small stack of printouts from articles from the Usenet newsgroup rec.games.frp (for fantasy role-playing games). Many of them were funny or silly quotes from gamers. I built an index of the articles in Excel, with links to Google Groups....but they're not on Google groups because the newsgroup split off into subgroups and they don't have the root group. So I cut them down to 8 1/2" x 11" so that they'd fit in the scanner. Then I scanned them and OCRed them.....and sonofagun, the OCR program recognized the characters on the page! Oh frabjous day, calloo callay! Of course, it helped that they were printed on an IBM lineprinter with non-yellowing green-bar paper, on the white side of the paper. I can keep the text of each article (about 2-3 Kb) and not a PDF copy of the article (many more Kb).
I can probably finish this up by the end of next week. After that are the articles from rec.arts.comics. (This was a 2" high stack before I started cullling articles.)
I pulled out some old cassette tapes earlier this week to listen to some old and obscure songs. They were so old and dried that the adhesive tape connecting the magnetic tape to the plastic leader broke. So I have 2 tapes that need rescuing. No biggie; I used to do this years ago. Unfortunately, the cassette shells are glued together, so I'll have to break the shell to get the tape.
And so, I stopped at the local Radio Shack to get replacement cassette shells. They used to have them, but not anymore. But I picked up a bulk tape eraser/degausser and styli for my Palm IIIxe (both of which were on clearance), and a headphone adapter.
So now, in order to fix my broken tapes, I'll have to unscrew the screws from the shells from new tapes, put the new magnetic tape in a safe place, break open the old shells, remove the magnetic tape from it, and install it in the new shell. Then I can worry about splicing then tape, and playing the tape again.
I have a tape deck (and amp) near the computer, a patch cord from the amp into the computer's sound card, and a copy of Sound Forge XP (which had been recommended to me by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
filkertom). Some of these tapes are in horrendous shape, audio-wise. Is there a way I can restore the fidelity of these tapes to at least AM-quality sound? Is Sound Forge XP intelligent enough to extrapolate the low and high ends from the midrange only?
The employees at the Radio Shack store near me are two older men, both named Jim. One is the manager. There weren't very many customers in the store, so these guys were eager to help me. Too eager, if you ask me. They were suggesting other things I could buy. I told them "maybe next time". One of them suggested that I use the bulk eraser to degauss my TV. (Which would, of course, damage it.)
If there are two things I don't like about salespeople, it's when they get pushy or get sarcastic with me. I'm not good at telling people to back off or to tell them no, so I usually don't. (Then I'm mentally kicking myself later, after I'm out of the store.) My experience with these and other clerks at Radio Shack stores is that they often resort to suggestive selling. Why? Is it what they're tasked to do by their management? Do they work on commission? Do they see me as a fool to be separated from my money? I usually go in for a few specific items, and nothing more.
So, the next time I go in there, how can I finesse them into getting what I want (to be left alone and not have any suggestive selling), without having to resort to strong-tongue (and strong-will) tactics?
I have s many things to do I'll need an admin assistant. This is a full-time job in itself!
My sleep pattern is starting to resemble that of my cats.
This week's projects to keep my mind and body occupied have been:
1) [Ongoing] Go through some more old newspapers (no, I just can't throw them out without skimming through them).
2) Go through some old computer printouts of Usenet news.
3) Work on getting together with out-of-town friends B and D in a few weeks.
4) Finish the video CD of B and D's son, which was videotaped last fall when we last saw him.
5) Consider starting on digitizing some old cassette recordings of mine.
6) Expanding the offsite storage cell.
7) Continue to look for work.
Earlier this week, I found a small stack of printouts from articles from the Usenet newsgroup rec.games.frp (for fantasy role-playing games). Many of them were funny or silly quotes from gamers. I built an index of the articles in Excel, with links to Google Groups....but they're not on Google groups because the newsgroup split off into subgroups and they don't have the root group. So I cut them down to 8 1/2" x 11" so that they'd fit in the scanner. Then I scanned them and OCRed them.....and sonofagun, the OCR program recognized the characters on the page! Oh frabjous day, calloo callay! Of course, it helped that they were printed on an IBM lineprinter with non-yellowing green-bar paper, on the white side of the paper. I can keep the text of each article (about 2-3 Kb) and not a PDF copy of the article (many more Kb).
I can probably finish this up by the end of next week. After that are the articles from rec.arts.comics. (This was a 2" high stack before I started cullling articles.)
I pulled out some old cassette tapes earlier this week to listen to some old and obscure songs. They were so old and dried that the adhesive tape connecting the magnetic tape to the plastic leader broke. So I have 2 tapes that need rescuing. No biggie; I used to do this years ago. Unfortunately, the cassette shells are glued together, so I'll have to break the shell to get the tape.
And so, I stopped at the local Radio Shack to get replacement cassette shells. They used to have them, but not anymore. But I picked up a bulk tape eraser/degausser and styli for my Palm IIIxe (both of which were on clearance), and a headphone adapter.
So now, in order to fix my broken tapes, I'll have to unscrew the screws from the shells from new tapes, put the new magnetic tape in a safe place, break open the old shells, remove the magnetic tape from it, and install it in the new shell. Then I can worry about splicing then tape, and playing the tape again.
I have a tape deck (and amp) near the computer, a patch cord from the amp into the computer's sound card, and a copy of Sound Forge XP (which had been recommended to me by
filkertom). Some of these tapes are in horrendous shape, audio-wise. Is there a way I can restore the fidelity of these tapes to at least AM-quality sound? Is Sound Forge XP intelligent enough to extrapolate the low and high ends from the midrange only?The employees at the Radio Shack store near me are two older men, both named Jim. One is the manager. There weren't very many customers in the store, so these guys were eager to help me. Too eager, if you ask me. They were suggesting other things I could buy. I told them "maybe next time". One of them suggested that I use the bulk eraser to degauss my TV. (Which would, of course, damage it.)
If there are two things I don't like about salespeople, it's when they get pushy or get sarcastic with me. I'm not good at telling people to back off or to tell them no, so I usually don't. (Then I'm mentally kicking myself later, after I'm out of the store.) My experience with these and other clerks at Radio Shack stores is that they often resort to suggestive selling. Why? Is it what they're tasked to do by their management? Do they work on commission? Do they see me as a fool to be separated from my money? I usually go in for a few specific items, and nothing more.
So, the next time I go in there, how can I finesse them into getting what I want (to be left alone and not have any suggestive selling), without having to resort to strong-tongue (and strong-will) tactics?
I have s many things to do I'll need an admin assistant. This is a full-time job in itself!
no subject
Radio Shack
Now, everything is "kits". They don't cater to scratch build people like us anymore. They sell computers and home security kits. And yes, they work on commission. I've gone into a RS recently for the first time in nearly ten years. The last time, I wanted a tamper switch (the technical term for the gizmo that makes the light in your fridge go on.) It's a $.50 part. But as soon as that cockamammie salesman heard "tamper" he starts trying to push a $600 home security system because he has no idea what I was talking about and WOULDN'T LISTEN!!! I left in disgust without buying the part.
I was recently in the local RS in Fredonia, ironically for another tamper switch. Stores in the country are different than city stores. The local Farm&Feed places realize that maybe the customer knows a damn sight more about what he's talking about than the guy behind the cash register. I decided to take a chance. I walked in and the kid had to be under 25. In my opinion, a good sign. He asked if he could help, and I replied I was scratch building some electronics and needed a tamper switch. (I admit I was jargoning him, I wanted to fend off the sales pitches) I asked if he knew what one was, when he said no, I started checking out the switches section. A minute later, he tells me it's in the security section. I told him it was a switch. He said "Yes, sir. But our online inventory says we keep them with in the security section." He was right. He had actually listened to what I said, and looked it up on his computer instead of trying to sell me something on commission. They were in the security section. A visit to a Buffalo store and I got the sales commission approach again. I'll visit the store in Fredonia, but not the ones in any major city.
Re: Radio Shack
I suspected as much. :-(
I wouldn't exacly call their current product line "kits". They have modular systems (e.g. home theatre), assembled systems (e.g. their stereo components), cellular phones, radio-controleld toys, patch cords, adapters, and other gizmos that we didn't know existed but can do without.
I'll say this much -- they know their product line better than the folks at CompUSA.
When I was about 10, I received their 10-in-1 electronics kit for Christmas. The components were already breadboarded; all that needed to be done was to connect them with "jumper" wires to springs. I don't even know if they have those anymore, now that everything's gone to integrated circuits and chips.
To me, kits are something you'd get from Heathkit -- remember them? You'd buy or order the unassembled components, follow the instruction manual, do all the soldering and assembly yourself, and (hopefully) end up with a finished working product. The digital alarm clock in my computer room is a Heathkit; I specifically wired it to display 24-hour time. Unfortunately, Heathkit is no longer around. The only other kit manufacturer I'm aware of is PAiA Electronics, which makes small musical electronics devices.