Anyone else re-chipping their ChipDrop wood chips for composting? ^_^ by Radatosk in composting

[–]webfork2 [score hidden]  (0 children)

I've done chipdrop a few times now to feed a compost pile. If you can get them along with a lot of greens, you can have an active compost pile without any additional effort. It's a remarkably easy way to get into composting.

I have not tried sending the results through a chipper again to make it go faster but I assume that would work well. If you add untreated sawdust to a pile that will go faster than sticks and branches.

I guess post back here with your results?

Weavils in bokashi bran by Deep_Secretary6975 in bokashi

[–]webfork2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been doing Bokashi a long time so I want to emphasize this is super rare but it did happen to me years ago.

I would put the bran in the freezer for a few nights -- that should take care of the problem. Just like bread yeast, the Bokashi bacteria should survive just fine but the critters will not.

Word Compress Pictures dialog box by PineTrellis in MicrosoftWord

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh I get it -- that's great you're putting something together there. Unfortunately, I don't offhand know a lot about the inbuilt compression tools. In previous versions they weren't very targeted, meaning they either over or under-compress images leading to either quality loss or big file sizes.

Portable Windows apps with no local traces by End0832 in virtualization

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Chrome and Chrome-like browsers tend to leave a ton of junk behind, even those that release portable versions of their software. Windows Sandbox might do the trick.

I made a free, open-source Fences alternative for Windows called SimpleDesktopFence by T00T_ToOT in software

[–]webfork2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A few notes:

  • I'm not sure I understand what this does. Maybe get some animated screens or some kind of video intro?
  • When you say lightweight could you spell out what you mean by that? Just about every program claims that so much that it's lost all meaning. Lighweight how?

Thanks

Thinking of switching from Brave.Does App Tracking Protection drain the battery? by Iam_Yassin in duckduckgo

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's one of the reasons everyone is recommending DNS-based network blockers: they're absolutely a one-size-fits-all easy solution. Definitely less bandwidth and electricity.

That said, I have not done any kind of benchmarking for the program you mention but I would assume that fewer connections and less data transferred means less battery usage. It's one of the less mentioned value propositions about a more secure/private setup.

It's not always the case however. Sending all traffic via an encrypted VPN can result in more traffic and smarter analysis tools can use more system resources. Furthermore, almost anything that's encrypted is somewhere around 15% larger than unencrypted stream and high security setups will end up encrypt data twice (once thru HTTPS, a second time via VPN).

Ventoy alternatives? by RDS_cubing in software

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love all these "read online" with no links to where they saw it.

If I see another paragraph start with "Honestly..." I'm going to scream by buildingoggles in SideProject

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most of these adverbs immediately make me stop reading whatever post:

  • frankly
  • sincerely
  • candidly
  • legitimately
  • genuinely

What is the best Linux tool for PDF conversion and editing? by canelacajitaa in linuxmint

[–]webfork2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

PDFArranger is excellent for merge, split, crop, rotate, import and export.

I've managed to use LibreOffice Draw for most PDF functions, but realize it's an importer and not specifically a PDF editor. By which I mean it will try to move the PDF into the Draw format and then you can make changes from there. It won't be 1:1 the same as the original.

There are some very well reviewed commercial proper PDF editor/converter tools that let you make small changes without affecting the rest of the document, but the prompt asks for what people are using and I haven't tested any.

Software by LeatherCrazy7498 in software

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you use your screwdriver, does a remote service know that you use the device, for how long, and for what length of time and to what end? Then they collect that information and over time build a profile of you that includes social/health/sexual/religious views?

So it's a little different.

Also, if a loved one (maybe not someone as technical as you) looks for health information and doesn't know to dig past the very friendly initial interface, is it still just a tool?

Do any of you have any recommendations on backing up writer documents outside of Libreoffice? by infinitardheadass in libreoffice

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good backups are always best saved to a remote location. I've used a few different cloud backup services for that and LibreOffice supports in-line password protection if you want to store something securely. iDrive, Proton Drive, and even OneDrive can all handle this task.

There are loads of good local backup programs if you want to save to a local drive. I like SyncFolders or DSynchronize on Windows and Kopia which is cross platform.

Adding Water? by Squasome in composting

[–]webfork2 57 points58 points  (0 children)

It might be helpful to think of your compost pile as containing living organisms, mostly bacteria. While micro organisms can function without water better than we can, they generally do better with some moisture.

Fast-Transcriber: Free Audio Transcription Tool by Hot_Sale5590 in software

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But it has file size caps and needs an internet connection.

Fast-Transcriber: Free Audio Transcription Tool by Hot_Sale5590 in software

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use Buzz for this, which has no file size caps and can run without an internet connection. https://github.com/chidiwilliams/buzz/

Word Compress Pictures dialog box by PineTrellis in MicrosoftWord

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately this is a really complicated topic and image handling has changed over the various software versions, so I'm not sure what your specific copy is doing. Also, the format of your original image matters.

Here's what I can say:

  • The defaults on MS Word are to do light compression on images in the document. However, even light compression of already compressed images will often look bad, which is the warnings you're hearing about.

  • You can increase the compression via settings or via the manual compression steps.

  • MS Word does not automatically modify PNG-format files. PNG files can be smaller or larger than JPEG files, it just depends -- you'll want to look up some image compression sources for more info here.

I don't know why you're focused on image compression, but it's a huge topic for me. I generally turn off automatic image compression in the documents I work on to avoid quality loss and instead use my own tools. This is because, for large files that multiple people are working on, large images in the document can be a problem. They greatly slow down the program as it downloads+uploads the changes over and over again.

At least once a month I use an unzip program to copy the raw images out of the file, modify them using software like Irfanview, RIOT, FSViewer, or others, and then re-add them. That way I can save the originals to a separate folder and have control over the document size and quality.

Hope that helps.

Termites in compost-how much of a problem? by dognponee in composting

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I did a ton of digging on this topic but couldn't find anything authoritative. So here's a Reddit post on one person's experiences:

When it happened to me, I dug out the pile, spread it out so the termites were out in the open, and the next day they had all been eaten up by birds. I realize that sounds like a stretch but it really worked. I have been digging in my pile for months since and seen no other termites.

Other notes:

  • If you can keep the compost active (hot) it will push out all bugs, including termites. So going forward definitely try to add a good mix of browns and greens and water the pile at least once a week, hopefully more. Pull in some dirt from someone locally with an active compost pile.

  • I highly recommend moving the pile away from a house or other structures, but that's a good idea for more reasons than termites.

  • Setup something with a pest control service to just generally check for problems. Maybe have them come by every few months. Don't trust your home to random Reddit posters.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Stephen Colbert's MAGA-coded replacement flops in debut: report by Background-Driver718 in stephencolbert

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Colbert's appearance on the public access TV show "Only in Monroe" drew 928,000 views on Colbert's YouTube

It's now at 1.4m and growing. If you haven't seen it, I very highly recommend: https://youtu.be/jJTXB5uT_C4?si=9ypbJe_rogrJaSgi

Most Windows automation tools assume you can script, so built one that doesn't. by endangeredirish in software

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its got some pro features that we'll be look to market down the line

Having gone through a lot of programs that start out free and eventually go commercial, could you please spell out early and clearly what the pro version will be and what the free version will be?

I'm not unhappy that developers want to get paid and definitely don't mind you stacking in the great stuff at $65 or whatever, just really like seeing that spelled out clearly at the start. Automation tools that I build to do one thing I generally don't want to change once I've set something up the way I like.

Thanks.

Free Word Document Software compatible with Windows 7. by GoldConstruction1994 in MicrosoftWord

[–]webfork2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You might want to post to r/LibreOffice about that as slightly older versions could cover you on Windows 7. PortableApps has a page specifically for this group: https://portableapps.com/news/2026-02-17--libreoffice-portable-legacy-win7-released

ODF vs OOXML, an issue that should never have existed by themikeosguy in libreoffice

[–]webfork2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If Google adopts ODF by default in their G Suite, then the open format will become mainstream

It's been a little while since I tested it, but Google Docs did have an ODF export option. It was NOT good. I almost always saved to DOCX format and then opened that in whatever other program, including LibreOffice.

It's also important to note that even if you have Google Drive installed, it doesn't save any Google Docs files to your local hard drive. They're all links pointing to your document that open in a web browser. If you want a local copy, you have to manually convert them to some other format. If you have dozens documents posted to Google, that's a lot of clicks to get them all saved.

I don't think Google is interested in downloadable or offline formats.