Philotic Web

Okay, people: I'm in Salt Lake City for the next few days. What are the things that I shouldn't miss?

Cafe Rio.

Seriously though: Check out Temple Square. There's some impressive architecture (The temple is seriously amazing) and lots of history. Plenty of missionaries to give tours. (They are used to tourists, so they shouldn't be religion pushy.) If you're interested in genealogy, they have EVERYTHING ever for researching family history at the Family Search Center. You could check out Olympic sites. Brian says go float in the Salt Lake. Hiking trails should be pretty easy to access.

Place to eat: Cafe Rio, Brick Oven, The Sconecutter, Lion House, The Roof and/or The Garden (if you're looking for something more expensive/gourmet)

Trolley Square is touristy and fun. You have to get the saltwater taffy. Temple Square is always beautiful, and it's right by the new Crossroads mall. It's a little high-end for me, but it's all open air and there is creek going through it, so that's pretty cool. I don't know if it's your thing or not, but there is a lot of hiking relatively close. And if not, just driving up into some of the canyons is beautiful. I remember the Hogle Zoo being the coolest place ever, but I haven't been there since I was 7 so I'm probably exaggerating. The Capitol building looks pretty much like every other Capitol building in the country, but has an exceptional view of the city. If you like driving a little bit, I hear Antelope Island is a cool place to see.

That's pretty much all I can think of--I don't usually tour around SLC. But some things to look into!


And since Steph and I posted at the same time: I second the Cafe Rio recommendation. I actually prefer Costa Vida, but I think I'm unique in that.

Thanks for the help, guys! I'm definitely going to check as much of that out as I can. (I'm here for work, and I'm really only free in the evenings, so I probably won't get to all of it!)

While at work tonight, I had really blurry vision in the corners of both eyes, that looked strikingly similar to heat waves...in that I could see at the corners but it was moving in a wave-like pattern. No pain, it went away after about 20 minutes, pretty sudden onset, though I did feel like passing out for part of that due to the incessant motion from just keeping my eyes open.

I think Google told me it was a migraine but if so, I've never had that kind. Can anyone confirm from experience?

I have had very very occasional episodes of blurry vision in the last few years. No headache, no other kind of pain, and a small feeling of disorientation. Nothing really bad came out of that, but it doesn't mean nothing will not
If you are worried about it, you might want to check with a doctor.

I have heard of aura-only migraines and that could be it, especially if you've ever had regular migraines. But that's just a guess!

It could be something in the eye itself. I've had what looked like pixelated patches in my vision appear for short periods of time and my optometrist said it was basically something floating in the eye.

It could be something in the eye itself. I've had what looked like pixelated patches in my vision appear for short periods of time and my optometrist said it was basically something floating in the eye.

If you are worried about it, you might want to check with a doctor.

Oh, I am not worried, I was merely inconvenienced as I was trying to work (on the public desk with no backup). zero is/was worried when I told him and thinks I should see a doctor or, barring that, do something besides try to work through it if it happens again.

I don't have insurance so unless I am, by my own opinion, dying, no doctor visits for me!

Any recommendations on good-great tablets (for drawing) under $100?

The tablets that I have heard the most about, and basically all positive, is Wacom. I imagine you can find them at Amazon?


And for my own question, if I wanted to turn a segment of an .avi file into a .gif, any particular programmes or methods that are easier than others?

I broke down and googled it anyway, and my question is answered.

My Wacom is amazing, but I'm a bit out of the loop as to how much they cost.

I know nothing about tablets, but from a quick look at Wacom's site Bamboo appears to be their consumer line with models ranginging from $80 to $200.

Yeah...I didn't think anyone would respond so I started trying to make sense of them on my own. It was hard for me to tell which needed batteries (of all kinds, not just Wacom) for the stylus, which didn't, which came with some sort of software for doodling, which didn't, etc.

I've asked google several times, but I haven't found what I'm looking for. Can anyone help me out?

I need a condensed version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The original is just too long for the entertainment spot we have at a Christmas party, but I need it to go along with Brian singing "You're a Mean One." Has anyone ever seen a condensed version?

I've asked google several times, but I haven't found what I'm looking for. Can anyone help me out?

I need a condensed version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The original is just too long for the entertainment spot we have at a Christmas party, but I need it to go along with Brian singing "You're a Mean One." Has anyone ever seen a condensed version?

Condensed version of the movie or the book?

I assumed she meant book; I've never seen an abridged version of the text of How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

Yeah, I did mean the book. Sorry for the confusion.

We have some Dr. Seuss board books that abridge very nicely (those books are LONG!!), but I haven't seen one for the Grinch. I guess Brian and I will have to get to work on slashing it up for the night ourselves.

I have some CALCOMP III Tablets, with wireless 16-button pucks. I have 3 tablets, but only ONE cable--and it's a 9-pin serial cable. You'd have to track down some software and drivers for it.

Here's a typical image of the puck:



The active area of the tablet is 12" x 12"

(not mine--a generic image from the Intertubes)

If you're interested, let me know. I'll post pictures, point you to where you can find drivers (tell me your OS), you make me an offer, and we'll go from there. I was about to post the whole set, 3 tablets, 3 pucks, and the one cable and power supply for $50 on e-bay, plus shipping. Shipping is going to be somewhere from $15 to $20, in the "states"

Yeah, I did mean the book. Sorry for the confusion.

We have some Dr. Seuss board books that abridge very nicely (those books are LONG!!), but I haven't seen one for the Grinch. I guess Brian and I will have to get to work on slashing it up for the night ourselves.

Yup. I searched for a good while and no board book of it exists! I'm pretty surprised at that.

I'm surprised, too! We own several Dr. Seuss board books and I think they are very well done. I'd love one of the Grinch just for my personal collection.

Thanks for poking around for me, in case I was just terrible at looking of what I needed!

Thanks, Steve, but I actually found a Wacom for $30. Nowhere near that size an active area but it gets the job done. :)

Darn!

Good for you, not so much for me!

I've got a challenge for our technically inclined members. My google-fu is pretty good, if I do say so myself, but I've had surprisingly little success finding a solution to this:

I just got a new Windows 8 laptop. I'm loving it so far except for one rather big problem. Apparently Win8 doesn't allow you to connect to wireless networks that use a shared WEP security key. This is what my router at home uses!

Yeah, I know that this security is outdated and not very secure, but that's not the point right now. I need to know if there's a way around this, or, failing that, what sort of router should I be looking to upgrade to?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Quite simply, you can't. Windows made the choice to exclude it, so they would need to put out a fix. And from everything I've seen, it doesn't look likely.

However, 8 does still support WEP, just not shared key. So is there any specific reason you need to use shared? Because if you are happy with the current router, you should just be able to switch your router settings from shared to open. After that, you should be able to connect just fine.

If you would rather just get a new, more secure router, then I'm sure someone else can come in and give the proper recommendations. I usually just get this cheapest one.

Yeah, that's pretty much the answer I was expecting.

The thing is, I have lost pretty much everything to do with my router. That is, the manual, the set up CD, administrator passwords... everything. And believe me, I NEVER lose this stuff. I still have discs and manuals for devices I got rid of years and years ago, so it's very annoying that the one device I need it for I don't have it.

Bottom line is, I don't think there's any way I can change the settings. I can't even access them. So it looks like I'll be getting a new router and go though the annoyance of adding several devices to a brand new network and hope that it works at least as well as my current set up.

Comparing routers has only confused and frustrated me further. I'm hesitant to just get the cheapest one. Shopping for a laptop was much easier since I actually understand computer specs and features. I don't know heads from tails when it comes to routers.

Thanks for your input.

Is it sea salt caramel (one thing) or sea salt and caramel (two things combined)? And what is it and where did it come from?

Having never heard of it, suddenly I'm hearing it everywhere.

As far as I know, it is sea salt and caramel, two separate things (often eaten together, lately). It's just a combination of flavors, salty and sweet.

Salted caramels have been around for awhile, but it's trendy these days.

It is sea salted caramel, so sea salt sprinkled in/on the caramel. In my opinion, caramel doesn't take quite right if there isn't salt in it. (I usually just use kosher salt. And I cook it into the caramel, so there aren't salty bits.)

This might be a bit random, but what is UP with those dark blue Christmas lights? They're like... anti-lights. I can sort of see why it's not worth the effort to replace them in a string of multi-coloured lights, but some people buy whole strings of just the dark blue! I don't get it, and I don't even know how I'd google this.

So does anyone here like them, and WHY?

So I just got a pea coat. It's wool(55%), poleyester. Etc.


I usually wash clothes before I wear them, because I always detect a slight smell. Plus people could have tried it on, bacteria? , etc.

This pea coat says Professional Dry Clean only. I don't want to wash it, I just want to dry it for a bit to kill any of the bacteria or whatever and make the odor a bit more neutral. Is this okay?
Is it likely to shrink?

I tried to Google it a little bit, but mostly it talks about washing. Here's the only thing I found about drying it without washing it....
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 039AA8FTRZ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wool can shrink with heat, especially if it's hot enough heat to "kill" any bacteria. I wouldn't try it.

Wool can shrink with heat, especially if it's hot enough heat to "kill" any bacteria. I wouldn't try it.

Okay, thank you.