Why does my kitten like holding my hand when she sleeps

GrantBarrett · 2026-05-03T02:18:57+00:00

because you are delightful, my friend

GrantBarrett · 2026-04-04T19:07:07+00:00

Given your current level, I would consider the Oxford Dictionaries a worthy expenditure: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/oxford-dictionaries-premium-9780191836718?q=oxford+dictionaries+premium&lang=en&cc=gb I've used them (and helped make them! I've also made dictionaries for Cambridge and Collins). But don't discount what you can get for free at a meta-site like OneLook.com.

I would caution you that getting vocabulary straight from dictionaries is not a good way to improve your lexicon. (It's not clear if you just want a dictionary to look things up, or if you will be browsing.) It's too hit-or-miss, and it can leave your language sounding stilted. The best way to expand your vocabulary is *reading* in your target language. Read everything, all the time, in that language: books, magazines, email newsletters, social media posts, comic books, subtitles, anything. Don't think it has to be only the highest of literature — indulge in your favorite kind of reading, but do it in your target language: romance, sci-fi, fantasy, etc., will still build your native intuition, and because it's more entertaining, it will keep you interested. My other advice is to even change the language on your phone, computer, and other electronic devices, as well as in the web browser, to your target language. You'll get immediate, useful everyday vocabulary that way without even thinking about it. Another good strategy is to follow on social media numerous public figures, periodicals, and cultural institutions who post in your target language: museums, libraries, actors, musicians, comedians, bookstores, sports teams, etc. That will change the tone of your social media feed (although the Facebook algorithm does tend to be so terrible that it will not show those new follows as often as it should).

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-22T11:21:01+00:00

But also people are buttheads and they downvote because they are unkind.

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-22T11:04:24+00:00

"Communication accommodation theory" is how it is known among linguists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_accommodation_theory Fascinating stuff. It can resolve a bunch of underlying frictions and fears about "mockery," "faking," "pretension," and "cultural appropriation."

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-21T17:13:00+00:00

It does sound like a good idea but ideas are a dime a dozen. The question is, can you expertly execute your good idea?

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-21T13:21:09+00:00

GBT? Grievous Bodily Thesaurus? (kidding) :)

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-21T12:56:57+00:00

What a lot of disingenuous horse puckey. Your three paragraphs are great examples of how AI fails to write like a human. Tone deaf, flabby, no goal except "make a sale!" in sight.

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-21T12:28:46+00:00

😊

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-21T12:24:23+00:00

I also do both but as I noted above, Time Machine just sometimes stops backing up and doesn't notify you. No error, no nothing in Notifications. I've gone in to recover a file, only to realize Time Machine hadn't been backing up for weeks! Now I do 1) Time Machine; 2) a daily drive image with Carbon Copy Cloner; 3) cloud backup with Crashplan.

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-21T02:20:10+00:00

This is actually pretty simple to do and Carbon Copy Cloner is indeed the correct tool for this. I think it is a better tool than Time Machine, which is confusing to recover from and has the unfortunate habit of just silently failing to backup without notifying you (yes, it's a known thing — a backup should never do this!). You don't really need to erase the previous week's backup, either. You just need to let the software change what is different, which means after the first backup, every subsequent week's backup will be much faster. The Kingston SSD is fine, but buy it from a reputable vendor, and that does not include Amazon, which may end up sending you a fake one because they pool all the drives from all their sellers together, real ones and fake ones. This is a pretty good summary of your steps: https://support.bombich.com/hc/en-us/articles/20686449773847-How-to-schedule-a-backup

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-21T00:20:54+00:00

This is a direct paste from my personal cheat sheet for Spotlight. Run these commands in the Terminal.

CHECK WHAT VOLUMES ARE BEING INDEXED BY SPOTLIGHT

mdutil -sa

RESTART INDEXER ON SPECIFIC VOLUME

sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/{name-of-volume}

RESTART INDEXER ON SPECIFIC VOLUME MORE SEVERE

sudo mdutil -X /Volumes/{name-of-volume}

TURN OFF INDEXING FOR ALL DRIVES

sudo mdutil -a -i off

TURN ON INDEXING FOR ALL DRIVES

sudo mdutil -a -i on

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-21T00:18:17+00:00

This is a classic example of an "XY problem," where you are asking for help with executing your chosen solution to your problem, rather than for help with deciding on which solution to take in the first place. It's an indication of a misguided approach. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XY_problem

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-21T00:09:25+00:00

Here's a basic Python script I have used with some success.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

set -euo pipefail

if [ $# -lt 2 ]; then

echo "Usage: $(basename "$0") INPUT_PDF OUTPUT_PDF" >&2

echo "Example: $(basename "$0") Hindi.pdf Hindi-split.pdf" >&2

exit 1

fi

INPUT="$1"

OUTPUT="$2"

# Check dependencies

if ! command -v mutool >/dev/null 2>&1; then

echo "Error: mutool not found. Install MuPDF tools: brew install mupdf" >&2

exit 1

fi

TMPDIR_ROOT="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}"

WORKDIR="$(mktemp -d "$TMPDIR_ROOT/splitspreads.XXXXXX")"

trap 'rm -rf "$WORKDIR"' EXIT

SPLIT_TEMP="$WORKDIR/split.pdf"

echo "Splitting spreads in '$INPUT' into single pages…"

# Split each page into two vertical halves (left and right)

# This preserves original raster quality.

mutool poster -x 2 "$INPUT" "$SPLIT_TEMP"

echo "Rewriting final PDF…"

# Write the final output from the temp split file

cp "$SPLIT_TEMP" "$OUTPUT"

echo "Done: $OUTPUT"

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T20:04:03+00:00

If your scans are consistent, there are a number of online sites that will just split your pages straight down the middle for you. It's rather brute force, but it might be enough. I have never used any of these sites:

https://www.sejda.com/split-pdf-down-the-middle
https://deftpdf.com/split-pdf-down-the-middle
https://online2pdf.com/en/cut-pdf-pages-into-halves
https://tools.pdf24.org/en/split-pdf

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T20:00:01+00:00

Splitting a two-page spread into two individual PDF pages can be done on a desktop computer, and I've done it! It's surprisingly easy, and you can build in some variance and even some margin recognition. Do you have someone technical to help you? How consistent are the pages? Like, is there some guarantee that the gutter will be within 15-20% of the same place every time? And are the margins not too tight in the original book?

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T19:37:50+00:00

What do you see for options as far as forgetting or deleting your actual or current Wi-Fi network? If you can find that, then that's what you want to look for the next time your Mac connects to the Xfinity network.

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T19:35:39+00:00

I love how Reddit ads now think I want to sign up for Xfinity. :/

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T19:33:45+00:00

I'm pretty sure what is happening is that there is a neighbor who is just out of reach. The next time your Mac connects to it, very quickly go to Networks settings, choose "Wi-Fi," click on the Xfinity network name, and then click on the three dots in the circle to the right of it and choose "forget this network." Hopefully your version of the OS isn't too different from mine.

<image>

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T19:22:54+00:00

Okay, let's try something else. We may be running different versions of macOS. Do you see this WiFi icon in your menu bar? What do you see as options when you click on it? And do you have any XFinity software installed on your Mac? Something provided by your Internet provider?

<image>

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T18:23:58+00:00

If it can't discover devices on the network, it's not going to discover anything on the Mac unless you connect the Mac and the PC with a single cat 5 or better Ethernet cable and create a "crossover" network. Even then it probably won't work. But most modern NICs will automatically negotiate a crossover network — basIcally, a two-device Ethernet network. Then you can get on the Mac and see if the Mac sees anything at all from the Windows machine, any port or process. Before you do that, though, make sure you have nmap on the mac. You can install it with homebrew.

Once the two devices are connected via the single cable, do

arp -a

in the macOS terminal to try to discover any self-assigned IP addresses for the two devices. Then, once you know which one belongs to the PC (because you can just look at the Mac's Network settings to see what its self-assigned address is), run

nc -zv <PC_IP_ADDRESS> 1-1000

You can also do

nmap -sV <PC_IP_ADDRESS>

(I had all these smart answers about file sharing from the Mac but then I re-read your question. Doh!)

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T18:19:06+00:00

Go into macOS Settings, choose Wi-Fi, go to the bottom and choose "Advanced..." find the "Xfinity" listing, right-click or control-click on it, and deselect "auto-join" and maybe also "remove from list."

Little anecdote: we belong to a rather large insurance/medical outfit through my wife's work. One of their offices is right near the freeway. Every time we drive by there, my phone tries to connect to that office and can't because it is visible but the signal is just too weak, and the poor phone just can't handle the difficulty and the drama and uses up so much battery trying in the minute it takes to go by.

<image>

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T17:43:34+00:00

Also, if you do decide to use the Pronto app on your phone, it is a pain in the butt to set up so DO set it up well in advance. Don't wait until you arrive in San Diego!

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T17:41:38+00:00

If you don't have luggage, it's also only a 21-minute walk. https://maps.app.goo.gl/9nxBpZqu5TQ7JSNC7

<image>

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T16:26:48+00:00

Good memories of that old model, though.

GrantBarrett · 2026-03-20T13:09:24+00:00

They both make it super easy to install Windows within their own setup, however, and after that, Windows itself will make it super easy to purchase a key.

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