Excel Fix a Phone list

Occasionally, you'll have a list of phone numbers that need a little fixing. This code fixes many things as long as the last 8 digits are like 555-1212 and there's three digits of area code either preceded by "(" or flush left as in "(555)555-1212" or "555-555-1212". The result will always be formatted as (555) 555-1212, unless an area code is given.

A2 represents where the broken number is stored.


=CONCATENATE("(",IF(LEN(A2)<9,"555",IF(LEFT(A2,1)="(",MID(A2,2,3),LEFT(A2,3))),") ",RIGHT(A2,8))


You should change 555 to your local area code.

Diebold and the voting (NON) fiasco

I don't exactly know why people need to be told this, but all the comments blaming Diebold for the election problems miss very important points.

1. The problem of dropped votes is because the memory cards got switched too fast.

   
   Imagine using a funnel to fill a canister, and you switched your source material before it was finished. The data transfer rates of memory cards are only so fast, and people are in such a hurry that they don't wait for the data to transfer fully.
   Or, if you're wanting a real-world application: You didn't transfer all of your pictures from your memory card before swapping to another.
   

2. "Antivirus on a voting machine? Are you serious?"

   
   No, silly. Antivirus isn't necessarily on the voting machine. It's on the server that handles (receives and tabulates) the data. Misconfigured or not optimally configured, it could delay or delete data coming from memory cards as it scans the data transfer in real time. This *IS* the function of antivirus software and it does have the potential to cause issues with data transfer *at the server.*
   

3. Diebold is in cohoots with the Republicans

   
   Of course they are. And the democrats who are in charge of the House and Senate have done nothing to stop Diebold from continuing to place touchscreen machines.
   

4. ATMs don't have these problems.

   
   And Diebold is involved with ATMs. ATMs are not necessarily used for gathering data from several thousand people in one day by volunteers. It doesn't mean that ATMs don't gather data and transfer it, but I bet it's likely that the ATMs handle transactions with the servers in real time, rather than hand inputed memory card swapping at the end of a long day.
   

Disclaimer: I shouldn't need one. I am a computer guy. I have no real or imagined association with any of the parties involved, except that I vote touchscreen and I use ATMs with Diebold logos. If you don't want to vote touchscreen, get an absentee ballet. If you disagree with my observations, that's fine. I'm not telling you to believe me. This *is* my blog.

xorg.conf multiple users compiz issue

OK, here's the deal. I figured out how to turn off the TV "Unknown" and it worked.
I tested it in an alternate user logon.
Thing was, I couldn't get compiz to work -- but compiz works on just on ONE login. Mostly, it was "Can't do that" or "checking for XGL not present" on the other login. Making multiple changes back and forth... nothing.

Well, the answer is stupid and *for me* has absolutely nothing to do with drivers, even though I have an "unsupported" Intel card. The answer was staring me in the face from a little other error message: "No GLXFBConfig for default depth". Why this login and not the other?

The answer: alternate switch-user logons have new display numbers (see /var/log/Xorg.#.log) and by default, you don't have an Xorg.20.conf. Sure, sure, xorg.conf is supposed to handle it for you, right? nah. I have to put this to the test, but in the mean time, additional Section "Screen"s are the likely fix in xorg.conf.

Fixing the small screen on my laptop

My beloved Gateway MT6730 had one fatal flaw when converting to Ubuntu: The screen resolution.
It appears that the xrandr logic insisted I had a TV connected to my laptop and therefore would overlap two screens: one at 1024x768 which everything resized to, and one at my laptop's preferred resolution: 1280x800. It looks like this image. I'm certain if you're here, you know EXACTLY what this is.

From a command line, I found out I could do this: xrandr --output TV --off which kind of worked, except didn't survive reboots.

Here's the answer:
Edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add these lines:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "TV"
Option "Ignore" "true"
EndSection

Exit and do a ctrl-alt-backspace to reload X, and you, like me, don't have to worry about this any more.

Also, the "Unknown" display disappeared from the gnome-display-properties, as well as it fixed the same issue with the logon screen.

ASSP Tweak: Filename in maillog.txt

This is a simple change to ASSP (assp.pl) that places the filename of the email in the maillog.txt
First, find and change the following -- it's around line 2578 in 1.1.0 or 8046 in the latest release, inside sub Maillog. The bold lines were added. You'll need to restart ASSP to see this take effect.

Now you know exactly which file pertains to your email and you don't have to grep for it in /spam or /notspam

$Con{$fh}->{maillogfh}=$FH;
$Con{$fh}->{mailloglength}=0;
binmode $FH;
# logging filenames
mlog($fh, "'$fn'");


Two Firefox ideas

Here are two ideas for Firefox. They might be mutually exclusive.

1. Large tab. I don't exactly know the whys and wherefores about this, but it'd be, essentially, two levels of tabs. The idea is one of the following:
   
   
   
   1. The current tab above or below the other tabs, with some sort of gap at the place where the tab would be in the other tab arrangement
      
   2. The current tab is blank or small
      
   3. The current tab shows next to Help in the menu (for widescreen, this wouldn't be so bad
      
   4. The current tab is in the status bar.
      
   
   
2. Additional buttons in the current tab. Especially, StumbleUpon Stumble, Thumbs up, and Thumbs down in the tab, not in the toolbar.
   

Well, if anyone reads this and could point me toward the right place, that'd be oh so cool. Thanks!

Friends in weird places

Imagine. Me. You don't know me. Probably. I'm not that interesting to know, unless you like computers, and even then, people who like computers probably don't socialize with others who like computers. I count on one hand the total number of friends I have. No, this isn't a pity party for me -- you should be so lucky to have friends in your circle. I don't particularly have time to spend on friends who live near me. By choice, probably. I make no pretenses about that. Home is safe. I can be able to be comfortable and still have contact with those people who make life worth living.

It amazes me the ability I have to influence other people, both professionally and socially. Not you, gentle reader. That you're reading my blog versus thousands of other whiny rants doesn't mean I'm influencing you. The point is more along the lines of how did I get my relationship information? To be honest, it starts with honesty and a sincere desire to assist people to Make Good Choices.

I have helped people stretch beyond their comfort zone into a social zone, and also have spurred people from inaction to action. Logic is best when it's served cold. Being unattached emotionally from a circumstance can provide a clearer picture over events in other people's lives. I think I'd term it "Perpendicularity" -- being able to see the line without being part of the line. Merely observing won't affect the trajectory, but certainly kibitzing of a sort can bring some positive outcomes. We'll see. As it stands, I'm mostly relying on the anecdotal evidence that when my advice is not followed, things aren't always resolved positively.

Then again, that's kinda the argument about the negativity of God, isn't it? I'm not positing myself in the realm of being God. However, assuming God gives good advice and it's not followed, why would one blame God for the result? I think people don't want to be told things. They simply want to be absolved of their own mistakes. I hope I can better offer prevention than absolution.