The Vent and Rant Thread

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Lemon juice and water can really help with the pain.

Sent from my XT1528

Thank you for the tip! It isn't painful (yet), it's just that I need to pee, and ten minutes after I have been to the toilet I need to go again. At the moment I don't need to go when I lie down and after I have lain down for a while I don't need to go to the toilet as much for a couple of hours. So I spend the afternoon reading in bed.

I'll get some lemons tomorrow, so I can make lemon water for Saturday when I have to work all day. It'll be a hard day, since it's the busiest of the week and there is less chance of going to the toilet. Luckily tomorrow is a half day, so I can spend another afternoon reading in bed.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

I wonder if that was the string of pickups towing boats, that I saw a video of on Facebook. It seemed like such a good idea ....

Rumpel: AZO is over the counter, here at least. Eases the symptoms of UTI, while you wait for treatment. Nowadays, I take 1 daily (normal dosage is 2, several times a day, however).

More than likely. Pretty sure nearly every good ole boy with a pickup and a boat thought that is a good idea let's go rescue people.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Rumpel: AZO is over the counter, here at least. Eases the symptoms of UTI, while you wait for treatment. Nowadays, I take 1 daily (normal dosage is 2, several times a day, however).

We don't have AZO, the only over the counter thing they sell for UTI are things with cranberry in it.

I'm thinking of starting to take a cranberry pill each day, it worked for my grandmother.

[badgoodDeb]

I order AZO from Amazon -- or wouldn't they deliver that kind of stuff to there? (My Coumadin docs don't want me on cranberry; I used to take that.)

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

I order AZO from Amazon -- or wouldn't they deliver that kind of stuff to there? (My Coumadin docs don't want me on cranberry; I used to take that.)

I know from experience that ordering medicine from the US or UK is hard. Those supplier that do ship to the Netherlands charge a lot for shipping. When I go to the UK in October I'll be stocking up on Lemsip capsules, they work great for me but I can't get those in the Netherlands. Unfortunately it doesn't look like they sell AZO or something similar in the UK, just the cranberry things.

My grandmother was very susceptible for UTI, when she started to take a crandberry tablet a day she never got it again. So I'll give that a try.

[Katsunami]

So... the people in the open source community ask themselves why their software isn't used for daily tasks performed by normal users in companies, apart from an anomaly here or there.

Since I stopped my photography hobby, I've been using GIMP for the relatively modest graphics needs I have, such as resizing or cropping some images. I still have all my old stuff though: lenses, camera's, the color calibrated monitor, *and* Photoshop CS5.1 (from 2011).

I needed a graphics editor to create... uh... some graphics. I refuse to re-install CS5.1, because I will never buy a subscription to Adobe's software. Not because I can't afford the €12 a month for Photoshop and Lightroom, but because I don't want to be locked into anything that can suddenly cost €20 or more next year. I just hate subscriptions.

So, I tried to create what I needed in GIMP, the latest 2.8.22 release.

I did it, and it worked, but boy... it's SLOW. No hardware acceleration. And it misses SO MANY features Photoshop has had since the early 2000's. OK, it's free, and open source, so you can't really compare it to a software package that used to cost like €600, but still, what an enormous slog.

I went looking to see if there are any alternatives to Photoshop apart from Paint Shop Pro, which I've had very bad experiences with after Corel bought Jasc. (Slow, and crash-prone, mostly, poor color management, as far as I was able to see in my trial tests over the years.)

I found Affinity Photo, which, since version 1.5, is also available for Windows, next to the Mac version.

I tested it, and.... ooooh boy.

I don't like the dark GUI (a light one will be introduced in 1.6, which is due out now any moment), but it is FAST. Everything is hardware accelerated. While I'm sure that it still can't do EVERYTHING that Photoshop CC 2017 can (or maybe eve CS5.1/2011), it CAN do everything I need, and more. 32-bit color. (GIMP is still at 8-bit... and someday, it'll get this when version 2.10 is released. Somewhere, over the rainbow.) Adjustment Layers. Layer Effects (Yes, I know of the small GIMP plugin that adds a few.) Blend modes. Layer locking. It already has many features that are planned only for GIMP 3.2, or aren't planned at all. GIMP will get the major feature of Adjustment Layers in version 3.2 (if they manage it), which Photoshop has had since version 4... released in 1996! At this rate of development, GIMP will obtain parity with Photoshop 4 in 2030 or so, 25 years behind the curve.

In short, Affinity Photo is AT LEAST on par with the features I've been using in Photoshop since version 7 (2002). You know what? Affinity Photo is the professional spin-off of Serif Photo which was a direct competitor to Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop Elements, and it has only been in development for 2 years.

And the kicker? Affinity Photo costs just €54 for a boxed (OK, downloadable) version, without any subscription.

So, if a company can build a program within two years, that runs GIMP into the ground and dances on its grave for good measure and then sell it for €54 for a perpetual license, I can imagine why open source doesn't get a foot in the door.

After version 1.6 is released and there are no major roadblocks when running the trial, I'll probably get it.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

I wonder if that was the string of pickups towing boats, that I saw a video of on Facebook. It seemed like such a good idea ....

Good news is, they've been put to work, deployed around the flood zone. They have indeed turned away from their initial target area, but they ARE being used. :-) I have some friends that are in the flood zone, and some that are working with F&R. (Fire & Rescue, etc.)

Rumpel: AZO is over the counter, here at least. Eases the symptoms of UTI, while you wait for treatment. Nowadays, I take 1 daily (normal dosage is 2, several times a day, however).

I find that the AZO works for that burning sensation. (Sorry for the TMI, dudes, altho it absolutely works for guys, too, according to Mr. H, who had need of it after his cancer treatments). I've not found that it does much for that other stuff, the shivery quaky feeling.


Hitch

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I know from experience that ordering medicine from the US or UK is hard. Those supplier that do ship to the Netherlands charge a lot for shipping. When I go to the UK in October I'll be stocking up on Lemsip capsules, they work great for me but I can't get those in the Netherlands. Unfortunately it doesn't look like they sell AZO or something similar in the UK, just the cranberry things.

My grandmother was very susceptible for UTI, when she started to take a crandberry tablet a day she never got it again. So I'll give that a try.

Find out what stuff in the medicine is actually the part that does the work.

For example, you can get Ibuprofen 200 or 400 from Kruitvat for something like €2,50, but there are also big brands that sell pain killers for €7.50+, which basically are also Ipubrofen 200 or 400.

If you can't get the exact medicines recommended here, you can maybe find medicine with the same working ingredients over here.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Find out what stuff in the medicine is actually the part that does the work.

AZO == "Phenazopyridine Hydrochloride is the #1 ingredient prescribed by doctors and recommended by pharmacists specifically for urinary discomfort."

It eases burning, and urgency. But no, not any other symptoms, sorry.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Tx, Cin. ;-) I am just beside myself, seeing this. I want to fly to Houston and rip his little pointy white-haired head out of the chopper and pimp-slap him.


Hitch

Is there any possibility that CNN is helping to defray the costs of the fuel in exchange for having the publicity? Still not particularly humanitarian of them - I'm sure the people who still have missing relatives aren't feeling all that happy to see that space taken up by the news guys.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Is there some reason that jackasses like Anderson Cooper actually believe that shoving himself and a cameraman--at least two people--inside a rescue Blackhawk makes sense, in any universe? That it's more important for him to broadcast the news, than for these crews to have the ability to rescue at least 2 more people, from the disaster that is Houston?

How many trips, over the last 5 days, have these idiots been on? By my count, a CNN crew has been on at least one chopper per day, all day long, filming rescues. How many cycles is that? (Takeoffs/landings to set down rescuees.) How many more people could have been rescued, if these morons hadn't taken up that extremely, extremely valuable space? I know I've seen the chopper crews leave people, at least 1-2x, because they ran out of room. Personally, I'd have left the goddamn news crew and taken the actual victims, but I guess that's just me.

Honestly, the 24-hour news cycle is simply shameful. You want some spectacular footage, fine, go on a rescue or two. This? This is obscene.

Hitch

But, but; but... you can't get a Pulitzer for filming a Blackhawk take off and land.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Is there any possibility that CNN is helping to defray the costs of the fuel in exchange for having the publicity? Still not particularly humanitarian of them - I'm sure the people who still have missing relatives aren't feeling all that happy to see that space taken up by the news guys.

There are hundreds--hundreds--of choppers over the skies of Houston right now. The choppers aren't hurting for gas money, not now. Maybe a few months down the road, some might be hurting for gas money, but now? Oh, no. You can assume that the military brought a bunch of gas with them, too, to help out. The Blackhawks are being flown by governmental entities--search and rescue, Staties, etc. Not private citizens. (n.b.: until recently, Blackhwaks were off-limits for anything but military, so it's extremely unlikely that's Joe Bob and his two brothers flying that sucker.)

Originally Posted by wodin

But, but; but... you can't get a Pulitzer for filming a Blackhawk take off and land.

Indeed. You speak the truth, brother.

I will say that there's one aspect--the guys and gals who do the rescuing don't get a lot of credit, really, in their day-to-day lives, so knowing that the public is watching them do their thing probably explains why they allowed those idiots in the thing in the first place--but they don't need to be there all godd*amned day.

Hitch


Hitch

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

There are hundreds--hundreds--of choppers over the skies of Houston right now. The choppers aren't hurting for gas money, not now. Maybe a few months down the road, some might be hurting for gas money, but now? Oh, no. You can assume that the military brought a bunch of gas with them, too, to help out. The Blackhawks are being flown by governmental entities--search and rescue, Staties, etc. Not private citizens. (n.b.: until recently, Blackhwaks were off-limits for anything but military, so it's extremely unlikely that's Joe Bob and his two brothers flying that sucker.)



Indeed. You speak the truth, brother.

I will say that there's one aspect--the guys and gals who do the rescuing don't get a lot of credit, really, in their day-to-day lives, so knowing that the public is watching them do their thing probably explains why they allowed those idiots in the thing in the first place--but they don't need to be there all godd*amned day.

Hitch


Hitch

Before you get to worried about the gas situation in Texas, it was announced that we have 230 Million barrels and most of the refineries are still online.

Contrary to what I heard today, not all of Texas was hit by Harvey. Other areas of Texas are still recovering from thunderstorms back in June.

[Rumpelteazer]

My uncle made a mistake when putting together my grandmother's 2015 taxes. It can cost her estate €30000, there isn't that kind of money. The solicitor dealing with the estate has to hand in the tax forms today and my father and aunt have told them that they should include a note that a mistake was made when filling in the forms and that they will be corrected. Luckily you get 5 years to correct it.

Now my uncle must be in tight spot: he loathes admitting it when he has done something wrong, but if he doesn't admit it and change the mistake he, my aunt and father have to pay for it, literally. And my uncle doesn't have a lot money.

We're now left wondering why he didn't fill out the tax forms like he had done in 2013 and 2014. The solicitor couldn't reach him or his partner yesterday. He'll probably blame my father somehow.

[Katsunami]

Well, crap. Another rant with regard to open source software.

With some projects (GIMP... again) it doesn't pay to submit bugs. Now it seems it also doesn't pay to do so for LibreOffice. Case in point: user interface lag. I installed the latest version on my desktop (which I'm pulling from under the dust after almost a year).

Version 5.4.1 Fresh (latest) has a very slow and laggy user interface. When I move the mouse pointer through a menu, the selection runs 4-5 items behind, and takes about half a second to reach the mouse pointer when I stop moving. The UI and the menu redraws incredibly slowly.

I know that Fresh is cutting edge (even though it's said to be stable on the website), so I dropped back to version 5.3.6.1, which is the current Still version. No lag. Everything just works as it should be.

So, I went looking if others have the same problem. It seems they do, and a bunch of bugs have been filed. Contrary to Kovid over here, who just acknowledges a bug and fixes it if he can reproduce it, the LibreOffice developers take the "it's your fault" approach.

- You are using the wrong drivers.
- Or the wrong graphics card.
- Or the wrong settings.
- Or "something is wrong with you machine."
- I don't have this problem on Linux. (Even though the bug-reporter is using Windows.)
- You are using 'non-standard hardware or software.' (An Intel CPU, nVidia graphics card, Windows 10, latest software and drivers, hardware about a year old... I think that's a bog-standard computer, to be honest.)
- Or... whatever...

Just. Acknowledge. The. Bug. Something is wrong in the newest version. Using versions 5.3.6.1, the software is NOT laggy. Using version 5.4.1 on the same computer, with the same drivers, and all the same settings, it IS laggy. GUI operations take up to a second to redraw the screen. Therefore, something in the GUI handling changed between those two versions that made using the software worse. Either fix it, or change it back instead of trying to blame the users.