chronovore: (Default)
2009-12-01 01:32 pm
Entry tags:

stop pickin' on me

These "Pickin' on ____" albums are a guilty pleasure of mine. Pickin' on the '80s (see current music) is a recent purchase, but I've been in love with Pickin' on Pink Floyd for a good while. Maybe it's the classic country music fan in me (not modern country, ew, no not that) or maybe it's the mashup fan, or the humor in it... but it's great.

Dear LazyLiveJournal,
I can't find a way to search my own LJ. Is there a way to do it? Or is that one of those mean-spiritedly reserved for payin' customer features?
chronovore: (Default)
2009-05-21 02:35 pm

work/private

Dear Lazyweb,
Though I'm a big proponent of meeting and playing with co-workers outside the office, because playing and talking with other people improves interpersonal relationships, fosters empathy or at least sympathy, and leads to greater acknowledgment of each other as something more than an office drone who can only ask for favors or pile on additional work.

However, when it comes to social networking sites, it seems best to Stay Well Clear of co-workers, not only so they're not scoping the pictures from the family picnic from that day you couldn't work on the weekend, or entries about hangovers when you reported in with "some kind of cold, and maybe a fever."

With those two examples, it seems like exchanging gamertags should be a good idea because it allows for outside-the-office gameplay time,  but on closer inspection it's probably closer to SNS, isn't it?

I mean, co-workers here are frequently talking about their online experiences and we all complain about how the 360 is not selling in Japan -- but no-one exchanges their GamerTag information. Here we have a mess of potential available players, but no dice. Is it the fear of a 3 a.m. gaming session being found out that creates that social barrier? Or are they afraid of dominating co-workers too much, effectively having to take it easy on them rather than being able to just game and release stress?

How does this hold up outside Japan? Are European or North American offices similar?
chronovore: (Default)
2008-12-02 02:24 pm
Entry tags:

Dear Lazyweb,

This morning I went to the chiropractor/physical therapist, who worked on my shoulder injury as well as "making adjustments to the human spine" particularly in my neck and between my shoulderblades. When I receive treatment, I come out of there feeling better, but what's weird is I feel like my vision has improved. I can see things more clearly, and further away.

Is this just my imagination, or does releasing tension in the spine free up my eyes to focus more efficiently?
chronovore: (Default)
2008-10-13 01:38 pm

cover art?

One of you kind folks was recently mentioning an album cover art finding utility which worked well with unusual albums. I thought I bookmarked it in delicious at the time, but apparently I experienced BOOKMARK FAIL. I'm using iTunes built-in one with marginal success, and Discogs and Google Images for everything else.

Anyone else got a decent recommendation for cover art finding tools?
chronovore: (Default)
2008-09-02 05:52 pm
Entry tags:

.txt plz?

Dear lazyweb,
Does anyone know of a modification, Add-On, or view setting within Firefox which allows for viewing webpages as plain text? I want to ditch all formatting, pictures, and blah-blah and just read the text. I'm able to achieve some of this by using View>Page Style>No Style, and then using the Web Developer Add-On (pretty robust) to disable all images. This ditches pics across ALL pages and any pages I need to reload, so it's scorched earth policy until I reactivate the piccies. Also no-style CSS still retains some basic formatting, and would prefer that it just squirts the entire text content into a single linear column.

Virgos. Yeah, I know. Sorry.

ANYway~ if you've got a clue, drop a note.
Thanks!
chronovore: (Default)
2008-08-27 02:42 pm

squEee!

ASUS | Eee PC: I'm seriously thinking about getting one of these for email/web use around the house. The Wife loves the little Panasonic Let's Note r4 which work provided to me, but it's work's machine, not mine -- and by extension "not hers."

Do any of you have an opinion on these little buggers, or suggestion of alternatives for similar functionality?

Edit: xposted to [livejournal.com profile] tech_support
chronovore: (Default)
2008-06-21 12:03 pm
Entry tags:

mutant leaves!


mutant leaves!, originally uploaded by chronovore.




crispy leaves are spreading, originally uploaded by chronovore.


The leaves are healthy looking in the middle, and crispy/dead on the edges. This is all over the tree as you can see in the background. Meanwhile, other leaves have come up much larger than is normal for this tree, so big and heavy that they're weighting down the branches. What the hell is this?
chronovore: (mouthy)
2008-05-22 11:16 am
Entry tags:

"block unknown users" seems so unfriendly, but...

Whenever I leave MSN IM on, I get pinged by unknown users for dating sites, webcams, all that. Is there some giant list of Live Messenger users somewhere that they're spamming? How do they know who's logged in? This is a new and annoying form of spam for me.
chronovore: (Default)
2008-04-30 01:35 pm
Entry tags:

grammar question

For meanings of "investigate," is it "look in to" or "look into"?
chronovore: (Default)
2008-04-25 03:34 pm
Entry tags:

Question about a specific SF novel

Dear Lazyweb,

I recently heard about an SF novel where humans and aliens come into contact; at first it appears that the aliens are intelligent / sentient, but it becomes apparent that they are not. Apparently the point is that intelligence is not necessarily a prerequisite for survival or evolutionary superiority.

Can anyone tell me what this book is? I want to read it.
chronovore: (Default)
2008-02-13 07:20 pm
Entry tags:

imminent domain :-)

I am thinking about registering a domain. Any advice on who do register with, and/or who to host with?
chronovore: (mouthy)
2007-09-20 11:04 am
Entry tags:

tinyurl

No, seriously, what the hell is with the sudden resurgence in TINYURL addies popping up all over?
chronovore: (Default)
2007-07-05 02:18 pm
Entry tags:

Dear Lazyweb,

I've just finished a package of Twinings powdered "Chai" stuff, and it does not impress at all. Maybe if I boiled some ginger down to a hefty concentrate, I could get some decent spiciness, but that's a half-measure.

Does anyone know a good DIY recipe for brewing masala chai?
chronovore: (mouthy)
2007-06-15 10:16 am
Entry tags:

er... mail notifications?

I could SWEAR that I saw a note in the LJ user interface in some context or another that stated "You can receive mail notifications whenever this user posts. You have 25 email notifications remaining." Or the functional equivalent thereof. But NOW I can't find it! Does anyone here know the feature to which I'm referring?

Neither Google Reader nor Bloglines supports viewing of Friends-locked posts through RSS, but I bet LJ determines Friend settings prior to sending out email notifications.

Update: AH! It's easier than I thought. Here it is:
http://www.livejournal.com/manage/subscriptions/
chronovore: (furious)
2007-05-22 07:16 pm

duplex (two-sided) printing in MS Word

Print on both sides of the paper (duplex printing) - Word - Microsoft Office Online:
You can also use the following procedure to set up your printer for manual duplex printing:

1. On the File menu, click Print.
2. In the lower-left corner of the Print dialog box, in the Print box, click Odd pages.
3. Click OK.
4. After the odd pages are printed, flip the stack of pages over, and then in the Print dialog box, click Even pages.
5. Click OK.

Note Depending on the printer model, you might have to turn and reorder the pages to print the other side of the stack.
Wicked Cool: Microsoft Word tip: Printing in reverse order:
Depending on how your printer works, there's a good chance that when you print a big document in Word, the pages end up in reverse order (with page 1 at the bottom of the pile). You have to then go through and put all the pages in correct order....big pain!

I'm here to relieve you of that pain! You can reverse the order the pages print. No more fussing when it's done printing!!

Here's how:

1. From the "File" menu, choose "Print"
2. Click the "Options" button at the bottom.
3. Check the "Reverse print order" box.
4. Click "OK".
5. Click "OK" again, and you'll print in reverse order!
Or alternately, on the "Print" dialog box, there's a "Print" pull-down menu just above "Options..." Select print Odd. Then reload the paper, and on the next "Print" dialog, hit "Options..." and reverse printing order of Even pages (or Print in Reverse Order which is also on this "Options..." dialog, probably making it accidentally possible to reverse one's reversal, and cause mucho confusion). Sorry the text may not correspond exactly to US-English versions of MS Word.

Now to see if this works in Adobe Acrobat; I've got a PDF of Zantabulous Zorceror of Zo waiting to be print-on-my-own-immediate-demand.
chronovore: (Default)
2007-01-09 03:26 pm
Entry tags:

I'm nearing Year Six here in Japan

I've been gone long enough that some of the basic operations expenses of living in the USA have changed and I can't really visualize them. Can someone fill me in on the status of common monthly entertainment and communication expenditures? Whenever I think about what people are paying in the USA, I always picture some massive heap of bills being paid just for regular stuff.