Build some Pdf handling software expense on your bid for the next contract you get that requires text handling. If you have one or two really bad ones you want turned into somethinge editable, you can e-mail them to me, have me return an editable form. Open Office which is free will do a great job of turning them back into PDFs for you. Obviously I'm not going to do that for 5,000 for you, but as I said if you have one or two bearcats.
The two free work arounds is that you can cut and paste stuff into word or export to text file. The text files lose all formating - usually include location of rows and columns in tables. Cut and paste preserves more - but often in extremely weird ways - like some fairly standard font text will paste into word as 72 point font and like that.
Oh a quick google reveals this:
[link]
Another software that converts PDF to word called "Solid" has a free trial version. It will convert 10% of a document to word (up to ten pages) but you can do this multiple times for a document until you convert the whole thing. The free trial is good for 15 days. Don't know if the the pita of 10% at a time is worth it, and have no idea how good solid is. But it is free for that 15 days.
[link]
Here is another one that does not expire and does not have 10% limitation. Adware- uses your browser to convert and pops ads on your browser. Again don't have faintest idea of quality.
Oh and scansoft PDF converter has a version that will do everythign most people will want for $50
[link]
My new MythTV setup appears to be working pretty well. Initially I had a problem the driver for the IR remote not loading on boot, but I fixed that by hacking rc.sysinit.
I'm getting my programming info and the pausing of live TV is working. Tonight I'll see if my scheduled recordings look okay and see if the automatic commercial removal really works.
Excellent, Gud -- keep us posted. I keep not quite getting around to doing a Myth box, but being tempted by the idea.
My Linux box does have a capture card in it, but I'm running out of cable outlets, and splitting does not make the waves happy.
Just as background info, I'm using a very basic computer a homebuilt PC with a Athlon-XP 2000+ processor, 512MB RAM, ATI-9550 card, onboard (VIA) ethernet, and sound. Then, a PVR-250 for TV input (and also provides the remote).
I'm using Fedora Core 4 for the base OS using this very useful guide: [link]
I had to do my JFS video partition manually since the Fedora installer would crap out if I did it with the partition tool in the installer, but otherwise it went pretty smoothly so far. The guide had the hack for loading the IR driver, but I found that after I had already fixed it myself.
Still have some stuff to do, setting up the web interface so I can schedule and review recordings from anywhere, seeing if my recorded programs are turning out right, and finally hooking it up to a TV (thought that involves a lot of work that isn't software related, like getting an ethernet cable up to the living room and quieting the computer)
I installed MythKnopp, to test my hardware, but I didn't want to go that way for the real thing. I will say that MythKnopp was easy to install, but it runs much better now. MythKnopp may run better with a bit a tweaking, which I didn't do since I just wanted to make sure all the hardware worked.
anyone having trouble with gmail?
It was hellaciously slow this morning, but not since then.
Power tools are the vanguard of new battery tech: [link]
Excerpts:
... a new line of teeth-rattling 36-volt cordless saws, rotary hammers, and drills from DeWalt, a division of Black & Decker, finally delivers. The potent black-and-yellow beasts have twice the power of standard 18-volt tools and run for twice as long per charge.
Cofounder Yet-Ming Chiang, a materials science professor, succeeded in shrinking to nanoscale the particles that coat the battery's electrodes and store and discharge energy. The results are electrifying: Power density doubles, peak energy jumps fivefold (the cells pack more punch than a standard 110-volt wall outlet), and recharging time plummets.
A123's real target, however, is your car. Chiang says A123's cells could lighten a Toyota Prius' 100-pound battery by as much as 80 percent and help boost any hybrid's performance. The quick recharging time - the M1 takes five minutes to reach 90 percent capacity - plus high peak power also would be ideal for plug-in versions of gas-electric vehicles.
It's basically Lithium Ion batteries liberated from the hazards they've been worried about, dropping, heating, etc.
