Adventures & experiences in contemporary technology
Automation of writing using AI has become prominent recently, especially since GPT came to everyone’s notice. It is more than automation of proofreading but of producing the content itself, as Mark Hinkle and Luke Matthews can testify. Figuring out how to use Generative AI needs more than one line prompts, so knowing what multi-line ones will work is what is earning six digit annual salaries for some.
Recently, I gave this a go when writing a post that used content from a Reddit post thread. The first step was to extract the content from the thread, and I found that I could use R to do this. That meant installing the RedditExtractoR package using the following command:
install.packages("RedditExtractoR")
Then, I created a short script containing the following lines of code with placeholders added in place of the actual locations:
library("RedditExtractoR")
write.csv(get_thread_content("<URL for Reddit post thread>"), "<location of text file>")
The first line above calls the RedditExtractoR package for use so that its get_thread_content function could be used to scape the thread’s textual content. This was then fed to write.csv for writing out a text file with content.
Once I had the text file, I could upload it to Anthropic’s Claude for the next steps. Firstly, I got it to give me a summary of the thread discussion before I asked it to give me the suggested solutions to the issue. Impressively, it capably provided me with the latter.
Now armed with these answers, I set to crafting the post from them. Claude did not do all the work for me, but it certainly helped with the writing. This is something that I fancy exploring further, especially given how business computing is likely to proceed in the next few years.
Not all software in Linux distributions necessarily is free or libre software. After all, most of us want to play MP3 files and I am as guilty of this as many. Then, some proprietary drivers are included with some of them baked into Linux kernels as well. All of this may make Linux easier to use but it will not please some. Hence, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has a list of distros satisfying their guidelines and some of these are below.
Simplicity is the apparent hallmark here.
This is a free-software-compliant multimedia distro that proves that such things can be done without the use of proprietary codecs.
It now appears that the GNU project now has its very own Linux distro built around the Guix (pronounced “geeks”) package manager and using the Guile programming language. The website and the screenshots look swish so it might be worth trying this out for real, and there may be a version using the Hurd kernel yet, though Linux-libre is the only option for now.
This project is working with two bases: Linux-libre and BSD. The first is a derivative or Arch Linux that roots out so many non-free packages that you wonder if they might go too far. It also takes the long-term support approach so they do not have to adjust things every time something changes in Arch.
This results from the combination of two distinct projects that shared one common characteristic: use in embedded devices like routers, not for installing on PC’s. That may seem like a minority interest to me but we all have different needs.
Here, Arch also is the basis with freedom as the byword. While the basis is a rolling distro, this is a long-term support offering.
What we have here is another Linux distro that can be embedded on different devices and is kept lightweight to ensure universality.
The social purpose hardware company Purism is involved in this effort, hence the naming. The distro itself is based on Debian and appears to be intended for a range of hardware, from phones to tablets to PC’s. Naturally, ISO installation images can be downloaded as well.
Think of this as Ubuntu with only Free Software included and you have the point of this distro. Given that Richard Stallman of the FSF has been known to like it, meeting that goal seems to be assured now.
This was the first distro that the FSF rated for software freedom and hails from Argentina. Unfortunately, there appears to have been a lull in activity since 2107, so it is difficult to know if this remains viable.
Recently, I shared my thoughts on learning new computing languages by oneself using books, online research and personal practice. As successful as that can be, there remains a place for getting some actual instruction as well. Maybe that is why so many turn to YouTube, where there is a multitude of video channels offering such possibilities without cost. What I have also discovered is that this is complemented by a host of other providers whose services attract a fee, and there will be a few of those mentioned later in this post. Paying for online courses does mean that you can get the benefit of curation and an added assurance of quality in what appears to be a growing market.
The variation in quality can dog the YouTube approach, and it also can be tricky to find something good, even if the platform does suggest new videos based on what you have been watching. Much of what is found there does take the form of webinars from the likes of the Why R? Foundation, Posit or the NHSR Community. These can be useful, and there are shorter videos from such providers as the Association of Computing Machinery or SAS Users. These do help more if you already have some knowledge about the topic area being discussed, so they may not make the best starting points for someone who is starting from scratch.
Of course, working your way through a good book will help, and it is something that I have been known to do, but supplementing this with one or more video courses really adds to the experience and I have done a few of these on LinkedIn. That part of the professional platform came from the acquisition of Lynda.com and the topic areas range from soft skills like time management through to computing skills courses with R, SAS and Python seeing coverage among the data science portfolio. Even O’Reilly has ventured into the area in an expansion from the book publishing activities for which so many of us know the organisation.
The available online instructor community does not stop at the above since there are others like Degreed, Baeldung, Udacity, Programiz, Udemy, Business Science and Datanovia. Some of these tend towards online education provision that feels more like an online university course and those are numerous as well as you will find through Data Science Central or KDNuggets. Both of these earn income from advertising to pay for featured blog posts and newsletters, while the former also organises regular webinars and was my first port of call when I became curious about the world of data science during the autumn of 2017.
My point of approach into the world of online training has been as a freelance information professional needing to keep up to date with a rapidly changing field. The mix of content that is both free of charge and that which attracts a fee is one that can work. Both kinds do complement each other while possessing their unique advantages and disadvantages. The need to continually expand skills and knowledge never goes away, so it is well worth spending some time working what you are after, since you need to be sure that any training always adds to your own knowledge and skill level.
Here’s a trick that might have its uses: using a local WordPress instance to update your online blog (yes, there are plenty of applications that promise to edit your online blog but these need file permissions to the likes of xmlrpc.php to be opened up). Along with the right database access credentials and the ability to log in remotely, adding the following two lines to wp-config.php does the trick:
define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://localhost/blog');
define('WP_HOME', 'http://localhost/blog');
These two constants override what is in the database and allow to update the online database from your own PC using WordPress running on a local web server (Apache or otherwise). One thing to remember here is that both online and offline directory structures are similar. For example, if your online WordPress files are in blog in the root of the online web server file system (typically htdocs for Linux), then they need to be contained in the same directory in the root of the offline server too. Otherwise, things could get confusing and perhaps messy. Another thing to consider is that you are modifying your online blog so the usual rules about care and attention apply, particularly with respect to using the same version of WordPress both locally and remotely. This is especially a concern if you, like me, run development versions of WordPress to see if there are any upheavals ahead of us like the overhaul that is coming in with WordPress 2.7.
An alternative use of this same trick is to keep a local copy of your online database in case of any problems while using a local WordPress instance to work with it. I used to have to edit the database backup directly (on my main Ubuntu system), first with GEdit but then using a sed command like the following:
sed -e s/www\.onlinewebsite\.com/localhost/g backup.sql > backup_l.sql
The -e switch uses regular expression substitution that follows it to edit the input with the output being directed to a new file. It’s slicker than the interactive GEdit route but has been made redundant by defining constants for a local WordPress installation as described above.
While I never have been a home user of refurbished or second hand kit, there are those who do and there do appear to be some bargains to be had. For some reason, I get the sense that computing and photographic hardware seems to heading more upmarket as time goes on so it may be that this becomes the only way of getting cheaper computers unless you stick with Chromebooks and their like. Interestingly, the now defunct Micro Mart magazine did a feature on the subject and even Apple has legitimised the idea with its presence.
Manufacturers
With the premium reputation that Apple has, the chance of bagging any sort of a bargain from them is too good to overlook and they have had a refurbished goods store for longer than many. There are no iPhones here but Macs, iPads and iPods are made available in this way so it is worth a look. The chance of a cheaper Mac of some sort is a tempting idea.
A colleague of mine at work swears by this so much that it is where he looked when buying a laptop for his father. There are home and business sections too so even servers are available along with laptop and desktop PC’s as well as tablets.
Resellers
This is a computer kit reseller who I have never used so far but there have been qualms expressed about their customer service. Like many, they too have a clearance section so it may be worth a look if fancy taking a little risk.
The mainstay of this lot are pre-used computers and they have been around a while too, even if they disappeared from the web for a while at one stage. They also had a shop near Manchester’s Piccadilly train station though I am left wondering if any of the apparent bargains tempted anyone.
Specialists
Giga Refurb
MicroDream
Pure IT Refurbished
Tier1online.com
Itzoo
These have the quality of their work approved by Microsoft themselves so there should be some confidence here. With Microsoft having put Windows XP out to grass, Windows 7 is being promoted on machines with at least Intel Core 2 Duo CPU’s and prices can be very reasonable too.
A few days ago, I mused over buying OEM Vista if/when the time came for me to do upgrade. Then, I came to the conclusion that OEM was a no-no unless you bought it installed on a system. In an article on the PC Magazine website, things seem not to be as cut and dried as that. Apparently, the perceived wisdom is that if you are building a system for yourself and you agree to provide all support as the system builder to yourself as the system user, then everything is OK under the licence. Also, there seems to be a trend among resellers that it is not them who are subject to the terms of the licence but the customers who purchase the OEM software. It is all just a little bit confusing. Draw your own conclusions…
If you ever potter over to Adobe’s online software store, a curious anomaly awaits you: electronic download editions of their software are never cheaper than the equivalent boxed versions. In fact, there are cases where the electronic version costs more than the boxed one. One would have thought that ditching the box, the disc(s) and whatever accompanies them would save Adobe money and they would pass this onto you but it does not seem to make its way into the pricing for some reason. Another thing is that selling direct should allow Adobe to undercut retailers and make more money from their software but it is the likes of Amazon that have the better prices. Whatever way you look at it, you have to admit that this pricing model doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Under this heading, I have collected my listings of places on the web where you can purchase computing, mobile telephony and photographic equipment. As per the title, these apply to the U.K. because I have yet to import anything from beyond the shores of the island where I am writing these words. While I cannot claim to have patronised all of the emporia that are listed, the hope is that there’s enough there to enable some price checking and sourcing of goods that otherwise may not have wide availability. You never know but they even might come in useful.
As you might have guessed from the names, we are not just limiting ourselves to computers, phones and cameras but include the accessories too. In fact, since the explosion of mobile telephony and digital photography, a major crossover has development between formerly very separate business areas. The fact that many mobile phones carry the same processing power as desktop PC’s did not so many years over a decade ago rather forces the issue.
When film held sway, photography was a very analogue affair with most of the magic being made in the camera and in printing labs, including personal darkrooms. A scanner was an essential item for digitising any images. Film still lives on but the convenience of digital capture has won me over, particularly with its thrusting the processing back on my shoulders instead of paying someone else to do it. That costs time instead of money but the latter quantity is less plentiful this times. Just as my interest in desktop computing continues to persist into an age when everything is getting more and more mobile, the art of photography hasn’t been automated out of existence because it always has been the photographer that was the most important actor in the discipline.
Then, there’s the upsurge in mobile computing. While I may have been late to the game with my purchase of a BlackBerry and an Asus Eee PC in the last few months, it’s not unclear where things are going with the gadgets becoming more and more appealing. Now, it’s hard to believe that it was just under a decade ago when most mobile phones were for making and taking voice calls along with sending text messages. Yes, PDA’s were about but they didn’t seem to be as commonplace as smartphones are today. Still, it seems that mobile phone technology is going to continue evolving so it’ll be interesting to see where things go, especially with the advent of cloud computing.
With all of the changes that are in train, desktop computing is likely to continue in one form or another. We may be in the heart of a technological revolution brought on by mobile and cloud computing but there’s still something more productive about sitting at a desktop and working a machine with a mouse and keyboard. My hunch is that desktop computing is going to itself alter over the next few years with touchscreen monitors already becoming available. That development could get interesting if combined on a full specification laptop that rarely spends any time away from being plugged into a power socket.
All in all, it feels as if we are moving through a period of massive change in the world around us after a period of what felt like prolonged stability. Even in an economic downturn, it feels as if all hell has broken loose in the world of technology with old certainties being overthrown and it looks as if it is going to stay that way for a while. There may be a time of consolidation yet but the trick at the moment is control any temptations until we find any use for new shiny things that attract massive attention. Then, the listings that I have collected here might have a use.
There are times when I just need to share some links outside the fleeting environment of Twitter, and this is where they might appear. The practice is very much in the spirit of the original weblog idea when it was about link sharing and not about writing down one’s thoughts as it subsequently became before sharing of photos, videos and other multimedia content became a mainstay of (legal) sharing for some people.
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18:05 August 12, 2021
How to prevent the “are you sure you want to leave this page?” prompt on Facebook?
18:05 August 12, 2021
Extending a Logical Volume on a Linux Virtual, Cloud or CloudNX server
11:41 August 11, 2021
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18:00 July 27, 2021
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Change user password in MySQL 5.7 with âplugin: auth_socketâ
11:03 July 23, 2021
How to enable AMD Virtualization on the Aorus X570 Motherboard
09:30 July 15, 2021
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15:40 July 6, 2021
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10:13 July 1, 2021
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14:55 June 28, 2021
13:30 June 24, 2021
23:47 June 5, 2021
16:38 June 3, 2021
13:27 June 3, 2021
10:02 June 1, 2021
11:00 May 28, 2021
10:59 May 28, 2021
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10:57 May 28, 2021
dbxcli: A command line tool for Dropbox users and team admins
09:00 May 27, 2021
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How to stop loading Microsoft Edge processes at startup on Windows 10
13:50 May 16, 2021
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17:01 May 11, 2021
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14:19 April 22, 2021
10:02 April 22, 2021
10:00 April 22, 2021
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11:37 April 16, 2021
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11:36 April 16, 2021
11:33 April 16, 2021
11:32 April 16, 2021
11:30 April 16, 2021
11:30 April 16, 2021
11:29 April 16, 2021
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12:52 April 15, 2021
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13:08 April 8, 2021
09:42 March 17, 2021
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09:08 March 16, 2021
14:06 March 9, 2021
18:38 March 2, 2021
13:48 January 27, 2021
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13:39 January 27, 2021
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13:37 January 27, 2021
13:35 January 27, 2021
13:34 January 27, 2021
Connecting to Microsoft Exchange Calendar from Mozilla Thunderbird
13:03 January 27, 2021
11:10 January 10, 2021
11:09 January 10, 2021
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11:07 January 10, 2021
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09:26 January 7, 2021
09:41 December 17, 2020
Using mod_security2 with WordPress
WordPress â Mod_security problems with posts and comments fixed
17:59 December 14, 2020
17:46 December 12, 2020
20:54 December 6, 2020
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14:51 November 23, 2020
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14:44 November 11, 2020
16:00 November 10, 2020
09:18 November 9, 2020
09:27 October 19, 2020
14:16 October 18, 2020
09:31 October 18, 2020
13:36 October 10, 2020
16:12 October 7, 2020
14:59 October 7, 2020
10:55 October 6, 2020
15:15 October 1, 2020
14:03 September 29, 2020
14:02 September 29, 2020
12:36 September 18, 2020
12:35 September 18, 2020
12:34 September 18, 2020
12:33 September 18, 2020
Everything you need to know about DNS -- Plus a list of free public DNS servers
12:27 September 18, 2020
Securing DNS across all of my devices with Pi-Hole + DNS-over-HTTPS + 1.1.1.1
10:47 September 18, 2020
16:11 September 17, 2020
17:04 September 11, 2020
Improve Firefox Performance on Linux by Turning WebRender On
16:46 September 9, 2020
How to Embed an External RSS Feed in WordPress Posts via Shortcode
13:43 July 31, 2020
19:03 July 18, 2020
13:43 July 13, 2020
17:51 July 4, 2020
09:33 June 16, 2020
Linux Mint 20 Blocks Snap App Installs, So Hereâs the Workaround
09:30 June 16, 2020
08:11 June 10, 2020
09:31 June 4, 2020
13:48 March 8, 2020
17:11 March 2, 2020
14:27 February 29, 2020
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10:35 February 20, 2020
Change User’s MySQL Password | Reset MySQL Root Password Guide
12:38 February 19, 2020
09:35 February 17, 2020
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13:14 February 16, 2020
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20:34 February 15, 2020
14:29 February 14, 2020
14:29 February 14, 2020
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09:45 February 14, 2020
How to move docker data directory to another location on Ubuntu
09:45 February 14, 2020
The Complete Guide to âuseraddâ Command in Linux â 15 Practical Examples
09:43 February 14, 2020
09:42 February 14, 2020
20:30 February 12, 2020
How to Optimize and Compress JPEG or PNG Images in Linux Command Line
17:41 January 29, 2020
20:21 January 28, 2020
18:37 January 17, 2020
12:45 January 17, 2020
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12:42 January 17, 2020
12:41 January 17, 2020
21:01 January 16, 2020
20:59 January 16, 2020
At the time of writing, this website uses an older version of TLS so you may see browser messages on visiting it. Hopefully, that will get sorted since it looks out for a security tool website.
20:57 January 16, 2020
12:19 January 15, 2020
12:17 January 15, 2020
The most important steps to take to make an Apache server more secure
12:17 January 15, 2020
How to Implement Security HTTP Headers to Prevent Vulnerabilities?
12:16 January 15, 2020
21:38 December 31, 2019
21:37 December 31, 2019
14:41 December 24, 2019
14:24 December 24, 2019
How To Protect an Apache Server with Fail2Ban on Ubuntu 14.04
This may refer to an older Ubuntu version but the advice contained in the article remains relevant to current ones. In fact, I have used it to harden some VPS systems that I have. Now, I only need to see what impact this action might have.
13:12 December 23, 2019
16:47 December 6, 2019
16:01 November 26, 2019
21:28 November 7, 2019
15:40 November 7, 2019
12:51 August 31, 2019
22:09 July 6, 2019
14:16 June 11, 2019
14:14 June 11, 2019
14:46 June 10, 2019
10:55 June 8, 2019
How to disable Sign-in screen acrylic (blur) background on Windows 10 May 2019 Update
11:47 May 22, 2019
11:39 January 30, 2019
Psensor â A Graphical Hardware Temperature Monitoring Tool for Linux
13:34 January 29, 2019
20:03 December 8, 2018
How to commit changes to a docker image
Five Ways to Slim Your Docker Images
09:59 December 8, 2018
09:58 December 8, 2018
14:04 December 6, 2018
15:53 December 5, 2018
Show the slide number and total number of slides on every PowerPoint slide
21:28 December 4, 2018
19:53 December 4, 2018
18:03 November 26, 2018
 Configure Postfix to Send Mail Using Gmail and Google Apps on Debian or Ubuntu
18:02 November 26, 2018
Configure Postfix to Send Mail Using an External SMTP Server
18:01 November 26, 2018
18:01 November 26, 2018
18:00 November 26, 2018
11:09 November 26, 2018
11:07 November 26, 2018
How to Setup a Complete Mail Server (Postfix) using âSquirrelMailâ (Webmail) on Ubuntu/Debian
14:51 November 25, 2018
11:43 November 25, 2018
How to Configure WordPress to Use SMTP For Sending Emails Tutorial
11:42 November 25, 2018
11:41 November 25, 2018
11:41 November 25, 2018
11:39 November 25, 2018
 How to Send Email in WordPress using the Gmail SMTP Server
11:38 November 25, 2018
11:38 November 25, 2018
11:37 November 25, 2018
10:51 November 25, 2018
10:45 November 25, 2018
20:31 November 24, 2018
20:30 November 24, 2018
17:44 November 24, 2018
17:37 November 24, 2018
Redirecting HTTP to HTTPS Using .htaccess File: Step by Step
21:45 November 22, 2018
21:43 November 22, 2018
12:10 November 17, 2018
12:08 November 17, 2018
apt-get install linux-image-extra getting âW: mdadm: /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf defines no arrays.â
12:04 November 17, 2018
15:40 November 4, 2018
Here are the 13 most useful Mac shortcuts that will help you do everything faster
11:02 October 21, 2018
09:05 October 13, 2018
11:48 September 22, 2018
16:12 September 20, 2018
Use an Easy PowerShell Command to Search Files for Information
12:20 September 19, 2018
10:06 September 9, 2018
21:18 August 5, 2018
13:42 July 22, 2018
17:27 July 21, 2018
14:27 July 15, 2018
16:27 July 13, 2018
10:13 June 25, 2018
11:35 June 21, 2018
17:17 June 8, 2018
12:24 June 8, 2018
15:13 May 31, 2018
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20:48 May 29, 2018
20:47 May 29, 2018
11:02 May 28, 2018
10:26 May 28, 2018
09:54 May 28, 2018
16:08 May 25, 2018
The Ultimate Guide to WordPress and GDPR Compliance â Everything You Need to Know
16:02 May 25, 2018
Performance optimizations you can apply today to load the Matomo JavaScript tracker faster
16:01 May 25, 2018
Different ways of embedding the Matomo tracking code for faster website performance
11:24 May 16, 2018
23:18 May 13, 2018
23:15 May 13, 2018
23:13 May 13, 2018
11:02 May 12, 2018
10:59 May 12, 2018
10:52 May 12, 2018
10:32 May 12, 2018
10:30 May 12, 2018
10:27 May 12, 2018
21:42 May 5, 2018
12:23 April 18, 2018
How to troubleshoot the error code “SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER” on secure websites
09:34 April 15, 2018
10:08 April 14, 2018
22:25 April 13, 2018
18:20 April 10, 2018
Write your best resume in Word with help from LinkedIn in Resume Assistant
09:59 March 29, 2018
16:37 March 28, 2018
15:58 March 28, 2018
14:12 March 28, 2018
14:00 March 28, 2018
10:35 March 27, 2018
10:33 March 27, 2018
14:03 March 26, 2018
14:05 March 17, 2018
14:01 March 17, 2018
13:59 March 17, 2018
11:11 March 17, 2018
13:53 March 7, 2018
10:17 November 25, 2017
10:17 November 16, 2017
Diving Into the New Gutenberg WordPress Editor (Pros and Cons)
19:11 November 15, 2017
19:09 November 15, 2017
16:44 October 31, 2017
23:34 October 25, 2017
The care and feeding of software engineers (or, why engineers are grumpy)
23:32 October 25, 2017
23:31 October 25, 2017
19:20 October 24, 2017
19:19 October 24, 2017
19:18 October 24, 2017
23:37 October 22, 2017
23:36 October 22, 2017
23:32 October 22, 2017
23:31 October 22, 2017
23:30 October 22, 2017
23:29 October 22, 2017
23:25 October 22, 2017
10:19 October 14, 2017
17:03 October 7, 2017
17:01 October 7, 2017
Get rid of those extra TIFFs & PSDs in your Lightroom Library fast!
11:57 September 15, 2017
09:47 September 11, 2017
09:45 September 11, 2017
17:11 August 13, 2017
14:21 July 22, 2017
12:13 July 8, 2017
20:03 July 1, 2017
18:58 June 21, 2017
17:03 April 24, 2017
12:01 April 2, 2017
Windows 7: Windows 7 Not Updating
Windows Update error “0x80070002” or “0x80070003”
Fix Windows Update errors by using the DISM or System Update Readiness tool
18:17 March 22, 2017
23:25 March 12, 2017
22:08 March 7, 2017
Review: Evoluent Vertical Mouse 4 (and how to make it work in Ubuntu)
11:14 February 25, 2017
18:38 February 16, 2017
18:34 February 16, 2017
10:35 February 5, 2017
00:45 December 3, 2016
16:02 July 18, 2016
18:21 June 9, 2016
15:22 May 13, 2016
15:13 January 15, 2016
Get rid of the annoying formatting pop-up when you paste in Word
11:15 December 5, 2015
16:23 December 4, 2015
14:08 December 3, 2015
14:07 December 3, 2015
22:16 November 12, 2015
11:08 November 12, 2015
Fedora 23/22/21 nVidia Drivers Install Guide
HOWTO: Install NVIDIA driver on Fedora â replacing Nouveau
09:56 October 30, 2015
20:15 October 29, 2015
20:10 October 29, 2015
20:06 October 29, 2015
21:01 October 2, 2015
22:02 September 28, 2015
11:28 August 7, 2015
16:14 July 27, 2015
11:18 July 24, 2015
18:40 July 10, 2015
15:16 July 9, 2015
18:41 July 6, 2015
07:24 July 2, 2015
The Command Prompt is Outdated: 2 Command Prompt Replacements for Windows
6 Great Windows 10 Features You Can Get Today on Windows 7 or 8
07:35 June 23, 2015
20:12 June 18, 2015
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20:00 May 4, 2015
20:00 May 4, 2015
11:07 May 4, 2015
10:51 May 1, 2015
10:44 April 16, 2015
10:39 April 13, 2015
09:45 April 12, 2015
09:45 April 12, 2015
15:04 April 11, 2015
12:42 April 6, 2015
14:01 April 3, 2015
How to fix âSystem program problem detectedâ error on Ubuntu
19:27 March 28, 2015
11:34 March 27, 2015
11:21 March 27, 2015
11:04 March 27, 2015
16:51 March 26, 2015
16:53 March 18, 2015
04:00 March 7, 2015
02:39 March 5, 2015
Google Translate CLI Lets You Translate Text From The Command Line
01:51 March 5, 2015
23:19 February 21, 2015
14:25 February 19, 2015
11:56 February 16, 2015
22:29 February 9, 2015
15:45 February 5, 2015
Switch Windows by Hovering the Mouse Over a Window in Windows 7 or Vista
10:32 February 4, 2015
15:30 January 30, 2015
10:17 January 21, 2015
12:56 December 31, 2014
10:05 December 11, 2014
17:05 December 9, 2014
16:22 December 6, 2014
18:45 December 5, 2014
The crop tool is stuck in a fixed shape. How can I make it work properly?
14:55 November 26, 2014
22:12 November 18, 2014
How To Install MATE Desktop on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
Cinnamon 2.4 Debuts With New Features, Hereâs How To Install It In Ubuntu
FSF-Endorsed Linux Distro âTrisquel 7.0ⲠReleased
19:53 November 11, 2014
21:54 November 4, 2014
21:52 November 4, 2014
22:30 October 30, 2014
21:34 June 11, 2014
18:57 January 24, 2014
Archive area of old releases of Java for those who need them.
Every week, I get an email newsletter from Woody’s Office Watch. This was something to which I started subscribing in the 1990’s but I took a break from it for a good while for reasons that I cannot recall and returned to it only in recent years. This week’s issue featured a list of online paraphrasing tools that are part of what is offered by Quillbot, Paraphraser, Dupli Checker and Pre Post Seo. Each got their own reviews in the newsletter so I will just outline other features in this posting.
In Quillbot’s case, the toolkit includes a grammar checker, summary generator, and citation generator. In addition to the online offering, there are extensions for Microsoft Word, Google Chrome, and Google Docs. In addition to the free version, a paid subscription option is available.
In spite of the name, Paraphraser is about more than what the title purports to do. There is article rewriting, plagiarism checking, grammar checking and text summarisation. Because there is no premium version, the offering is funded by advertising and it will not work with an ad blocker enabled. The mention of plagiarism suggests a perhaps murkier side to writing that cuts both ways: one is to avoid copying other work while another is the avoidance of groundless accusations of copying.
It was appear that the main role of Dupli Checker is to avoid accusations of plagiarism by checking what you write yet there is a grammar checker as well as a paraphrasing tool on there too. When I tried it, the English that it produced looked a little convoluted and there is a lack of fluency in what is written on its website as well. Together with a free offering that is supported by ads that were not blocked by my ad blocker, there are premium subscriptions too.
In web publishing, they say that content is king so the appearance of an option using the acronym for Search Engine Optimisation in it name may not be as strange as it might as first glance. There are numerous tools here with both free and paid tiers of service. While paraphrasing and plagiarism checking get top billing in the main menu on the home page, further inspection reveals that there is a lot more to check on this site.
In writing, inspiration is a fleeting and ephemeral quantity so anything that helps with this has to be of interest. While any rewriting of initial content may appear less smooth than the starting point, any help with the creation process cannot go amiss. For that reason alone, I might be tempted to try these tools from time to time and they might assist with proof reading as well because that can be a hit and miss affair for some.