anthroblogia

09:07

You may also have come across this problem: you've made a nice chart in Excel, and now you want to use it elsewhere.

So you right click and look for 'Save as Image'. It's not there!

If you want to use it in Word, or PowerPoint, your only choice is to copy and paste which is OK - but it has its problems. If you've inserted a text box, it doesn't resize with the chart. And you can't do things that you can do with an image, such as resizing it using the Size function, rotate it, etc.

And what if you want to upload it to your website??

The only other native option then is to do a print screen and fiddle around in Paint, or use the Snipping Tool (Vista or Windows 7) which is similar, but easier.

However, there is another solution: an Export Chart add-on to Excel written by Jon Peltier - what this does is add an extra function to Excel that exports your charts as .png images (though you can change that if you write a different extension, such as .jpg).

The link is down at the bottom of the post, and he also links to a page to explain how to install it.

Very useful and recommended.

09:21


++++++++++
The 15-minute blog post.
I like to blog, but I can't afford to spend a lot of time on it. Solution: limit myself to 15 minutes per post.
One link, one picture maximum.
All comments, critiques and corrections are welcome. Thank you.

Hello you all out there, I was wondering if someone can help me?

I've been having a problem with my browsers for a few weeks now, and suspect there's an effing spyware or trojan in there somewhere >:[

I spotted this in the startup folder;

File Name: ??????????????e
Startup Value: ??????????????e
File Path: ??????????????e
Startup Type: Registry: Current User
Location: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Classification: Disabled
SpyNet Voting: Not Available

And in case the characters are not showing up in your browser, here's a screenshot


It's disabled now, but I'd really like to know what it is. I tried Googling - but although people have also had it, nobody has said what it is...

Can anyone translate the characters for me? Please??

I've been enjoying watching Tina Fey parody Sarah Palin recently, but I keep having a problem recently where YouTube (or other similar streaming videos) is not working - it starts OK, then stops after a couple of seconds but continues buffering. It goes on to buffer the whole video, but will not play and there is no sound.

It was happening in both Opera and Firefox, and would sometimes resolve itself if I closed and opened the browser again.

Anyway, if you've been having a similar problem, the solution that worked for me is to download the new beta Flash Player 10. Make sure you follow the instructions and uninstall version 9 first.

I got the answer from the Firefox Support Forum.

**Update 11 October 08** OK, this solution may have a problem - now Flash in Firefox is not working (but Opera is fine). I get this message "Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player."
However, it may be something unrelated, as others are having the same problem too...

OK - this probably won't interest you if you're not doing academic work, but for all you students and researchers out there, listen up!

I've been using EndNote X - it's very useful, and I couldn't do without it, but I'm not completely happy with it - the main reason being that the database is not accessible in an open format. This means that I'm stuck with them forever, or if I do change, I have to re-enter everything manually into a new database (and I have 522 references so far). Also, it's kind of clunky when it comes to printing out a bibliography, doing internet references, and adapting the styles.

I heard some good things about Zotero, so I decided to check it out - and I'm in love!

Yes! It's really good - and the best thing is that it seems to be a perfect tool for archiving blog posts (which I do a lot of!). It will archive whole webpages offline, and extract information such as author, blog name, date, etc.

I wanted to do a screencast to show you how smooth it is, but Camtasia is not working (due to some video acceleration problem that I can't change in Vista/my computer >:[ ) so check here for some tutorials, etc.

OK - I'm in love, but she ain't perfect: the information extracted is not always completely accurate. For example - the title of the blog post often includes the name too, and depending on the platform it may or may not get the date of the post.

I can import my references from EndNote (using the BibTeX format), but it doesn't bring over all my notes, which is bad. But again, that's probably due to EndNote's closed format rather than anything to do with Zotero.

However, overall it's the best thing I've seen so far - and it also integrates with Word to do formatted in-text citations, bibliographies, etc. And it's completely free - whereas EndNoteX will cost you USD 250! Which is a ridiculous price, when you think of it.

I did have one problem installing the Word plugin - when I first tried to insert a citation it gave the following error:

"An error occurred communicating with Zotero. Please ensure Firefox is open and try again"

I managed to solve it though: the Zotero word processor plugin troubleshooting has various options, and the one that solved it for me was number 5:

If the integration server is running, disable any firewall software running on your computer. If this fixes the problem, make sure your firewall is set to allow access to "localhost" or "127.0.0.1" (also known as the "loopback interface").

I have ZoneAlarm running, and this is how I did it:
• Open ZoneAlarm, go to Firewall, and select Add > IP Address

• Give it a label to remind yourself what it's for, and enter the IP address 127.0.0.1
• Press 'Apply'
And you're done, that worked for me anyway - hope it does for you!

Overall: students and academics out there, geddit!

I think I have an Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) problem coming on – the wrist of my ‘mousing hand’ has a nagging pain most of the time, and it immediately gets worse when I start using the mouse or typing. It’s a problem, because my work basically involves typing and surfing the net (could be worse ), and I spend easily 8-12 hours a day on my computer.

So, I went surfing (ahem) to find out more, and found out some surprising things from a reliable source, Cornell University: on mousing, and on typing posture.

• First of all – don’t use a wrist support, especially the soft gel ones!

“research has shown that using a wrist rest doubles the pressure inside the carpal tunnel” ( Professor Alan Hedge, Cornell University)

At least, if you do use one, put the heel of your hand on it, not your wrist. The reason for this is simple: try laying your arm flat on a table, you’ll notice a curve up at the wrist


therefore – you don’t want to be putting pressure at exactly the point where your body is designed to avoid pressure! This is addressed in an alternative wrist pad by Ergoguys
• Also, move your mouse from your elbow, not by flicking your wrist. Resting the heel of your hand on the wrist support pad is not going to help this though.
• Your ideal posture should not be a straight back, but actually leaning slightly backwards. The wrist should be lower than the elbow, and the keyboard lower than the wrists. So a keyboard that slants upwards is not good – notice how the keyboard in the picture slants downwards.


For this a decent chair is important, the problem is they are expensive, I find that the standard cheap office chair does not have good height control – but I’ve tried putting a cushion on mine to lift me up a bit higher. And a box to put my feet on, otherwise they dangle a bit (short legs!) which is not good either.
• I’m also trying to use my mouse with my left hand to give the right a rest. It’s a bit fiddly, but doable.
• Finally, take regular breaks. One useful way to do this is to have a software that reminds you, and forces you to stop by temporarily blocking your computer – I have installed Workrave (free OpenSource) which is nice because it gives you exercises to do, and has cute sheep The problem is, it doesn’t always seem to always remind me – maybe because I use Vista (unfortunately). There are other similar ones out there too.

There are more things, but these stood out to me. So, take care of your body – do something to improve your habits today!

Leet is a coded form of writing developed in the 80’s and used (initially at least) by hackers and the ‘elite’ of the networked world.

1t (4n g3t pr3tt¥ (0mp£1(4t3Ð, but for the uninitiated (like me), you can you go here

It’s a leet translator that does leet at various degrees of ‘leetness’

1t’s 4 l33t tr4nsl4t0r th4t d03s l33t 4t v4r10us d3gr33s 0f ‘l33tn3ss’

1t’$ 4 £33t tr4n$£4t0r th4t Ð03$ £33t 4t v4r10µ$ Ð3gr33$ 0f ‘£33tn3$$’

17’$ 4 £337 7r4n$£470r 7h47 Ð03$ £337 47 v4r10µ$ Ð39r33$ 0ƒ ‘£337n3$$’

17’$ 4 £337 7r4||$£470r 7|-|47 Ð03$ £337 47 \/4r10µ$ Ð39r33$ 0ƒ ‘£337||3$$’

17’$ 4 £337 7®4||$£470® 7|-|47 Ð03$ £337 47 \/4®10µ$ Ð39®33$ 0ƒ ‘£337||3$$’

Found out about it thanks to 3POINT8.

There’s also another one here, which translates both ways.