For over two thousand years, engineers had to contend with manufacturing issues. We're still doing that today...
"... its design conception exceeded the engineering precision of its manufacture by a wide margin—with considerable cumulative inaccuracies in the gear trains, which would have cancelled out many of the subtle anomalies built into its design."
From the Wikipedia page "Antikythera mechanism," Google's feature for today, 2017-05-17.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Dummies Data Visualization Links
The following links are listed in Data Visualization for Dummies:
https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/
http://visual.ly/
http://chartporn.org/
https://excelcharts.com/posts/
http://flowingdata.com/
Seems to be more for artists than for engineers, though.
https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/
http://visual.ly/
http://chartporn.org/
https://excelcharts.com/posts/
http://flowingdata.com/
Seems to be more for artists than for engineers, though.
Thursday, March 30, 2017
A Better Way to Link to a Slide in PowerPoint
I've written about how to force Excel to use absolute paths in its links by specifying the Hyperlink Base That works in PowerPoint, too. Unfortunately, it interferes with PowerPoint's ability to follow internal links (links to other slides in the document).
Here's a workaround for that. It allows you to link to another slide in the same PPT even if you have Hyperlink Base set to some location. This was tested on PowerPoint 2003.
There are two parts to this. The first part is to create a "bookmark" at the slide you want to link to. Do this by creating a “Custom Slide Show”. It's analogous to adding a bookmark in Word (but, regrettably much more complicated and less intuitive).
1. In version 2003, choose Slide Show from the menu and then Custom Shows...
2. Click the New... button.
3. Enter a name for the Show in the uppermost textbox for the slide that you want to link to. For example, you might enter "Detailed Analysis".
4. In the left box, click on the slide that you want to "link to". Then click the Add >> button. (You can add multiple slides.)
5. Click OK and then Close.
The second part creates the link to it. When you click the link, it will run a mini slide show that consists of the target slide(s).
1. Select some text that you'd like to make into a hyperlink, for example, "Please see the Detailed Analysis".
2. Press Ctrl-K (or right-click on the selection and choose Hyperlink).
3. Click "Place in this Document" on the left.
4. In the scroll box that opens, scroll down to find "Detailed Analysis" (or whatever) under Custom Shows and click it. (If you see only Custom Shows, click the plus sign to the left of it).
5. Click the "Show and return" checkbox.
6. OK your way out.
The really neat thing is that the "link" persists even if slides are added before the target slide. This is an awesome improvement over the conventional bookmark mechanism in which you're limited to linking to a slide number. On the other hand, the hyperlink works only during a Slide Show. There is no option to right click and open hyperlink. So if you like to present in “edit mode” it won't work.
Also, navigation is a bit wonky. When you click on the link, PPT will show the target slide, as expected. But Alt-Left (the universal keystroke for "Back") doesn't return you to the previous slide. In order to go back, you have to tell PPT to advance to the next slide (press PgDn, for example) to get back to the previous slide. Pressing PgUp will cause PPT to ring the error bell at you. Don't worry. After a few dings, you'll get the hang of it.
Even if you don't need to set Hyperlink Base, you might prefer this method over the simpler method of linking to a slide. Because if that slide's position changes, the simple link won't work the way you intended.
Let me know if you find this useful. And if anyone knows this “GadiN” who reported the problem, please thank him or her for me and share this method.
Here's a workaround for that. It allows you to link to another slide in the same PPT even if you have Hyperlink Base set to some location. This was tested on PowerPoint 2003.
There are two parts to this. The first part is to create a "bookmark" at the slide you want to link to. Do this by creating a “Custom Slide Show”. It's analogous to adding a bookmark in Word (but, regrettably much more complicated and less intuitive).
1. In version 2003, choose Slide Show from the menu and then Custom Shows...
2. Click the New... button.
3. Enter a name for the Show in the uppermost textbox for the slide that you want to link to. For example, you might enter "Detailed Analysis".
4. In the left box, click on the slide that you want to "link to". Then click the Add >> button. (You can add multiple slides.)
5. Click OK and then Close.
The second part creates the link to it. When you click the link, it will run a mini slide show that consists of the target slide(s).
1. Select some text that you'd like to make into a hyperlink, for example, "Please see the Detailed Analysis".
2. Press Ctrl-K (or right-click on the selection and choose Hyperlink).
3. Click "Place in this Document" on the left.
4. In the scroll box that opens, scroll down to find "Detailed Analysis" (or whatever) under Custom Shows and click it. (If you see only Custom Shows, click the plus sign to the left of it).
5. Click the "Show and return" checkbox.
6. OK your way out.
The really neat thing is that the "link" persists even if slides are added before the target slide. This is an awesome improvement over the conventional bookmark mechanism in which you're limited to linking to a slide number. On the other hand, the hyperlink works only during a Slide Show. There is no option to right click and open hyperlink. So if you like to present in “edit mode” it won't work.
Also, navigation is a bit wonky. When you click on the link, PPT will show the target slide, as expected. But Alt-Left (the universal keystroke for "Back") doesn't return you to the previous slide. In order to go back, you have to tell PPT to advance to the next slide (press PgDn, for example) to get back to the previous slide. Pressing PgUp will cause PPT to ring the error bell at you. Don't worry. After a few dings, you'll get the hang of it.
Even if you don't need to set Hyperlink Base, you might prefer this method over the simpler method of linking to a slide. Because if that slide's position changes, the simple link won't work the way you intended.
Let me know if you find this useful. And if anyone knows this “GadiN” who reported the problem, please thank him or her for me and share this method.
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Is AntiVirus as Bad as Malware?
I've been using and recommending AVG AntiVirus Free for over a decade. Whenever a new computer's trial version of Symantec AntiVirus would expire, I'd uninstall it and install AVG.
But when I accepted the upgrade to version 16, I lost the ability to control its update schedule. It's no longer possible to disable automatic updates. Now the only option is to accept automatic updates whenever they become available. Users even lost the ability to force an update.
That's a big problem. I once hosed a system when AVG updated during a Windows Update. That was when I decided to disable automatic updates and run them manually with a simple right click of the taskbar icon.
I still have the install file for AVG 15. Unfortunately, it downloads the full installer from the Internet and then installs the latest version.
I considered doing away with AntiVirus entirely. But I'm not the only user of the computers -- the other users will need to have the safety net of an AntiVirus program.
So it's time to shop for a new AntiVirus program!
But when I accepted the upgrade to version 16, I lost the ability to control its update schedule. It's no longer possible to disable automatic updates. Now the only option is to accept automatic updates whenever they become available. Users even lost the ability to force an update.
That's a big problem. I once hosed a system when AVG updated during a Windows Update. That was when I decided to disable automatic updates and run them manually with a simple right click of the taskbar icon.
I still have the install file for AVG 15. Unfortunately, it downloads the full installer from the Internet and then installs the latest version.
I considered doing away with AntiVirus entirely. But I'm not the only user of the computers -- the other users will need to have the safety net of an AntiVirus program.
So it's time to shop for a new AntiVirus program!
Friday, February 03, 2017
Adventures in Email Debugging
On Wednesday I was unable to download my personal email on my work computer. Since downloading personal email at work is something I probably shouldn't be doing anyway, I didn't look into the matter right away.
And besides, my set up is a bit complicated, actually. The email client is Outlook, which is used in IMAP mode to work with the Exchange email server. But I also use Outlook to connect to Yahoo's POP and SMTP servers for my personal mail. But not directly.
Outlook is configured to connect to Firetrust's Benign (0), which is set up to listen on a local IP address. And Benign is configured to connect to POPFile (1). So any one of those three programs could be at fault, or the Yahoo POP server could be down, or the IT department might've blocked the necessary ports.
I figured I'd restart my computer eventually. But I was running a long script, and I didn't want to do a restart at that time. So I first I stopped and restarted POPFile and then Benign. And then Outlook.
When that didn't help, I fired up Firetrust's Mailwasher Pro (2), just to see if I could connect to the Yahoo POP server and download message headers. I could. So at least the POP port 995 (for SSL) was still open on the router.
Then I set up a new Outlook email account profile that would connect directly with the Yahoo mail server. That worked, too. So Outlook was still okay. That meant Benign or POPFile was at fault.
I decided to check out the POPFile website first. And there I read in the news listing, “The Windows version of POPFile 1.1.3 is no longer compatible with some SSL servers...” True it was dated back to September 2015, but if Yahoo just upgraded its server, then it would make sense.
I downloaded and installed the SSL updater that POPFile provided (3) and got it all working again in a jiffy.
So if anyone else out there is using POPFile as an intermediary between Yahoo and his or her email client, be prepared to use this technique to get it working again.
(0) http://www.firetrust.com/products/benign
(1) http://getpopfile.org/
(2) http://www.firetrust.com/products/mailwasher-pro
(3) http://getpopfile.org/downloads/updateSSL-mk2-for-POPFile-1.1.3.zip
And besides, my set up is a bit complicated, actually. The email client is Outlook, which is used in IMAP mode to work with the Exchange email server. But I also use Outlook to connect to Yahoo's POP and SMTP servers for my personal mail. But not directly.
Outlook is configured to connect to Firetrust's Benign (0), which is set up to listen on a local IP address. And Benign is configured to connect to POPFile (1). So any one of those three programs could be at fault, or the Yahoo POP server could be down, or the IT department might've blocked the necessary ports.
I figured I'd restart my computer eventually. But I was running a long script, and I didn't want to do a restart at that time. So I first I stopped and restarted POPFile and then Benign. And then Outlook.
When that didn't help, I fired up Firetrust's Mailwasher Pro (2), just to see if I could connect to the Yahoo POP server and download message headers. I could. So at least the POP port 995 (for SSL) was still open on the router.
Then I set up a new Outlook email account profile that would connect directly with the Yahoo mail server. That worked, too. So Outlook was still okay. That meant Benign or POPFile was at fault.
I decided to check out the POPFile website first. And there I read in the news listing, “The Windows version of POPFile 1.1.3 is no longer compatible with some SSL servers...” True it was dated back to September 2015, but if Yahoo just upgraded its server, then it would make sense.
I downloaded and installed the SSL updater that POPFile provided (3) and got it all working again in a jiffy.
So if anyone else out there is using POPFile as an intermediary between Yahoo and his or her email client, be prepared to use this technique to get it working again.
(0) http://www.firetrust.com/products/benign
(1) http://getpopfile.org/
(2) http://www.firetrust.com/products/mailwasher-pro
(3) http://getpopfile.org/downloads/updateSSL-mk2-for-POPFile-1.1.3.zip
Saturday, January 14, 2017
On the Benefits of Social Media
Today's Soup to Nutz comic strip by Rick Stromoski is definitely blog worthy...
http://www.gocomics.com/soup-to-nutz/2017/01/14
If you can't follow the link, it's simply that Babs remarks to her brother Roy-boy,
http://www.gocomics.com/soup-to-nutz/2017/01/14
If you can't follow the link, it's simply that Babs remarks to her brother Roy-boy,
I'm so glad I live in a time when there's social media... In the old days it took weeks, even months... before finding out that someone was an idiot."Naturally I posted it to Facebook.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Clinton -- the Computer Illiterate
Did Hilary Clinton's discomfort with technology cause her to lose the election?
After reading the FBI summaries of the Clinton email debacle, Garrett Graff reports that Clinton could not use a desktop computer and preferred to use a single outdated BlackBerry (Curve 8310) for both business and personal correspondence rather than use the government-issued device for State Department business.
Click here for the podcast in which “Sean Cole talks to reporter Garrett Graff, who read the 247 pages of interview summaries of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. Graff concludes that it’s not the scandal most people thought it was. Not a sophisticated, Machiavellian scheme to evade federal rules and record laws. The interviews 'depict less a sinister and carefully calculated effort to avoid transparency than a busy and uninterested executive who shows little comfort with even the basics of technology, working with a small, harried inner circle of aides. Reading the FBI’s interviews, Clinton’s team hardly seems organized enough to mount any sort of sinister cover-up.'”
Here's a link the Garrett Graff's article on Politico:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/hillary-clinton-emails-2016-server-state-department-fbi-214307
After reading the FBI summaries of the Clinton email debacle, Garrett Graff reports that Clinton could not use a desktop computer and preferred to use a single outdated BlackBerry (Curve 8310) for both business and personal correspondence rather than use the government-issued device for State Department business.
Click here for the podcast in which “Sean Cole talks to reporter Garrett Graff, who read the 247 pages of interview summaries of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. Graff concludes that it’s not the scandal most people thought it was. Not a sophisticated, Machiavellian scheme to evade federal rules and record laws. The interviews 'depict less a sinister and carefully calculated effort to avoid transparency than a busy and uninterested executive who shows little comfort with even the basics of technology, working with a small, harried inner circle of aides. Reading the FBI’s interviews, Clinton’s team hardly seems organized enough to mount any sort of sinister cover-up.'”
Here's a link the Garrett Graff's article on Politico:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/hillary-clinton-emails-2016-server-state-department-fbi-214307
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Traffic Light Improvements For the Age of Mobile Communications
I have an issue with traffic lights.
When I'm stuck right behind an inattentive driver at a red light, I get annoyed when the driver doesn't go right after the light turns green. I get infuriated when the driver waits so long to go that the light turns back to red again before I can get across the intersection.
That's pretty much the only time I use the horn. And it occurred to me that the traffic light itself should be equipped with its own horn. It would beep whenever it turns green, relieving other drivers of the effort of doing so.
Inattentive drivers annoy me even when I'm not behind them. When they remain stopped at a green light while I'm at the red light for the crossing traffic, they cause the signal to take longer to cycle. The light stays green longer for them and stays red longer for me. I say aloud, “Go already, so I don't have to stay here forever!”
A few towns have installed traffic light cameras, which take a picture of the license plates of cars that go through red lights. But I say that these cameras should be used to monitor the faces of drivers who wait at red lights. Face recognition would be used to determine whether the driver is paying attention to the light, or whether they are reading e-mail or texting. The light would stay red until the driver's gaze was focused on driving.
What do you think about this?
When I'm stuck right behind an inattentive driver at a red light, I get annoyed when the driver doesn't go right after the light turns green. I get infuriated when the driver waits so long to go that the light turns back to red again before I can get across the intersection.
That's pretty much the only time I use the horn. And it occurred to me that the traffic light itself should be equipped with its own horn. It would beep whenever it turns green, relieving other drivers of the effort of doing so.
Inattentive drivers annoy me even when I'm not behind them. When they remain stopped at a green light while I'm at the red light for the crossing traffic, they cause the signal to take longer to cycle. The light stays green longer for them and stays red longer for me. I say aloud, “Go already, so I don't have to stay here forever!”
A few towns have installed traffic light cameras, which take a picture of the license plates of cars that go through red lights. But I say that these cameras should be used to monitor the faces of drivers who wait at red lights. Face recognition would be used to determine whether the driver is paying attention to the light, or whether they are reading e-mail or texting. The light would stay red until the driver's gaze was focused on driving.
What do you think about this?
Friday, September 30, 2016
Presidential Candidates' Answers to the 2016 Top 20 Science and Technology Questions
For this election cycle, ScienceDebate has included the Green and Libertarian party candidates in its list of 20 questions regarding the most pressing "... Science, Engineering, Tech, Health & Environmental Issues in 2016."
You can read it all here: www.sciencedebate.org
You can read it all here: www.sciencedebate.org
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Fitting Data in Excel and OpenOffice Calc
I've stopped installing Microsoft Office onto my home computers. Instead, I installed OpenOffice on my latest two computers. It does everything I need it to do. Or so I thought.
One day I decided I wanted OpenOffice Calc to perform a polynomial fit to some measurements I'd been taking. So I did what I always do in Excel: create a Scatterplot of the data, add a Trendline, choose Polynomial and its order, and then click the checkboxes to display both the equation and the R2 value on the chart. Except there was no polynomial Trendline!
According to the OO help forums, there really is no built-in polynomial trendline in Calc. But there is an extension called CorelPolyGUI that does the trick.
Unfortunately, I wasn't too thrilled with this extension. My measurements were accumulating every week. With Excel, I'd be able to add new data and watch the scatterplot update the polynomial. But CorelPolyGUI doesn't work that way. The result from CorelPolyGUI essentially is a snapshot that's disconnected from the input data. To get it to update, I found that I had to delete the result and then re-invoke the extension with new data ranges. And that was a big problem – I wasn't sure over what extent of my data I wanted to fit. Perhaps I could get a better fit if I omitted some measurements. So I needed to alter the input range a few times and compare the results.
There is another method, that if you're clever, you can program yourself. It's based on the following set of equations (for a second-degree poly fit):
To get the values of A, B and C, you simply matrix multiply the vector on the left side of the last equation with the inverted 3 x 3 matrix on the right hand side. Once you program this into your spreadsheet, you can alter the data and instantly get the polynomial function to update.
But it turns out there's an even easier way. I found it accidentally in the results from my search for how to fit a polynomial in OpenOffice. It involves using LINEST to operate on array data. The web page^3 describes using LINEST in Excel to perform non-linear curve fitting. It turns out that the OpenOffice Calc LINEST function works the same way, albeit with slightly different syntax. And the syntax is different because of how you define an array in Calc, separating the elements with semi-colons instead of commas.
In retrospect, I see now the same solution in the OO help forums. The user Villeroy attached a spreadsheet with an example that uses LINEST. But instead of raising the range of independent values to {1;2}, he added the X2 column and referenced it in LINEST. Same thing, really, but perhaps a bit less elegant.
One day I decided I wanted OpenOffice Calc to perform a polynomial fit to some measurements I'd been taking. So I did what I always do in Excel: create a Scatterplot of the data, add a Trendline, choose Polynomial and its order, and then click the checkboxes to display both the equation and the R2 value on the chart. Except there was no polynomial Trendline!
According to the OO help forums, there really is no built-in polynomial trendline in Calc. But there is an extension called CorelPolyGUI that does the trick.
Unfortunately, I wasn't too thrilled with this extension. My measurements were accumulating every week. With Excel, I'd be able to add new data and watch the scatterplot update the polynomial. But CorelPolyGUI doesn't work that way. The result from CorelPolyGUI essentially is a snapshot that's disconnected from the input data. To get it to update, I found that I had to delete the result and then re-invoke the extension with new data ranges. And that was a big problem – I wasn't sure over what extent of my data I wanted to fit. Perhaps I could get a better fit if I omitted some measurements. So I needed to alter the input range a few times and compare the results.
There is another method, that if you're clever, you can program yourself. It's based on the following set of equations (for a second-degree poly fit):
To get the values of A, B and C, you simply matrix multiply the vector on the left side of the last equation with the inverted 3 x 3 matrix on the right hand side. Once you program this into your spreadsheet, you can alter the data and instantly get the polynomial function to update.
But it turns out there's an even easier way. I found it accidentally in the results from my search for how to fit a polynomial in OpenOffice. It involves using LINEST to operate on array data. The web page^3 describes using LINEST in Excel to perform non-linear curve fitting. It turns out that the OpenOffice Calc LINEST function works the same way, albeit with slightly different syntax. And the syntax is different because of how you define an array in Calc, separating the elements with semi-colons instead of commas.
In retrospect, I see now the same solution in the OO help forums. The user Villeroy attached a spreadsheet with an example that uses LINEST. But instead of raising the range of independent values to {1;2}, he added the X2 column and referenced it in LINEST. Same thing, really, but perhaps a bit less elegant.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Must-Have Extensions For FireFox and Chrome
FireFox is my favorite browser. It beats Chrome in terms of usability. But I'm curious to see if I could live with Chrome for a while. So I'm taking it for a test drive.
First for safe browsing, I like to have...
NoScript (FireFox) // ScriptNo/ScriptSafe (Chrome)
Blocks all scripts from running. Allows the user to add exceptions for scripts on any given domain, either just for the current session (temporarily) or also for future sessions (permanently). I think I like ScriptSafe on Chrome better than NoScript on FireFox. Why? Because NoScript will reload the page each time a single host is enabled, whereas ScriptSafe will let you enable multiple host before reloading the page. And ScriptSafe features color-coded buttons while NoScript differentiates between temporary and permanent whitelist with italics.
WOT (FireFox) // WOT (Chrome)
WOT, or Web Of Trust, warns you in advance when a link leads to a dangerous website, before you even click on it. The database of dangerous links is maintained by the community of WOT users. But this sometimes can lead to sites getting blocked when a user disagrees with a site's ideology. Still, you can get more detail on each website's rating and decide for yourself.
For usability, try these extensions...
FBPurity (FireFox, Chrome, Safari, Opera)
Facebook could be useful if only _______ (fill in the blank). Well, FBPurity fills in the blanks by filtering out the elements that you don't want to see. I use it to block "food pron" (plus other annoying and recurrent topics), to keep videos from auto-playing, to hide the reactions bar, to always sort posts in Most Recent order, to hide the newsfeed, etc.
LastTab (FireFox) // CLUT (Chrome)
N either FireFox nor Chrome cycle through tabs with Ctrl-Tab the way Windows cycles through active programs with Alt-Tab. These extensions alter how these browsers behave when you press Ctrl-Tab. So rather than cycling tabs from left to right, Ctrl-Tab cycles in Most Recently Used order. There is one caveat, though. Chrome extensions are not allowed to redefine default keystrokes (such as Ctrl-Tab), so none of the MRU-type tab managers on Chrome can fix Ctrl-Tab. However, you can bind CLUT to Ctrl-q and Ctrl-Shift-Q, which is just to the right of Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab.
Password Management
Both Chrome and FireFox come out-of-the-box with the ability to remember the username and password needed to log in at each unique website. However, FireFox can remember multiple usernames and passwords for any given site. After looking for a Chrome extension to get Chrome to work this way (and failing), I thought I stumbled across an experimental option to enable the behavior. But perhaps not, since the setting I thought I discovered doesn't affect this at all. Rather, Chrome (at version 49) just started behaving the way I wanted it to!
View Selection Source
In FireFox, you can select content, right click on it and then choose a command to view the source code for that extension. Chrome provides an "Inspect" command, but it reveals only the CSS details and not the complete HTML. The View Selection Source extension for Chrome (or its equivalent) is necessary to see the snippet of HTML that's rendered by the browser for that selected content. Yes, you can press Ctrl-U to view the source of the entire page in a new tab. But then you have to search for the content you're interested in. That's awkward, and it works only if the content can be pasted into the search bar. The weird thing about the View Selection Source extension is that it doesn't come up if you search for it on Google Play. I found the link in a post on the Help Center.
Save As... / Print To... PDF
Chrome has a built-in PDF printer that it calls "Save to PDF." It works great, and there's no need to install a separate printer driver. But you'll have to choose at least one of these three options to get FireFox to save a page as PDF, too.
2016-07-09 LG Added the section "Save As... / Print To... PDF"
2016-06-13 LG Added "View Selection Source" paragraph.
First for safe browsing, I like to have...
NoScript (FireFox) // ScriptNo/ScriptSafe (Chrome)
Blocks all scripts from running. Allows the user to add exceptions for scripts on any given domain, either just for the current session (temporarily) or also for future sessions (permanently). I think I like ScriptSafe on Chrome better than NoScript on FireFox. Why? Because NoScript will reload the page each time a single host is enabled, whereas ScriptSafe will let you enable multiple host before reloading the page. And ScriptSafe features color-coded buttons while NoScript differentiates between temporary and permanent whitelist with italics.
WOT (FireFox) // WOT (Chrome)
WOT, or Web Of Trust, warns you in advance when a link leads to a dangerous website, before you even click on it. The database of dangerous links is maintained by the community of WOT users. But this sometimes can lead to sites getting blocked when a user disagrees with a site's ideology. Still, you can get more detail on each website's rating and decide for yourself.
For usability, try these extensions...
FBPurity (FireFox, Chrome, Safari, Opera)
Facebook could be useful if only _______ (fill in the blank). Well, FBPurity fills in the blanks by filtering out the elements that you don't want to see. I use it to block "food pron" (plus other annoying and recurrent topics), to keep videos from auto-playing, to hide the reactions bar, to always sort posts in Most Recent order, to hide the newsfeed, etc.
LastTab (FireFox) // CLUT (Chrome)
N either FireFox nor Chrome cycle through tabs with Ctrl-Tab the way Windows cycles through active programs with Alt-Tab. These extensions alter how these browsers behave when you press Ctrl-Tab. So rather than cycling tabs from left to right, Ctrl-Tab cycles in Most Recently Used order. There is one caveat, though. Chrome extensions are not allowed to redefine default keystrokes (such as Ctrl-Tab), so none of the MRU-type tab managers on Chrome can fix Ctrl-Tab. However, you can bind CLUT to Ctrl-q and Ctrl-Shift-Q, which is just to the right of Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab.
Password Management
Both Chrome and FireFox come out-of-the-box with the ability to remember the username and password needed to log in at each unique website. However, FireFox can remember multiple usernames and passwords for any given site. After looking for a Chrome extension to get Chrome to work this way (and failing), I thought I stumbled across an experimental option to enable the behavior. But perhaps not, since the setting I thought I discovered doesn't affect this at all. Rather, Chrome (at version 49) just started behaving the way I wanted it to!
View Selection Source
In FireFox, you can select content, right click on it and then choose a command to view the source code for that extension. Chrome provides an "Inspect" command, but it reveals only the CSS details and not the complete HTML. The View Selection Source extension for Chrome (or its equivalent) is necessary to see the snippet of HTML that's rendered by the browser for that selected content. Yes, you can press Ctrl-U to view the source of the entire page in a new tab. But then you have to search for the content you're interested in. That's awkward, and it works only if the content can be pasted into the search bar. The weird thing about the View Selection Source extension is that it doesn't come up if you search for it on Google Play. I found the link in a post on the Help Center.
Save As... / Print To... PDF
Chrome has a built-in PDF printer that it calls "Save to PDF." It works great, and there's no need to install a separate printer driver. But you'll have to choose at least one of these three options to get FireFox to save a page as PDF, too.
- Install on your computer a PDF Printer Drive, such as PDFCreator or CutePDF. (Both are free to download and use.)
- Install in FireFox a PDF printer extension.
- Use an online Web page to PDF service.
I like the first option, since the extensions I've come across either save the web page as a image or send the HTML over the internet to a server to perform the conversion. I like the ability to select and copy text from the PDF, which is not possible with an image. And when I generate PDF, it's usually to record a financial transaction, the details of which I'd rather keep on my local hard drive.
At one point I couldn't get the PDF printer drivers to work with FireFox. Before giving up and switching to Chrome, I came across this Mozilla support page. It turned out that resetting the print_printer setting fixed it. As well, I've had to delete the prefs.js in order to solve a problem with the PDF coming out with all blank pages.
What are your favorite Extensions / Add-ons?
What are your favorite Extensions / Add-ons?
2016-07-09 LG Added the section "Save As... / Print To... PDF"
2016-06-13 LG Added "View Selection Source" paragraph.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Notes on Setting Up Windows 7
Recently I had to set up fresh installations of Windows 7 on two computers. Here are some tips to make that process go a bit smoother...
1. Windows Update #1 -- Microsoft has released hundreds of recommended and important updates for Windows 7 since it was introduced. All that data is a burden for Windows Update, and the update process can bog down on slower computers. To remedy this, you'll want to download the update associated with KB3102810 first before you even check for updates. Adjusting your computer's Power Options so it stays awake during the long update process may also help.
2. Windows Update #2 -- I wrote about this before. Unless you want to upgrade to Windows 10, you'll want to hide the update KB3035583, or uninstall it if it already got onto your system.
3. Gadgets -- Third party gadgets are no longer supported due to "serious vulnerabilities" in the Windows Sidebar. You'll still be able to add the default Microsoft ones, such as "Clock," "Calendar," "Slide Show" and "CPU Usage" (my favorites). But I also liked the third party "Network Meter," which I'd use often to verify download rates. Since Network Meter is no longer available, I figured out that I can use ResMon to do something similar. To have ResMon (almost) mimic Network Meter I minimize the various components in the left pane of ResMon and resize the window so that only the network graphs show up. And I add a shortcut to ResMon.exe in my StartUp folder.
Do you have any tips for setting up Windows 7? Please share them!
1. Windows Update #1 -- Microsoft has released hundreds of recommended and important updates for Windows 7 since it was introduced. All that data is a burden for Windows Update, and the update process can bog down on slower computers. To remedy this, you'll want to download the update associated with KB3102810 first before you even check for updates. Adjusting your computer's Power Options so it stays awake during the long update process may also help.
2. Windows Update #2 -- I wrote about this before. Unless you want to upgrade to Windows 10, you'll want to hide the update KB3035583, or uninstall it if it already got onto your system.
3. Gadgets -- Third party gadgets are no longer supported due to "serious vulnerabilities" in the Windows Sidebar. You'll still be able to add the default Microsoft ones, such as "Clock," "Calendar," "Slide Show" and "CPU Usage" (my favorites). But I also liked the third party "Network Meter," which I'd use often to verify download rates. Since Network Meter is no longer available, I figured out that I can use ResMon to do something similar. To have ResMon (almost) mimic Network Meter I minimize the various components in the left pane of ResMon and resize the window so that only the network graphs show up. And I add a shortcut to ResMon.exe in my StartUp folder.
Do you have any tips for setting up Windows 7? Please share them!
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Taking the Plunge
Several weeks ago I took the plunge and bought myself a cell phone. This leaves my brother as possibly the only person in the USA who doesn't have one.
Many years ago I bought cell phones for both my wife and daughter. But I scoffed at the idea of using one myself. "No one wants to talk to me," I'd say. As for emergencies, I'd say, "Everyone else has a cell phone. I can ask someone to call for help." And I could send texts via e-mail for free to my daughter's cell phone from my tablet.
So why get one now? My motivation was not self-interest. I got one so that my chronically-ill wife could get in touch with me easily in case she had a flare up. As well, the tablet could send e-mail only when connected to a Wi-Fi network, so I'd have to struggle to find free public Wi-Fi in order to text my daughter. Now that I have a cell phone, I can exchange texts with her wherever I happen to be.
Which cell phone did I choose? Which plan? Naturally, this Luddite was compelled to look for the cheapest and most basic phone and service. But the Geek in me tempered that with technological requirements. For example, since we already had two cell phones in use at our home, I looked for a device that would connect to the same (GSM) network. I also wanted a device that could be charged through a microUSB port so that I could use a generic charger. And I wanted push buttons, not a touchscreen.
I decided that for my needs, a pay-as-you-go plan would be far cheaper than a contract. So I researched the plans and found out which providers used the network we were already using. And I kept my eyes open at drug stores for those providers' phones. And then I found a push-button phone, discounted 50%, for $4.99. I bought it, despite the fact that I couldn't tell how it connected to its charger, and despite the nagging feeling that it was already obsolete.
Well, it turned out that it was obsolete -- I wasn't able to activate that $4.99 cell phone. The company's customer service explained that the device wasn't supported in my area, and that they'd send a different one. And the phone didn't have a microUSB, either. But I hoped that the replacement device would have one.
I waited, and I waited, for the replacement phone. Finally, after two extra phone calls to customer service, which involved promises that I'd get it in two days, I got it.
They sent me an LG touchscreen phone. I was initially disappointed about the touchscreen, but I tried to maintain an open mind. "At least the device charges through a microUSB port," I told myself. Also, this device had a "3x minutes, texts and data for life" plan associated with it.
It activated easily enough. But something seemed wrong. Every time I tried to make a phone call, the keypad would disappear from the screen as soon as the call connected. So I wasn't able to "Press 1 for English" or anything like that. (See, that's why I want a push-button phone. Real buttons hardly ever disappear.) Eventually, I figured out how to get the display to turn on. If I held the power button down as if to turn off the phone, the screen would light up asking if I wanted to turn off the phone. I could then respond "No" and gain access to the keypad without the phone disconnecting.
Even though I was able to use the phone, I decided that the phone was defective and needed to be replaced. First, I visited the LG website and quickly found a customer service agent to chat with. She "talked" me through the steps of rebooting the phone and then asked me to retest the phone. It continued to misbehave, so she suggested that the proximity sensor was faulty and encouraged me to contact the provider to get the phone replaced.
I saved the chat text and sent it to one of the provider's customer service contacts, who again asked me to reboot the phone and try it again. Finally, I got them to agree to send yet another phone, which arrived quickly and worked properly.
All of the sending and returning of phones, although time-consuming, was paid for by the provider. I probably could have asked to have some minutes refunded because of all that I wasted while testing the phone, but I decided I was still ahead.
Eventually I bought more minutes and extended the activation period out 2 years. I figured that the phone and service cost about $6 per month, assuming the phone lasts the entire two years. So overall I'm pretty happy about it. The only issue I have now is this: how do I carry the thing around all the time?
Many years ago I bought cell phones for both my wife and daughter. But I scoffed at the idea of using one myself. "No one wants to talk to me," I'd say. As for emergencies, I'd say, "Everyone else has a cell phone. I can ask someone to call for help." And I could send texts via e-mail for free to my daughter's cell phone from my tablet.
So why get one now? My motivation was not self-interest. I got one so that my chronically-ill wife could get in touch with me easily in case she had a flare up. As well, the tablet could send e-mail only when connected to a Wi-Fi network, so I'd have to struggle to find free public Wi-Fi in order to text my daughter. Now that I have a cell phone, I can exchange texts with her wherever I happen to be.
Which cell phone did I choose? Which plan? Naturally, this Luddite was compelled to look for the cheapest and most basic phone and service. But the Geek in me tempered that with technological requirements. For example, since we already had two cell phones in use at our home, I looked for a device that would connect to the same (GSM) network. I also wanted a device that could be charged through a microUSB port so that I could use a generic charger. And I wanted push buttons, not a touchscreen.
I decided that for my needs, a pay-as-you-go plan would be far cheaper than a contract. So I researched the plans and found out which providers used the network we were already using. And I kept my eyes open at drug stores for those providers' phones. And then I found a push-button phone, discounted 50%, for $4.99. I bought it, despite the fact that I couldn't tell how it connected to its charger, and despite the nagging feeling that it was already obsolete.
Well, it turned out that it was obsolete -- I wasn't able to activate that $4.99 cell phone. The company's customer service explained that the device wasn't supported in my area, and that they'd send a different one. And the phone didn't have a microUSB, either. But I hoped that the replacement device would have one.
I waited, and I waited, for the replacement phone. Finally, after two extra phone calls to customer service, which involved promises that I'd get it in two days, I got it.
They sent me an LG touchscreen phone. I was initially disappointed about the touchscreen, but I tried to maintain an open mind. "At least the device charges through a microUSB port," I told myself. Also, this device had a "3x minutes, texts and data for life" plan associated with it.
It activated easily enough. But something seemed wrong. Every time I tried to make a phone call, the keypad would disappear from the screen as soon as the call connected. So I wasn't able to "Press 1 for English" or anything like that. (See, that's why I want a push-button phone. Real buttons hardly ever disappear.) Eventually, I figured out how to get the display to turn on. If I held the power button down as if to turn off the phone, the screen would light up asking if I wanted to turn off the phone. I could then respond "No" and gain access to the keypad without the phone disconnecting.
Even though I was able to use the phone, I decided that the phone was defective and needed to be replaced. First, I visited the LG website and quickly found a customer service agent to chat with. She "talked" me through the steps of rebooting the phone and then asked me to retest the phone. It continued to misbehave, so she suggested that the proximity sensor was faulty and encouraged me to contact the provider to get the phone replaced.
I saved the chat text and sent it to one of the provider's customer service contacts, who again asked me to reboot the phone and try it again. Finally, I got them to agree to send yet another phone, which arrived quickly and worked properly.
All of the sending and returning of phones, although time-consuming, was paid for by the provider. I probably could have asked to have some minutes refunded because of all that I wasted while testing the phone, but I decided I was still ahead.
Eventually I bought more minutes and extended the activation period out 2 years. I figured that the phone and service cost about $6 per month, assuming the phone lasts the entire two years. So overall I'm pretty happy about it. The only issue I have now is this: how do I carry the thing around all the time?
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
How About Never?
A coworker had just bought a refurbished computer with Windows 7 OS and was dutifully applying updates. He noticed a new icon in the taskbar tray and clicked it. The program presented him with the opportunity to upgrade to Windows 10. It implicitly asked when would you like to download Windows 10? The dialog box offered two buttons labeled "Upgrade now" and "Upgrade tonight."
How about Never? That was not an option.
The Gwx.exe and GwxUX.exe programs make it easy for users to reserve their free copy of Windows 10. They appear after the user applies the update associated with KB3035583. And they disappear after the user uninstalls that update.
This "How To Geek" article describes it all in detail.
My previous post discusses why you might want to avoid upgrading.
How about Never? That was not an option.
The Gwx.exe and GwxUX.exe programs make it easy for users to reserve their free copy of Windows 10. They appear after the user applies the update associated with KB3035583. And they disappear after the user uninstalls that update.
This "How To Geek" article describes it all in detail.
My previous post discusses why you might want to avoid upgrading.
Friday, July 31, 2015
The Windows 10 Giveaway
As of Wednesday Microsoft started giving away Windows 10. What would you be giving away if you upgrade? Privacy? Security? Performance? #UpgradeYourWorld
According to the Free Software Foundation1:
"What am I supposed to do about it?" I hear you ask.
1 https://www.fsf.org/windows
According to the Free Software Foundation1:
- Windows' 10's privacy policy asserts the privilege to sell almost any information it wants about users, even creating a unique advertising ID for each user to sweeten the deal.
- Microsoft announced that, starting with Windows 10, it will begin forcing lower-paying users to test less-secure new updates before giving higher-paying users the option of whether or not to adopt them.
- Microsoft is reported to give the NSA special security tip-offs that it could use to crack into Windows computers.
"What am I supposed to do about it?" I hear you ask.
- Don't upgrade to Windows 10.
- Begin to use Free Software that runs under Windows. Here's a small excerpt of all that's available.
- Download and try a free Linux Live CD.
- Install one of the many free Linux Distros on a spare computer.
- Spread the word about Free Software using responsible social media.
- Buy a computer that has a free Linux Distro pre-installed on it.
 |
| Close Windows, Open Doors |
1 https://www.fsf.org/windows
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Undo the Default App Selection in Android
Here's the scenario.... Your Android device presents you with a choice of apps to complete an action with. You're supposed to select the app and then select either "Just Once" or "Always." Either way the app opens to complete the action.
If you selected "Just Once" you'll have to choose again the next time you need to complete that same action. That might seem annoying. But what if it's the wrong choice? If you choose "Always" you won't get to choose again, at least not easily. And if the app cannot complete the action successfully, what then?
According to many lame blog posts and webzine articles, it's "easy" to change your mind after choosing "Always." They say to just press the app's "Clear Defaults" button. Here's one such article on AndroidCentral.
Fortunately AndroidCentral is swarming with brilliant users who are much more sophisticated than the folks who write the articles. I say "fortunately" because when I needed to change the option of using Photos for downloading an image file attachment, the article's advice was useless because Photos' "Clear Defaults" button was greyed out.
A user called Siddhartha Gupta suggested that to remove Photos as the default app, it's necessary to change the setting for Google+. That didn't work, either.
A user called ChromeJob pointed out that there's "a 'reset app preferences' in the action overflow button. This appears to reset ALL default app choices at once." If only it were that easy for me. It didn't work.
The thing that finally worked for me was to revert to the factory version of Photos by pressing the "Uninstall Updates" button. After doing that, I was presented with a choice of two other apps to use. The idea to alter Photos' version came to me after reading a comment byGrillMouster who stated that "when any of those apps receive an update the ["Just Once" / "Always"] dialog will pop up again, even if you had previously set an app as the default."
If you want the very gory details of why Photos didn't work, please read on to find out what I was trying to do.
I had used Firefox to log in to an Exchange Server using an Outlook Web Access (OWA) client hosted on a web page. I then opened an e-mail that had a JPG file attached to it. When I attempted to download the attachment, OWA again wanted me to provide my username and password. Photos was unable to handle that request (and neither was Firefox). It was only by completing the action with ES File Explorer File Manager that I found out about the need to provide username and password. I've included this detail in case there are others who are having trouble downloading attachments with OWA.
If you selected "Just Once" you'll have to choose again the next time you need to complete that same action. That might seem annoying. But what if it's the wrong choice? If you choose "Always" you won't get to choose again, at least not easily. And if the app cannot complete the action successfully, what then?
According to many lame blog posts and webzine articles, it's "easy" to change your mind after choosing "Always." They say to just press the app's "Clear Defaults" button. Here's one such article on AndroidCentral.
Fortunately AndroidCentral is swarming with brilliant users who are much more sophisticated than the folks who write the articles. I say "fortunately" because when I needed to change the option of using Photos for downloading an image file attachment, the article's advice was useless because Photos' "Clear Defaults" button was greyed out.
A user called Siddhartha Gupta suggested that to remove Photos as the default app, it's necessary to change the setting for Google+. That didn't work, either.
A user called ChromeJob pointed out that there's "a 'reset app preferences' in the action overflow button. This appears to reset ALL default app choices at once." If only it were that easy for me. It didn't work.
The thing that finally worked for me was to revert to the factory version of Photos by pressing the "Uninstall Updates" button. After doing that, I was presented with a choice of two other apps to use. The idea to alter Photos' version came to me after reading a comment byGrillMouster who stated that "when any of those apps receive an update the ["Just Once" / "Always"] dialog will pop up again, even if you had previously set an app as the default."
If you want the very gory details of why Photos didn't work, please read on to find out what I was trying to do.
I had used Firefox to log in to an Exchange Server using an Outlook Web Access (OWA) client hosted on a web page. I then opened an e-mail that had a JPG file attached to it. When I attempted to download the attachment, OWA again wanted me to provide my username and password. Photos was unable to handle that request (and neither was Firefox). It was only by completing the action with ES File Explorer File Manager that I found out about the need to provide username and password. I've included this detail in case there are others who are having trouble downloading attachments with OWA.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
My Recent Repair of a Laptop AC Adpater
Yesterday, my laptop wouldn't charge when I plugged it in. The battery had drained overnight, so the laptop was unusable. I quickly figured out that the AC adapter has suddenly stopped working.
My nearby Staples had a universal adapter in stock at 20% off, so I picked it up and was soon back in business.
But then I wondered why the "old" adapter had failed. The technician at Staples said that most fail due to a broken wire near the connector that plugs in to the computer. I know that if you flex any wire enough that it will break. But this computer was kept in the kitchen at home, and the cable stayed in one place most of the time. I decided to take it apart and fix it.
Most of the repair guides for Laptop AC Adapters resolve a break or short in the wire at one of the ends of the DC cable. One even recommends that you cut off the connector, and splice a new connector on, which is silly given that no casual user has a spare connector lying around. This same guide says that if there's no voltage after cutting off the connector, the adapter is dead and you have to buy a new one. Turns out, that's not true at all.
My repair approach was different. I decided that I would crack open the adapter housing and then verify continuity from the circuit board to the connector with a DMM. But as soon as I removed the housing, I saw the problem: Cold Solder Joints. Whoever soldered the wires to the circuit board failed to thoroughly heat up both the pad and the wire. So the solder didn't flow down the via hole and fully coat the wire. This never would have passed inspection at my company.
I fired up my soldering iron and reflowed the three connections in less than two minutes. It took at least five times longer for me to break open the housing. Message to manufacturers of consumer electronics: If you won't bother to assemble the electronics properly, at least design the housings so that they're easy to take apart and put back together! I glued it back together with RTV, and it's curing as I write this.
I've fixed several items with this type of reflow repair, including a fairly expensive audio receiver. A soldering iron and the ability to use it can keep you from throwing out perfectly good electronics.
My nearby Staples had a universal adapter in stock at 20% off, so I picked it up and was soon back in business.
But then I wondered why the "old" adapter had failed. The technician at Staples said that most fail due to a broken wire near the connector that plugs in to the computer. I know that if you flex any wire enough that it will break. But this computer was kept in the kitchen at home, and the cable stayed in one place most of the time. I decided to take it apart and fix it.
Most of the repair guides for Laptop AC Adapters resolve a break or short in the wire at one of the ends of the DC cable. One even recommends that you cut off the connector, and splice a new connector on, which is silly given that no casual user has a spare connector lying around. This same guide says that if there's no voltage after cutting off the connector, the adapter is dead and you have to buy a new one. Turns out, that's not true at all.
My repair approach was different. I decided that I would crack open the adapter housing and then verify continuity from the circuit board to the connector with a DMM. But as soon as I removed the housing, I saw the problem: Cold Solder Joints. Whoever soldered the wires to the circuit board failed to thoroughly heat up both the pad and the wire. So the solder didn't flow down the via hole and fully coat the wire. This never would have passed inspection at my company.
I fired up my soldering iron and reflowed the three connections in less than two minutes. It took at least five times longer for me to break open the housing. Message to manufacturers of consumer electronics: If you won't bother to assemble the electronics properly, at least design the housings so that they're easy to take apart and put back together! I glued it back together with RTV, and it's curing as I write this.
I've fixed several items with this type of reflow repair, including a fairly expensive audio receiver. A soldering iron and the ability to use it can keep you from throwing out perfectly good electronics.
Tuesday, June 09, 2015
Free Excel Tutorial
I'm still using Excel 2003 at work. It does all we need it to do.
And at home, Open Office's Calc is so compatible that I can forgo Excel completely, although I still use the Excel Viewer.
But there are some really neat features of the latest Excel. I especially like Data Bars and Color Scales.
To learn more about them, I studied this Excel Tutorial from Udemy.
Some of the other tutorial sections were helpful, too. For example, Pivot Tables have been updated. What used to be Page Fields is now Filter. And unlike Page, Filter allows you to choose more than one value.
And at home, Open Office's Calc is so compatible that I can forgo Excel completely, although I still use the Excel Viewer.
But there are some really neat features of the latest Excel. I especially like Data Bars and Color Scales.
To learn more about them, I studied this Excel Tutorial from Udemy.
Some of the other tutorial sections were helpful, too. For example, Pivot Tables have been updated. What used to be Page Fields is now Filter. And unlike Page, Filter allows you to choose more than one value.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Reverse the Order of Worksheets in an Excel Workbook
Today I found myself wanting to reverse the order of sheet tabs in an Excel file. The VBA code snippet below does just that.
Background...
I had been maintaining weekly status updates as Excel spreadsheets, all grouped into one XLS document. Each week I'd add a new sheet to the right of the previous week's worksheet tab.
But due to a change in workflow, I now have to copy the new sheet into that workbook rather than create it in the workbook. In order to keep placing the new sheet after all the others, it's necessary to scroll to the end of the list of sheets and select "(move to end)".
"It would be so much easier if the sheets were in reverse order," I sighed to myself. The thought of dragging them into reverse order manually was, well, unthinkable. And thus this VBA macro was born.
Sub Worksheet_Reverse_Order()
Dim MySheet As Worksheet
Dim i As Integer
For Each MySheet In Worksheets
Debug.Print MySheet.Index, MySheet.Name
Next
For i = 2 To Worksheets.Count
Set MySheet = Worksheets(i)
MySheet.Move before:=Worksheets(1)
Next i
For Each MySheet In Worksheets
Debug.Print MySheet.Index, MySheet.Name
Next
End Sub
Background...
I had been maintaining weekly status updates as Excel spreadsheets, all grouped into one XLS document. Each week I'd add a new sheet to the right of the previous week's worksheet tab.
But due to a change in workflow, I now have to copy the new sheet into that workbook rather than create it in the workbook. In order to keep placing the new sheet after all the others, it's necessary to scroll to the end of the list of sheets and select "(move to end)".
"It would be so much easier if the sheets were in reverse order," I sighed to myself. The thought of dragging them into reverse order manually was, well, unthinkable. And thus this VBA macro was born.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
When Flourescent Lights Go Bad
Fluorescent lights produce a lot of light for little power. My kitchen lights, which use two T9 bulbs, are rated at 32W, 2400lm and 22W, 1400lm1. The bulbs are expensive and not easy to find, but they supposedly last five years.
The problem is that the performance and longevity of fluorescent lights depends on the ballast. This is an electrical module that conditions the current, and it's not 100% efficient. Also the ballast will degrade and eventually need to be replaced. Sometimes a faulty ballast makes itself evident when the light flickers, or when the light doesn't turn on immediately and you need to flip the light switch off and on to get it to light. At this point the bulbs will burn out quickly.
The ballast is even more expensive and harder to find than the bulbs. And replacing the ballast isn't meant to be done by the consumer, although a home owner who can replace a light switch or electrical outlet will be able to replace a ballast in about ten minutes if the fixture is designed well.
I mention all this because I again find it necessary to replace the ballasts in the two kitchen lights. In fact, I was thinking of replacing these fixtures with new fixtures that have multiple sockets for standard (Edison screw) bulbs. I figured this was a better long-range solution because it would allow me to use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs today and then eventually graduate to LED bulbs. Never again would I need to search for the expensive ballasts and replace them.
But I did manage to find the ballasts for quite a reasonable price. So it didn't make sense to replace them this time. But in ten years, if I'm still in this house, I think I'll be buying new fixtures.
1 For a comparison of the lighting efficiency of various types of bulbs, please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_efficacy#Lighting_efficiency.
The problem is that the performance and longevity of fluorescent lights depends on the ballast. This is an electrical module that conditions the current, and it's not 100% efficient. Also the ballast will degrade and eventually need to be replaced. Sometimes a faulty ballast makes itself evident when the light flickers, or when the light doesn't turn on immediately and you need to flip the light switch off and on to get it to light. At this point the bulbs will burn out quickly.
The ballast is even more expensive and harder to find than the bulbs. And replacing the ballast isn't meant to be done by the consumer, although a home owner who can replace a light switch or electrical outlet will be able to replace a ballast in about ten minutes if the fixture is designed well.
I mention all this because I again find it necessary to replace the ballasts in the two kitchen lights. In fact, I was thinking of replacing these fixtures with new fixtures that have multiple sockets for standard (Edison screw) bulbs. I figured this was a better long-range solution because it would allow me to use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs today and then eventually graduate to LED bulbs. Never again would I need to search for the expensive ballasts and replace them.
But I did manage to find the ballasts for quite a reasonable price. So it didn't make sense to replace them this time. But in ten years, if I'm still in this house, I think I'll be buying new fixtures.
1 For a comparison of the lighting efficiency of various types of bulbs, please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_efficacy#Lighting_efficiency.
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