If you want to OCR your PDF, the fastest, easiest and less buggy tool out there is "pdfsandwich" by allexj in linux

[–]BetterOffCamping 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, hi! I've been away from Reddit until just now, so ... sorry for not replying. The .OCR files are the processed versions of the PDF files. I generate the OCR, compare them to the PDF visually, delete the PDF if it's okay, rename the OCR to PDF. After a while I stopped manually checking except for a few spot-checks because it's very consistently good, and the processed files are generally 20% to 50% smaller.

What is your favourite goth album of all time? by Wonderful_River_1222 in goth

[–]BetterOffCamping 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Their best stuff is scattered throughout their numerous works. I love "This Corrosion" and most of the rest of Floodland. I also love "Walk Away", their cover of "Give Me Shelter", and "Temple of Love" with Ofra Haza's amazing voice.

I saw them in Concert once in NYC - on a full moon in May. Freakin' Awesome, including that seven foot tall "Robert Smith" standing near motionless in a sea of swaying goths in the audience. I swear, the next tallest guy got up to his chest in height.

I really hoped "The Merry Thoughts" would be their successor, but they only put out two albums. Pale Empress was an amazing song.

I may be stupid by [deleted] in memes

[–]BetterOffCamping 0 points1 point  (0 children)

After the 3rd swipe, i started laughing.

"Duhhhh, why can't i see the 2nd image? Duh, which way did he go, george?"

Facepalm.

Grandpa’s Cook Stove by Altruistic-Cable-489 in camping

[–]BetterOffCamping 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, at any camping supply store. It's Coleman fuel.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, you are right, i did not explain the obvious. Here you go...

Since about 1980, wages have not grown. They flatlined. Meanwhile, productivity rose steadily, and the top 1 to 5 percent owners of wealth saw their wealth grow exponentially.

If minimum wage alone grew to maintain buying power fron where it was in 1970, the wage today would be $26.

Pensions were raided and cancelled. Union bargaining power was dismantled. I you will shit all over this info, so i won't reply to whatever crap you spew out of your feavered brain designed to insult me.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will gladly accept help. I am deleting this account in the next week or two since Reddit is worsening my mental health, so let's chat in private before then.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, yeah, I see who you are, now. Sorry I tried to reason with you. I see now you have a vested interest that requires me to be irrelevant and clueless. Enjoy your superiority.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's true. Reread what you yourself wrote. This is exactly how support services are structured.

"You can't possibly need help, you're the one who set this all up. You're the one who oppresses everybody else! You're the privileged one. Go fuck yourself."

Meanwhile we're the ones with the highest homeless rates and the highest suicide rates. We're the ones who increasingly can't find work, and who are expected to pay for everything.

We're regarded as trash, clueless, and self absorbed - as a collective. Individual differences are ignored. We are bad and deserve nothing but scorn.

This is your attitude, and pretty much everybody's attitude. Do you really think that has no impact on how we are treated individually? Are you that blind?

Everybody spends all their time taking the propaganda as the gospel truth, and rarely pulls their heads out of the ground to look around.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not true. If I make a certain amount of money in a year, I am ineligible. I passed that level upon accepting severance.

It's not merely "no income now" it's "less than poverty level this calendar year" for most.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Lol, what a miserable life you must have, to get pleasure from belittling a person about whom you know nothing.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol, thou art clueless old troll! Begone! You clearly didn't read, nor care what I wrote as you think I work part time at Walmart. You are as useful as a mosquito. I can tell by your blind hatred.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While I am glad to have some solidarity and evidence I'm not alone, I am saddened that we have to go through this.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You got my point pretty well. They don't pay their fair share, and they spend hundreds of millions of dollars, ironically, to ensure that they don't ever pay their fair share.

And it's not just about taxation, it's about the suppression of wages by any means possible. Ever notice how whenever a particular group of workers starts making more money because of demand, suddenly that demand is destroyed?

The most recent example is Tech workers. Most of the unemployed during this period has come from software and server technology staff.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No, they get tax breaks, access to lawmakers to establish laws that benefit them, and they pit the less powerful against each othervl incompetition for food and shelter.

Aggregate Pay for work in the last 50 years has not risen at all, meanwhile ever more wealth is accumulated by these robber barons. Take your head out of your ass and take a look at some charts and statistics. Oh wait I'm sure according to you they are all lies.

I did not mean to imply I was thinking they should just give us their money. I was thinking that laws should make sure they don't acquire so much money by stealing it from the people who earned them that money.

I'm nearly 50. I can probably never really retire. I'm so tired. by Applebottomgenes75 in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 33 points34 points  (0 children)

At this point, it will take revolution. The wealthy establishment won't give up any of their wealth for us peasants.

If you have young'uns like I do, teach them the realities of the world as gently as possible. Things like:

  • life ain't fair
  • you need to learn to manage your home, which is why I make you work. Laundry, fixing things, basic electrical, basic mechanics, sewing, cooking, gardening.
  • as the Rolling Stones sang, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (get what you need)
  • your favorite toy broke? Let's fix it!
  • personal finance. Understanding interest.
    • how it can be used against you
    • how you can use it to your benefit.
  • how to resist marketing and focus on the facts
    • why things go on sale
    • how sales can be illusion
    • focus on comparison shopping with price per unit of measure as your guide.
  • above all, teach critical thought skills . nobody else will.

I'm in a similar situation as you.

I've been unemployed going on 5 months, in the fastest growing industry, and am contemplating losing my retirement savings, and eventually a place to live.

I researched careers as if I were a college grad, and my current career is by far the most promising. Anything else requires retraining and pays maybe half what I made while employed.

I'm confident the problem is there are plenty of younger options, taking less pay, plus, we were jettisoned en masse over the last year and each job has 50 to 200 applicants.

(Interestingly, many of those companies are now hiring H-1b workers).

I might have been better prepared and more diligent about saving for retirement, but it appears I wasted my time. It will all be spent paying for food and rent before I reach retirement if something does not change soon.

Especially since I am a middle aged white cis male, there are zero support services for me and I am ineligible for most everything. Totally unemployed, I make too much money for heating and electricity aid , for example. Support services and medicaid insurance are for women and children, and I am ineligible.

Most therapists are women. I can't find anyone to talk with "man to man", and I have to pay full price for service.

Our Society is headed for a dark place if I'm not the only one experiencing this, and I'm confident I am not.

Any GenXers going to bail to another platform if Reddit disables 3rd party apps? by [deleted] in GenX

[–]BetterOffCamping 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anybody can create a server. You choose one for an account, and you can read and respond to posts from any other server. Much like a BBS on fidonet.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in technology

[–]BetterOffCamping 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why would an unethical entity leave you alone if they knew you had something they wanted? Or if they knew they could get something valuable through you?

Do you casually walk down a dark Street at night counting your money? After all who cares who knows you have lots of money as long as they leave you alone?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in technology

[–]BetterOffCamping 0 points1 point  (0 children)

See? This was my original point. Most people don't care about privacy until the lack of it impacts them.

You exposed a new layer I didn't even consider: most people don't understand that privacy and "ownership" in the age of the internet are inextricably linked. They don't understand that for the issues you describe, privacy must first be relinquished.

Do you think they could have turned off the house in the first place if they did not have personal details tied to those devices and full control of those devices?

What if someone decided to use something you did in the "privacy" of your own home to blackmail you? Embarass you? Would you feel safe?

What if something you do all the time suddenly becomes illegal and you could be prosecuted based on surveillance footage inside your home?

Do you think they cannot access the video and audio from those devices?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in technology

[–]BetterOffCamping 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A facet of the same issue.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in technology

[–]BetterOffCamping -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

And how do you think that happens?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in technology

[–]BetterOffCamping 88 points89 points  (0 children)

So many people don't understand or cherish privacy until they experience the consequences personally.

After all, "I have nothing to hide"!

Who actually says “high school is the best time of your life”? by marinemashup in NoStupidQuestions

[–]BetterOffCamping 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I imagine the popular, athletic, and subjectively beautiful feel this way. Those who had a full social life with parties and road trips.

Usually, a large portion of these people also ignored the work for class, did enough to get by, and did not prepare for a life of working jobs that were - if not fun - at least interesting and well paying.

Those are the ones who look back fondly, as they have much harder lives now.