You use that for what?

[chasing23]

So while sitting here at work and trying to find something that is not work to do I came up with the following question.

Why do you have a computer? Aside from having it for e-mail, net shopping and chatting is there anything that you really need to have a computer for? Communication can easily be done by putting pen to paper or picking up the phone. Shopping can be done by leaving your domicile. Gaming can be done with a set of twenty sided dice.

Basically I am curious about what interesting things people use and need their computers for. How have they translated your life into something better?

For instance one of the things that I am starting to work on is using Asterisk(an Open Source PBX) to allow people to check in on the status of the birth of my daughter(?) in March. So in essence you call a number hit a number and get a status. The logistics end up needing to be able to record the status and then play it back all from remote of the console.

So what are you doing?

[logical muse]

...Aside from having it for e-mail, net shopping and chatting is there anything that you really need to have a computer for?...
You forgot pr0n. :p

Well, for me, I love programming. I used to code for a living, now it's just a hobby. I also build (crappy) web sites.

The other main use I have for the computer is planning my weekly radio show. As part of that, I sometimes have to rip CDs or DVDs, and burn CDs. I use a spreadsheet to plan my playlists, and a database keeps track of all my old playlists and CD collection.

I've got a show tonight, so today my day will consist of sitting in front of the computer, listening to CDs, choosing tracks, entering them in the spreadsheet (which tallies up the durations), e-mailing a few of the artists to inform them I'll be playing a cut of theirs (they sometimes put an announcement on their own seb sites), perhaps burning a CD or two if some of the material I play is ripped from a DVD, updating my web site to announce what I'll be playing, and occasionally checking this forum, and slashdot.

[TobiasTheViking]

mental masturbation.

[chasing23]

You forgot pr0n. :p

Nah. I just left that out thinking that I would see how long it would take until that came up. ;)

Well, for me, I love programming. I used to code for a living, now it's just a hobby. I also build (crappy) web sites.

What did you used to program?

The other main use I have for the computer is planning my weekly radio show. As part of that, I sometimes have to rip CDs or DVDs, and burn CDs. I use a spreadsheet to plan my playlists, and a database keeps track of all my old playlists and CD collection.

I've got a show tonight, so today my day will consist of sitting in front of the computer, listening to CDs, choosing tracks, entering them in the spreadsheet (which tallies up the durations), e-mailing a few of the artists to inform them I'll be playing a cut of theirs (they sometimes put an announcement on their own seb sites), perhaps burning a CD or two if some of the material I play is ripped from a DVD, updating my web site to announce what I'll be playing, and occasionally checking this forum, and slashdot.

Well that is a really interesting use. What sort of show do you have? Do you just use a hard copy to then play your show from?

[Johnny Pixels]

...So what are you doing?

Well right now I use my computer for information and reading about stuff , as I'm unemployed ;) but I also use it to search for jobs on the internet, which gives me access to so many more jobs than I would have otherwise.

I originally got my laptop to take to university with me to write reports on, rather than having to use the university library computers, and my Amiga wasn't really up to the challenge anymore. Then later I permanently borrowed my mum's desktop computer to run simulations for my major project on underbody airflow under a saloon car.

I guess the major reason for using a computer is, I could use pen and paper, but it takes so much longer. Like for example at uni we were doing a question on plate bending. I used Excel to do all the calculations, so if I made a mistake in my formula, I just go back and edit it, and the whole of the rest of the sheet updates with the new numbers. Using pen and paper I'd have to recalculate every single line after the mistake.

[moopet]

Looking things up. Like while watching a TV show, I may look up an actor to find out where I remember them from.

Keeping in touch with many people at once by way of syndicating friends' blogs.

Downloading films, music and TV shows that are otherwise unavailable because they've been deleted or aren't out in this country yet.

I like coding too, as a hobby ;)

[Terry]

I sometimes use my computer for designing stuff. I have CAD, structural analysis codes, optics programs and aerodynamics codes. I hope to have some accoustic codes soon too. I design model airplanes, telescopes, and guitars. Sometimes I even try to build them.

[logical muse]

What did you used to program?
Like a lot pf programmers, I've worked for a few different companies, and done a fair bit of contract work. Everything from network management to embedded controllers to computer games. For fun, genetic programming, graphics, computer art, computer music...

What sort of show do you have? Do you just use a hard copy to then play your show from?
I'd call it a specialist music program, I guess.

Yeah, I print out my spreadsheet and take that and the CDs with me to the station. Up until recently I was using Windows XP and associated software but for the last month or two I've been using Linux.

The show is webcast as well as broadcast on the FM band, although that's not something I'm responsible for, the station does that. Obviously, webcasting is another thing the computer and internet have made possible.

[El Greco]

Let's see... at different times I've used it for the following:

- Looking for interesting studies on various subjects I'm interested in
- Discussing nutrition and training in various forums
- Talking to people from all over the world, mainly with ICQ
- Buying things I could only get online, eg rare LPs from Brazil or home cinema stuff from Germany or exercise textbooks from Amazon
- Research for things I would buy in an actual store, like an optical drive, a motorcycle helmet, a car etc.
- Booking trips and finding info on hotels and learning about the place I'll be visiting
- Programming and learning programming languages
- At work I use a special program
- Playing various and sundry computer games, including online ones
- Transferring LPs to CDs
- Mixing compilation CDs
- Organizing LPS and CDs in a database
- Capturing and editing TV programs
- Downloading
- As a sophisticated answering machine
- Keeping track of my diet with various programs
- Listening to radio from all over the world
- News, TV program, cinemas, IMDB rating of movies
- Searching for countless little things, like how to clean a certain spot, find a telephone number, what are the properties of different woods for furniture, etc.
- Camera surveillance
- DVD player for home cinema, including picture adjustments
- Uploading apps and games to my cellphone
- Storing and editing digital photos and videos. Printing photos
- Making a couple of sites about classical guitar, training and a few games
- Learning about other things I like, like wildlife and NLP
- Preparing recipes from all over the world
- Using an online bank account, through wich I pay most of my bills

Um, probably lots of other stuff I forget right now

[chasing23]

Looking things up. Like while watching a TV show, I may look up an actor to find out where I remember them from.

Keeping in touch with many people at once by way of syndicating friends' blogs.

Downloading films, music and TV shows that are otherwise unavailable because they've been deleted or aren't out in this country yet.

I like coding too, as a hobby ;)

Has having a computer really added anything to your life that you couldn't get elsewhere? ( The exception to that is the coding ( Which could be explained out by just writing out the steps and folowing them))

[LibraryLady]

Storing information in a non-paper format, basically using the computer as a file cabinet.

Also, I design my own needlework and use a computer program to aid with that.

And to gaze adoringly at pictures of my grandniece and nephews.

And to broadcast budgie sounds to drive Nick the Budgie crazy. :p

[Terry]

Has having a computer really added anything to your life that you couldn't get elsewhere? ( The exception to that is the coding ( Which could be explained out by just writing out the steps and folowing them))

Yes. The structural, optical and aerodynamic calculations I can do with my computer would not be feasible by hand.

[chasing23]

I sometimes use my computer for designing stuff. I have CAD, structural analysis codes, optics programs and aerodynamics codes. I hope to have some accoustic codes soon too. I design model airplanes, telescopes, and guitars. Sometimes I even try to build them.

Have you tried to build a telescope? It would be neat to build and control one with the same computer.

The design abilities are something that I would really like to get into. I think that computers have the potential to be creation nebulae. All that is needed is a bit of direction and you should be able to create anything easily. Though I don't think that the software is quite to the point to let everyman do this but it is where I see it going.

[JamesM]

I'm a computational chemist (of sorts).

[chasing23]

Storing information in a non-paper format, basically using the computer as a file cabinet.

Do you worry that it is not a truely safe place to store all of your information? With the possibility of a hardware failure or that burnible CD/DVDs might not have as long of a shelf life as people might think. Do you backup your data?

Also, I design my own needlework and use a computer program to aid with that.

This is how I can relate to some of my friends. The technology that is out there to help with crafts is really neat. I think that it has come a long way. I was in a quilting shop with a few friends that wanted to look at something that I had no intrest with. I ended up looking at one of the embroidery machienes and it was really neat. Well if I were to do such a thing. I could see killing a bunch of time just playing with that hardware.

And to gaze adoringly at pictures of my grandniece and nephews.

This I think is huge. My wife's grandmother spends hours working on the pictures that she takes of the family and friends. She puts a lot of effort into putting together pages and pages of images to share with everyone. It is a lot like getting a mix-tape of all of the best times of Thanksgiving. :)

[chasing23]

I'm a computational chemist (of sorts).

How does that work out. Would you please explain?

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

I typeset and compose books on my computer. I used to do it with hot lead, but it got messy.

~~ Paul

[LibraryLady]

Do you worry that it is not a truely safe place to store all of your information? With the possibility of a hardware failure or that burnible CD/DVDs might not have as long of a shelf life as people might think. Do you backup your data?

Constantly. I also keep paper copies of all the really important stuff, but in a less accessible place. If I need it quick, I can get it on the computer.



This is how I can relate to some of my friends. The technology that is out there to help with crafts is really neat. I think that it has come a long way. I was in a quilting shop with a few friends that wanted to look at something that I had no intrest with. I ended up looking at one of the embroidery machienes and it was really neat. Well if I were to do such a thing. I could see killing a bunch of time just playing with that hardware.

I love it. It saves time on all the calculations of how much fabric and floss I need, but allows all the fooling around with design I want.

[JamesM]

How does that work out. Would you please explain?
Three main areas of research are:

The most rigorous computational chemistry involves applying quantum mechanics to molecules - if you can solve the Schrodinger equation for a molecule, you can find out its energy levels and other properties. This can help you work out what products you get from a reaction, or the mechanism by which a reaction occurs. The equations can't be solved exactly once you consider anything more complicated than hydrogen, so you can only get an approximation. The more electrons you have, the bigger the set of equations you have to solve, so you're restricted to quite small molecules. The pay off is that you can get extremely accurate results.

At a larger level, on the scale of a protein, or if you wanted to look at an extremely large number of small molecules, you can't use quantum mechanics - just too many electrons. Instead you treat the molecule a lot like it was just a bunch of balls (the atoms) connected by springs (the bonds). You set some initial velocities, and then watch what happens, using Newton's laws of motion. It bounces around, and hopefully, you see something interesting happen, like a protein folding.

Pharmaceutical companies deal with millions of molecules at a time. They aren't going to wait the years it would take to process their compound collections using the methods I mentioned above. In this case, we would analyse existing experimental results using techniques from artificial intelligence to see if we can spot any patterns in the data about what makes a good drug.

[Chris Haynes]

It changes as personal projects change... usually it is email, wasting time reading this forum and blogs.... but... here are some past, present and future uses:

--- When we bought the building lot I used Generic CADD to come up with preliminary plans for the architect (made it much cheaper). It also made it easier to have nice drawings to communicate with subcontractors. Things like the cabinet supplier, the tile guys and others.

--- When we were trying to figure out how we were going to get curtains across a couple of large windows without center supports to muck up the very nice woodwork done by hubby, I used MathCAD and my past life as a structures engineer to figure out the tubing size (1.25" OD brass tube with wood pole inside).

--- I use Excel to keep track of my fabric stash, and to keep a record of my projects (including donated things to auctions (note hubby uses Excel to do the taxes). In the past I have used Excel to create school directories, inventory school supplies and create "who paid what" spreadsheets for the PTA treasurer.

--- I use Quicken to keep track of family finances and investments.

--- I use this program to create machine embroidery designs (something I am still learning how to do): http://www.brother-usa.com/HomeSewing/software/softwarePEDesign50.aspx

--- I used to use Ulead VideoStudio, but now use Pinnacle Studio to create DVDs and SVCDs of home movies (I recently gave a copy of the last half-time program done by my middle kid's marching band to a couple of the parents who were part of it... I cut out the part with my son getting lost amongst the cheerleaders)

--- I ripped our 20+ year collection of CDs into mp3s for hubby's birthday using Sonic Record Now Deluxe (which I bought when my laptop's DVD writer, Roxio, failed to work).

--- I watch DVDs on my computer when I am the only one interested in it... and I can use the "faster speed" feature of WinDVD

--- I am presently using Adobe Album 2.0.1 to organize about 2500 photos that we have already digitized: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopalbum/main.html

--- I have digitized almost 2500 documents for an organization I belong to, and am starting to organize my own stuff to digitize. I have both a flatbed and a slide scanner. I use both Adobe PhoteElements 2.0 and PaintShop Pro 9.0 (the latter I like more).

--- I use the old Compaq laptop in the kitchen with Mastercook as my recipe file (I bought version 7 at HalfPrice Books for $8): http://www.valusoft.com/products/mastercook.html

--- I've just recently started to use Heritage FamilyTree Deluxe to work on my genealogy (got it at the same time and for the same price as the above at Half Price Books): http://www.individualsoftware.com/new/consumer/details/fd2_details.htm

By the way, I live in a nerdy household. I used to use computers in my work life to do structural dyanamic analysis. Hubby is a computer nerd, who wrote registration database software for a youth sports club several years ago. The kids play computer games... and daughter uses her Wacom tablet with MS Paint, PaintShop Pro 5 and PhotoShop 2.0 to do art (like my avatar with Paint Shop Pro's Animation Shop).

[kevin]

well at work I have a computer because I do technical support on computer software. Spefically CADD design software.

An alternate question might be why I have 12 servers, but that's a bit much to go into.

At home the question would be why do I have 4 computers, that's a bit easier to explain. A linux server on the internet as mail and web server. An internal server behind the firewall for IMAP server, dev web server, and file storage. A windows xp box for work from home and the occasional windows only game. A Mac mini because Mac's are actually fun to use. I use it for e-mail, hacking on web pages, hacking on code, turning tv shows and movies into DVDs, and putting music on my iPod.

[Chris Haynes]

...I was in a quilting shop with a few friends that wanted to look at something that I had no intrest with. I ended up looking at one of the embroidery machienes and it was really neat. Well if I were to do such a thing. I could see killing a bunch of time just playing with that hardware....

I walked by a sewing store window and saw an embroidery only used machine for $200. But the software, card and reader/writer was $600 (and I got a good deal).

The software is essentially numerical control system for surface design. Some are basic where you must tell the machine exactly where to put the stitch... others have some more capability. Like to take TrueType fonts and create an embroidery for that (sometimes you have to buy seperate fonts)... and my software also has the capability to create an embroidery from a photograph (comes out very interesting, but nothing I would do often... but I saw lots of it in action in a magazine I was browsing today at the bookstore, it was the Fall 2005 issue of http://sda.nu-designs.us/shop/catalog.php?id=&returnCode=&cookietest=1&sessiontest=1#magazines ... by the way is was $8 at Barnes and Noble).

Some programs that should give you an idea of what you can get yourself into are:

http://www.thredworks.com/

http://www.embird.com/ (the Sfumato is what the cover of Fall 2005 Surface Design magazine may have been done with).

Those are only the software. To get them to the machine sometimes involves a specialized memory card (like mine), but the newer ones have USB ports.

By the way, I found it easier to learn NASTRAN (http://www.mscsoftware.com.au/products/software/msc/nastran/) and the graphics program I used when I was at work (Supertab, IDEAS from Structural Dynamics Research Corp, which I believe is now this (http://www.ugs.com/products/nx/simulation/advanced/master_fem/)) than machine embroidery. I still working my way through it.

[RayG]

It saves time...

BINGO!!!

I presently run 4 systems 24/7 in my home. One for me, one for wife, and two for kids.

Me, I can shave valuable seconds, minutes, sometimes even hours off tasks I would otherwise have to do the old fashioned way.

I can research topics far faster online than by perusing my local library, which is limited in size.

Paying bills takes seconds rather than 20-45 minutes of standing in line at the bank. (no driving required either)

Entering the data and printing out an invoice for a customer is far faster than doing it manually.

I can research a product online instead of driving the 45 minutes to Wal-Mart to check it out.

Living in a rural area like I do, I'd feel lost without my computer and its connection to the net.

My wife uses her computer as a news source, reads the headlines, and, horror of horrors, she's interested in reading about paranormal stuff. UFOs, crop circles, etc. etc.

Kids use computer for homework assignments and online/offline gaming. (network gaming too).

One of my daughters likes to play the Sims because she's interested in fashion, art, and designing. She can quickly change an outfit, makeup, or even the shape of the model's eyes, nose, or other features. Though she's a talented artist, it would take her ages to makes changes on paper.

Here's a sample of her artwork, done on paper and scanned into computer:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/11820243/

Oldest son, though he's not living at home anymore, uses his computer for gaming, and putting his artwork/cartoons online. He uses nothing more than the mouse and his computer to draw his artwork.

His artwork:
http://darkcloak.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://darkcloak.deviantart.com/scraps/

One of the other obvious advantages for my kids having/using a computer at a very early age -- they have no fear of computers.

RayG

[Chris Haynes]

...For instance one of the things that I am starting to work on is using Asterisk(an Open Source PBX) to allow people to check in on the status of the birth of my daughter(?) in March. ...

For your daughter in the future... I used my machine and software to create these:
http://forums.randi.org/showpost.php?p=1374966&postcount=4

Edit to add: My daughter also has a deviantart AND a sheezyart account. I'm not posting them... but needless to say I can pull up her journals to see what she has been up to.

[moopet]

Has having a computer really added anything to your life that you couldn't get elsewhere? ( The exception to that is the coding ( Which could be explained out by just writing out the steps and folowing them))

Not really. If you're going to equate programming with writing out code longhand - which I have also enjoyed on long train journeys :)
The computer is in many ways just like a toaster. And when I've not had it for extended periods I've not really missed it.

I see lots of people buy computers for invalid reasons. People used to spend thousands on 8086s to revolutionise their book-keeping for example, and they just wasted their money - it's the same these days. Most people don't need a computer. But when you add all the little things up, chatting to people about what's on TV while it's still happening instead of next day in the pub, finding out about similar authors to your favourite through dozens of reviewers on amazon rather than asking the man in the shop, ebay replacing local classified ads, email replacing postcards and phone calls, blogs replacing columns in newspapers, and the overall speed of it all, yes it makes a big difference to my life.

Anyway, I'm attached to it. Improving it is like teaching tricks to a dog - one day I want my life to be like Star Trek. Or something.

[ingoa]

"The computers help you to solve problems that you wouldn't have without computers."

This is what I always say...

[Vitnir]

You can't compare board games with computer games, if someone released a computer aid program to The Speed of Heat http://www.clashofarms.com/heat.html
Then I would open the box again.

[Smike]

Gaming can be done with a set of twenty sided dice.

:eek:

You have to be kidding.


I use my computer mostly for gaming and the internet. The internet is really what makes computers so great. I could elaborate, but I can't be bothered, so just take it as read that I elaborated, gave several good examples, a few quotes from interesting/important people, and basically proved my point beyond doubt.

Okay?

[Soapy Sam]

The computer is in many ways just like a toaster. And when I've not had it for extended periods I've not really missed it.- Moopet.

Overclocked AMD64 eh?

[kevin]

In general computers provide three features not available in the "real" world.

The first is computational power. Some things could be done by hand but would take thousands of years (look at the tricks they had to do to get the hand computations for the first atomic bomb to go smoothly and with few errors.)

Next is editability. Sure I can write a book by long hand, but what if I want to edit this paragrah, and maybe move it into it's own chapter, or delete it althogether. Whoops, I deleted that, but now I want it back. I've gotten in arguements with hand drafting people about this. They contend drafting by hand is just as fast as CADD. My contention is that if you take a person adept at hand drafting, and a person adept at CADD and set them to drawing something the first time through they'll be done at the same time. But if you then need to make any sort of changes, the CADD person will be done significantly faster than the person working by hand. Everytime I've been told there won't be changes, the job went over budget and lost money.

Finally is information transfer speed. We once had a workflow that was print plans, overnight mail to another office, redline, overnight back. Now this is redline online via a web browser in realtime. A 3-day turn around time to real-time work across the country. You can move electrons much faster than atoms.

[chasing23]

An alternate question might be why I have 12 servers, but that's a bit much to go into.

At home the question would be why do I have 4 computers, that's a bit easier to explain. A linux server on the internet as mail and web server. An internal server behind the firewall for IMAP server, dev web server, and file storage. A windows xp box for work from home and the occasional windows only game. A Mac mini because Mac's are actually fun to use. I use it for e-mail, hacking on web pages, hacking on code, turning tv shows and movies into DVDs, and putting music on my iPod.

Wait. So at work you have 12 servers? Do they do things other then what you do at work? Or are they there for what you work on?

For your home things I can understand how you have it set up. Though I think now I have 5 servers at home and three workstatations.

[chasing23]

You have to be kidding.

I use my computer mostly for gaming and the internet. The internet is really what makes computers so great. I could elaborate, but I can't be bothered, so just take it as read that I elaborated, gave several good examples, a few quotes from interesting/important people, and basically proved my point beyond doubt.

Okay?

No. I really don't think that is ok. Prove it.

Why reply at all if you can't be bothered to support your claims?

Much of the games that are out there have some sort of tie to RPG games that are played outside of the computer. Games that were played with twenty-sided dice.

[Mongrel]

So while sitting here at work and trying to find something that is not work to do I came up with the following question.

Why do you have a computer? Aside from having it for e-mail, net shopping and chatting is there anything that you really need to have a computer for? Communication can easily be done by putting pen to paper or picking up the phone.

Have you taken a step back and looked where you've asked this question?

On an internet forum based in Florida attracting people from all over the world (http://www.frappr.com/teamjref). http://www.frappr.com/teamjref. My chances of meeting anyone on these boards would have been remote, and from the Frappr map I'm within easy travel distance of at least 8 people, let alone getting to know them well enough to grab a phone number.

[Psi Baba]

I've got a show tonight, so today my day will consist of sitting in front of the computer, listening to CDs, choosing tracks, entering them in the spreadsheet (which tallies up the durations)
Cool, you're the only other person I've heard say they use a spreadsheet for this purpose. Of course these days, CD-burning software adds up track times for you, but in the days before DIY CDs, I used to make a lot of compilation tapes from my albums, and I was always trying work out the best fit for putting songs on a fixed length of tape, trying add up all those base 6 numbers.* When I realized that with a spreadsheet you could set the number formatting to hh:mm:ss, that was a godsend. You can test all sorts of permutations of tracks that way.


*I used to do this so often that there were times I'd see a decimal number like 1.59 and mentally round it to 2. :eek:

[ranson]

I think this link is one of the more innovative uses of an old machine (and Legos) I've ever seen.

http://www.gamesbyemail.com/dicegenerator

[bruto]

I got a computer long before I had internet access, largely to do my taxes.

I also do a lot of photography, and use a digital scanner for slides, which is computer dependent.

And of course I sit here for endless hours doing things like this. You can talk on the phone and order merchandise from catalogs and write letters to relatives, but internet forums are sui generis.

[kevin]

Wait. So at work you have 12 servers?

yep. getting a 13th today, maybe monday. my job is morphing into being the system admin for our document management system. the 13 servers are the core of the system. includes database servers, app servers, web servers, print servers, and redundancy.

[Blue Mountain]

I'm a curious person by nature. Computers linked to the Internet make an amazing combination that can satisfy almost any question.

Case in point. Here's a couple of lines from the song And If Venice Is Sinking by the Canadian folk/rock band Spirit of the West (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_the_West):

... in a room with a picture on the door
Of Marini's little man with an erection on a horse ...

I'm sure you can figure out which word caught my attention listening to the song :) Naturally I wondered what the line referred to.

First step was to get a copy of the lyrics, since the CD did not include them. Google was my friend there ("+Spirit-of-the+West +And-if-Venice-is-sinking"), turning up dozens of hits, and they provided the correct spelling of "Marini".

Another Google search ("+Marini +horse") turned up lots of hits on Italian sculptor Mario Marini, 1901-1980. One pointed to this (http://www.airynothing.com/photos/wwII_smithsonian_Nov05/wwII_smithsonian_Nov05-Pages/Image2.html): (caution: picture may not be safe for work, since it pretty much depicts what the song lyrics above described.)

An entry on the Wikipedia says there is a museum dedicated to his work (http://www.fol.it/clients/marini) in Florence (not Venice!)

Thanks to the Internet, anyone else who is curious about Spirit of the West or Mario Marini can click on the links in the message and read for themselves.

[Ducky]

So while sitting here at work and trying to find something that is not work to do I came up with the following question.

Why do you have a computer? Aside from having it for e-mail, net shopping and chatting is there anything that you really need to have a computer for? Communication can easily be done by putting pen to paper or picking up the phone. Shopping can be done by leaving your domicile. Gaming can be done with a set of twenty sided dice.

Basically I am curious about what interesting things people use and need their computers for. How have they translated your life into something better?

For instance one of the things that I am starting to work on is using Asterisk(an Open Source PBX) to allow people to check in on the status of the birth of my daughter(?) in March. So in essence you call a number hit a number and get a status. The logistics end up needing to be able to record the status and then play it back all from remote of the console.

So what are you doing?


Trying to get a recording company off the ground.



(but you knew that.)

[logical muse]

Cool, you're the only other person I've heard say they use a spreadsheet for this purpose. Of course these days, CD-burning software adds up track times for you, but in the days before DIY CDs, I used to make a lot of compilation tapes from my albums, and I was always trying work out the best fit for putting songs on a fixed length of tape, trying add up all those base 6 numbers.* When I realized that with a spreadsheet you could set the number formatting to hh:mm:ss, that was a godsend. You can test all sorts of permutations of tracks that way.


*I used to do this so often that there were times I'd see a decimal number like 1.59 and mentally round it to 2. :eek:
Yep, I generally play three songs in a set, and the spreadsheet adds up the durations of the songs in a set. I also give myself around two minutes to back announce and maybe play a cart, so I put that in the spreadsheet too. I have a column in the spreadsheet dedicated just to the times, so at a glance I can see if I'm on track.

The show goes to air live, and I try and stick as closely as possible to my running sheet. On last night's show, I had scheduled too many blues tracks for my liking, so I ditched one, an eight-minute track. There was a new CD in my locker at the station so I played a track off that one and also one from another extra CD I brought in.

Using the spreadsheet just makes it work so much better for me. I also use the info in the spreadsheet to create the web page for the playlist. I've written a program that takes the CSV output from the spreadsheet and generates a html file. Nice!

Oh, and rounding 1.59 to 2 ... Hilarious!

[kevin]

The show goes to air live, and I try and stick as closely as possible to my running sheet.

Is your show streamed on the internet? Anyway for us to listen?

My current favorite music show is Sonic Spectrum here in Kansas City.

http://www.kcur.org/sonicspectrum.html

[logical muse]

Is your show streamed on the internet? Anyway for us to listen?

My current favorite music show is Sonic Spectrum here in Kansas City.

http://www.kcur.org/sonicspectrum.html
Yes the show is webcast.

Unless you like two hours of guitar solos, though, I wouldn't recommend it. :)

If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you a link.

[Dark Jaguar]

I tend to use my computer for the express purpose of figuring out how my computer works. It's a little circular isn't it? Still, I really enjoy the process. Taking computers apart to see how they work is a hobby of mine.

[chasing23]

I tend to use my computer for the express purpose of figuring out how my computer works. It's a little circular isn't it? Still, I really enjoy the process. Taking computers apart to see how they work is a hobby of mine.

This is how personal computing was born and one of the great features of computers. Though corporations have driven a lot of the advances that we see now that is not how it always has been. If we turn back the clock twenty years it was the people at home that were figuring out their own hardware before they could even put on software. I think that you have a great hobby.

What sorts of things have you been figuring out lately?

[chasing23]

Trying to get a recording company off the ground.



(but you knew that.)


How has computers changed how you would get a recording studio off of the ground? What are some of the real strengths that computers give you?

[Corpse Cruncher]

I mainly use the computer for typing up communication. I find it easier to type it all up on the computer as for one it keeps a record of it. I am still very much a novice at this internet milarky. I use that mainly for looking up points of interest that my Library is sadly lacking in.

My niece wants me to create a website for all my recipes. So I could share it with others and likewise. As much as she says it is easy, there are many instant freely available ones to create such I am suffering a touch of technological fear about entering such a momentous task.

[Chris Haynes]

Today I scanned over 200 slides with a slide scanner, and edited them with a photo editor. The photo editor was able to make the scans of some very faded scans look almost real with its "color correction"... PLUS with its brightness controls (including "fill in flash") I was able to get some detail out of what looked like completely black slides.

After finishing up the slide tray (16 slides to go, but its late I have to go to bed) tomorrow, I will be adding these to the photo album database. This database allows me to search for photos by date and whatever "tags" I attach to them (like place, person, activity, etc). The photo database I use is this: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopalbum/main.html ... I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 to capture and edit from the slide scanner, and Paint Shop Pro to do some fine tuning.

[chasing23]

My niece wants me to create a website for all my recipes. So I could share it with others and likewise. As much as she says it is easy, there are many instant freely available ones to create such I am suffering a touch of technological fear about entering such a momentous task.

The recipe stuff is something that I have a big intrest in but I haven't moved on yet. I have been thinking that it would be a great thing to create a cooking comunity recipe book site. Though I haven't seen any site that looks how I would want it to work.

I think that you neice has a good idea in wanting you to put your recipes up on the web. It really allows you to share easially with so many more people what you love to make.

I'll have to keep you in mind if I ever start putting together a site for recipes. If there were only more time right now to do that.

[Corpse Cruncher]

The recipe stuff is something that I have a big interest in but I haven't moved on yet. I have been thinking that it would be a great thing to create a cooking community recipe book site. Though I haven't seen any site that looks how I would want it to work.

I think that you niece has a good idea in wanting you to put your recipes up on the web. It really allows you to share easially with so many more people what you love to make.

I'll have to keep you in mind if I ever start putting together a site for recipes. If there were only more time right now to do that.

I might just let my niece loose with this idea. She seems very eager, almost naggingly so, for it to take form. Although I suspect it is more a chance for her to educate me in all things technical. That and the subsequent shopping trip to buy some trinket, showing my appreciation of her patience in dealing with a technophobic-nincompoop like myself.;)

[bigred]

Aside from having it for e-mail, net shopping and chatting is there anything that you really need to have a computer for?
A job. :( There are of course many other jobs I'd rather have than one where I'm gawking at a PC most of the day.....but few pay as well or have the openings like IT (in theory anyway).


Communication can easily be done by putting pen to paper or picking up the phone. Shopping can be done by leaving your domicile. Gaming can be done with a set of twenty sided dice.True, but "e-communication" offers the best combo of speed, convenience, and permanence/paper trail, so to speak. As for shopping and gaming, I'm with you. In most cases I want to SEE (ie in person) something before I buy it. Gaming, eh - had a lot of fun with electronic/PC games, but had plenty before they came along, and kids today dink around w/em waaaay too much...wouldn't mind if they all disappeared forever today.

Also having digital cameras and photos scanned in etc is extremely convenient. Can instantly see if it's a good pic or not, no more taking junk to be developed, and can quickly and easily send to whoever as well as print a copy any time I want.

Oh yeah the online banking/bill paying is also extremely convenient. I almost never send checks for anything anymore and don't miss it one bit.

Having said all that, I find the internet to be both an incredible tool and yet a horrific drug (or cancer even) to our society which I would both miss greatly and yet rejoice if it were gone as well. But that's a soapbox for another thread.....

[bruto]

Today I scanned over 200 slides with a slide scanner, and edited them with a photo editor. The photo editor was able to make the scans of some very faded scans look almost real with its "color correction"... PLUS with its brightness controls (including "fill in flash") I was able to get some detail out of what looked like completely black slides.

After finishing up the slide tray (16 slides to go, but its late I have to go to bed) tomorrow, I will be adding these to the photo album database. This database allows me to search for photos by date and whatever "tags" I attach to them (like place, person, activity, etc). The photo database I use is this: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopalbum/main.html ... I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 to capture and edit from the slide scanner, and Paint Shop Pro to do some fine tuning.

I think the digital darkroom is one of the most wonderful aspects of the computer revolution, even though I still prefer to start with film. But remember when in order to get a print of a slide you had to take it to the lab, trust them to get the internegative right, not crop it in the wrong place, etc., and make a decent print, and it took a week or two? Now I can take a box of slides, scan the whole roll, color correct, crop, print to my taste, etc. all in little more time than it took me to drive to the photo lab.

I guess I'm old enough to look at something like "digital ICE" and be utterly amazed.

[Chris Haynes]

I... Now I can take a box of slides, scan the whole roll, color correct, crop, print to my taste, etc. all in little more time than it took me to drive to the photo lab.....

Your photos must not need as much correction as mine! I just spent the evening scanning 38 year old pictures (photo prints, the negatives are long lost)... some of them required some extensive color correction. All I managed to do was about 30 pictures.

Though, I did find something interesting. When I scanned them at about 600 dpi I discovered some detail that I never knew was there. So I rescanned that little section at even higher res (up to 4800 dpi), used some digital magic (love Unsharp Mask to refocus!), I was able to get some stuff I never knew I had. Though I have to admit, there is some darkening in the water that just kind of looks like a swimmer! On the original photo it is about 1/8 inch in length.

Can you see it?

[bruto]

Your photos must not need as much correction as mine! I just spent the evening scanning 38 year old pictures (photo prints, the negatives are long lost)... some of them required some extensive color correction. All I managed to do was about 30 pictures.

Though, I did find something interesting. When I scanned them at about 600 dpi I discovered some detail that I never knew was there. So I rescanned that little section at even higher res (up to 4800 dpi), used some digital magic (love Unsharp Mask to refocus!), I was able to get some stuff I never knew I had. Though I have to admit, there is some darkening in the water that just kind of looks like a swimmer! On the original photo it is about 1/8 inch in length.

Can you see it?

It's probably a lake monster. You see, if we all scanned our slides at high resolution, we'd probably find bigfeet in the shrubbery too. :D

Most of the slides I scan are recent, so color correction, etc. is pretty easy. Once you get the hang of a particular film, and of your own exposure habits, it can go pretty quickly. Still, you can go merrily along without much problem and then hit one that takes a couple of rescans and a half hour of fiddling to come out right. I often don't do the final correction when I first scan, but just get them on the hard drive and save the fine tuning for when I either print or convert to JPG for sharing. My main obstacle is usually getting around to scanning at all.

Old slides are a different matter, unless they're well kept Kodachromes. My scanner has a color restoration feature that does moderately well on faded film, but only goes so far when those old Ektachromes go yellow. Most of the slides I took as a kid have become essentially monochromes. But I have some old family Kodachromes going back to 1945 or so, and some of those are as good as if they'd been taken yesterday. I lament the demise (or near demise) of Kodachrome.

And of course, old prints are another matter too. Some of those can be just about unrecoverable. Often it's better not even to bother trying to recover the color, but just do them as black and white.

[Chris Haynes]

...Old slides are a different matter, unless they're well kept Kodachromes. My scanner has a color restoration feature that does moderately well on faded film, but only goes so far when those old Ektachromes go yellow. Most of the slides I took as a kid have become essentially monochromes. But I have some old family Kodachromes going back to 1945 or so, and some of those are as good as if they'd been taken yesterday. I lament the demise (or near demise) of Kodachrome.

....

Seconded!!! There are marked differences in the 30 year old slides!

Unfortunately I can't get this song out of my head:
http://www.superseventies.com/sl_kodachrome.html ... Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away!

By the way, I have been using Photoshop Elements 2.01 and Paint Shop Pro 9.0. The former works better with the slide scanner (a copy came WITH the slidescanner, an inexpensive Minolta Scan Dual III)... and the latter has some very good photo touch-up goodies, AND it is capable of 16 bit color (so I use it for sunset pictures... the Photoshop Elements only does 8 bit, so it is okay for snapshots). I've managed to get back color from almost totally faded pictures. Both of them have a button to "acquire" from the scanner.

I've become adept at using the "clone" tool to repair where I cut up the pictures (I was trying to squeeze more on a page). A feature that is included on both of the above mentioned picture editing products, but not with either scanner (the flatbed is an HP scanjet 4600, which can scan with better resolution than the slide scanner... I've done up to 4800 dpi).

For the prints I am putting them in a handy sorting box that I got from a friend who sell scrapbooking supplies. Even though my motto is that "I am a scanner, not a scrapper", I do hope to make a couple of scrapbooks of my more interesting times of life. Right now I am scanning prints from a week spent camping in the Perlas Island (near where Survivor Panama was filmed) when I was fifteen years old (they were in a "magnetic" photo album, but the pages failed, and most of the pictures fell out of it)... the pages from a long weekend camping trip in San Blas Islands is still intact (I was in Explorer Scouts while my dad was stationed in the Canal Zone). Then later I will do one for my rather wacky wedding. In both I will include some journaling which will hopefully make my kids laugh when I am gone, and to remind them that I used to be interesting.

I also plan to scan the pages I create.

I also plan to do index scans of all the negatives I have over the next year. I am also putting the slides in specialty storage pages... so if I need to scan for a print I can find it.

[Kenny 10 Bellys]

My Computer Usage?

1. On-line gaming
2. Using Skype for phone calls and text messaging friends around the world
3. Making special FX stuff for TV shows on the side
4 Running a web hosting business on the side
5 pr0n
6 Digital Darkroom stuff, used to be a photographer and still dabble
7 Playing DVDs and animations through my home cinema projector
8 pr0n
9 On-line shopping for equipment in Hong Kong, US, etc.
10 Create CGI animations
11 Assist with PC builds for people, downloading drivers, info, etc.

[Hellbound]

Kenny:

You forgot to add pr0n.

:D

[rls669]

The ability to instantly access the sum total of human knowledge is a pretty big feature. The side effect is equal access to the sum total of human stupidity.

Also, it's pretty cool that while I waste time on discussion forums, my computers are busy crunching numbers for cancer research.

[Almo]

Which could be explained out by just writing out the steps and folowing them

No. It would be far too slow, and accomplish nothing. Part of the fun of programming is getting an inanimate thing to do what you want. I refer to it as teaching. As in, "I taught my computer to play Othello." Which I really did, BTW. :)

[Jeff Corey]

I use it for research (from school, home, library), amassing test item files, communicating with cool people and getting students to run experiments on http://opl.apa.org

[Iamme]

Jeff,

Did that website exist prior to the making of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory? If it did, then they coud have said in the movie that the Oompaloompas were "opl. opa-ing". :)

[Chris Haynes]

Jeff,

Did that website exist prior to the making of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory? If it did, then they coud have said in the movie that the Oompaloompas were "opl. opa-ing". :)

What website existed before 1971?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067992/

[Wowbagger]

I use my computer for everything: taxes, gaming, movie viewing, Internet surfing, sorting all life forms into alphabetic order, etc.

But, mostly video editing, these days. Doing so just gets easier every year!

[Zbu]

I also talk to people in other countries to get a basic idea of how everybody in the world thinks and lives and...well, basically, as a previously Ugly American, I've learned that everybody in the world is pretty much the same aside from a few differences.

And the DVD burning, but that's my own stuff. ;)