Burying antiquity in technology

Starting to see good results from converting an app from driving a specific breed of dot-matrix impact printer via a specific SCO Unix device node to a more generalised system which will print A4 pages on almost any printer.

How?

Feed the "printer" output into a (text) file;
Set the init sequence to be <HTML><BODY><PRE> & the flush sequence to be </PRE></BODY></HTML>
Redefine the escape sequences for bold/unbold into "<B>" & "</B>" likewise for italics into "<I>" & "</I>" etc, notably page break (^L/\f) into ;
Cram the text file into htlmdoc & order it to produce PDFs;
lpr nameofPDFfile (or write it where it can be viewed in a file share for emailng purposes)

The next stage is to get into cool stuff like doubled or dotted/dashed underscores, coloured text (or backgrounds), & jamming lists into <TABLE> structures, which would allow bordering a field & using sans-serif fonts instead of teletype fonts.

Comments

every-application-is-part-of-a-toolkit at work

I have a LibreOffice Impress slideshow that I wish to turn into a narrated video. 1. export the slideshow as PNG images (if that is partially broken — as at now — at higher resolutions, Export Directly as PDF then use ‘pdftoppm’ (from the poppler-utils package) to do the same). 2. write a small C program (63 lines including comments) to display those images one at a time, writing a config file entry for Imagination (default transition: ‘cross fade’) based on when the image-viewer application (‘display,’ from the GraphicsMagick suite) is closed on each one; run that, read each image aloud, then close each image in turn. 3. run ‘Imagination’ over the config file to produce a silent MP4 video with the correct timings. 4. run ‘Audacity’ to record speech while using ‘SMPlayer’ to display the silent video, then export that recording as a WAV file. 4a. optionally, use ‘TiMIDIty’ to convert a non-copyright-encumbered MIDI tune to WAV, then import that and blend it with the speech (as a quiet b

new life for an old (FTX) PSU, improved life for one human

the LEDs on this 5m strip happen to emit light centred on a red that does unexpectedly helpful things to (and surprisingly deeply within) a human routinely exposed to it. it has been soldered to a Molex connector, plugged into a TFX power supply from a (retired: the MoBo is cactus) Small Form Factor PC, the assorted PSU connectors (and loose end from the strip) have been taped over. the LED strip cost $10.24 including postage, the rest cost $0, the PSU is running at 12½% of capacity, consumes less power than a laptop plug-pack despite running a fan. trial runs begin today.

boundaries

pushing the actual boundaries of the physical (not extremes, the boundaries themselves) can often remove barriers not otherwise perceived. one can then often resolve an issue itself, rather than merely stonewalling at the physical consequences of the issue.

Plantagenet Penguinista

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