Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Madness

Linux remote desktop insanity.

gjc — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:29:37 -0800

Happy late December holidays! I have been fighting with this issue for what seems like forever. The crux: how can I get my Fedora box to "serve" desktops and applications to other machines, without the VNC hack? What I mean is, I've got a bare bones machine sitting in a closet acting as a file server. For the most part, I can do what I need to do via the command line and putty. But I'd like to have it be available to act as a terminal server, in the same manner as Windows Terminal Server or Citrix.

What I don't want to do is leave a GUI console running all the time and just VNC into is as neccessary. First, because that seems wasteful. Second, because this machine has limited hardware and doing it that way is less than optimal performance wise.

I have barely managed to get a connection to it using putty x11 forwarding and Xming. It is a pain to get running, as I have to log into putty and then have it fire off the gnome session and also start the Xming program on my desktop. Worse, it only works for a couple of minutes and then freezes.

I know there is LTSP, but I can't seem to figure it out, and figure out whether it would work the way I want it to. It seems specifically geared to dedicated thin clients- the setup seems to depend on the thin client being linux based.

I know what I ask is possible, because I've seen it. And because the whole concept of Xwindows is that it is network aware.

Alls I want is to be able to double click an icon on my Windows desktop, and have a window pop open where I get the GUI login manager and can log into a session on Fedora. I don't care about sound or printers or anything fancy like that.

(I have spent countless weekends searching through documentation, but like most things Linux, it is sort of a choose-your-own-adventure chicken and egg problem.)

I like turtles, too, but where'd this one come from?

redsparkler — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:07:08 -0800

Where did this large turtlish head come from? Which movie, television series, or commercial spawned this wise old creature? My local video store has an extensive collection of movie memorabilia, including a fairly large reptilian head. It was purportedly from Jurassic Park, but after close viewings of the movie, they're pretty darn sure that's not the case. So, then, where's it from? I'm hoping it's something Henson-crafted, but my knowledge of turtle media is weak. Perhaps someone out there recognizes this kindly, craggy soul?

Here's another angle, for scale.

search engine madness

jak68 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:58:19 -0800

is it possible to filter search engine results by date? Google claims it is, but its not working for me. Live.com and yahoo dont even seem to have the option. This sounds like a noob question, but actually I've used the net since its inception and I'm stumped and frustrated. Google claims there is a "filter by date' button in the upper right hand corner of the page. I dont see it!!! Is it just my computer? Is anyone else seeing such a button?

I've never had to filter search results by date before. It only came up because I'm searching for a very recent news event, and the default filter is 'relevance' and they never show the latest links.

Live.com and yahoo dont even claim to offer this ability.

In all three search engines, going thru the advanced search options shows *nothing* to sort by date.

And - is it me, or is it NUTS that the three biggest search engines arent offering really obvious and easy ways for people to sort by date?

Predict the unpredictable NCAA Basketball Tournament

clearly — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:12:39 -0800

NCAA Basketball Tournament office pool. Do you have any strategies and tips to help me win mine? Games predicted deeper into the tournament are weighted heavier in the scoring. There will be about 20 entries. I know this is the most unpredictable sporting event around. Do you have any strategies that have helped you in the past?

Que Clng, Clng.

zackola — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:32:07 -0800

In VBScript, why is Clng(True) equal to -1? I am looking for preferably some current or ex-Microsoftie who might be able to give me the real deal on why this decision was made internally or otherwise, some sane, valid reasoning would do nicely. In all that is logical, it would really seem that Clng(True) should equal 1. Especially since Clng(False) is equal to 0. My brain asplode.

:-(

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 19:12:02 -0800

My neck cracking habit is killing me. I crack my neck all the time. Some days it happens more than other days but I do it every single day at least 4 times.

On days where it's really bad I will crack my neck everytime I get a chance and my head neck and shoulders will feel sore all day long. Most of the time I use my hands to press my chin up to the side. Sometimes the tips of my fingers feel numb right after I crack it.

This is a disgusting, repulsive, terrible habit. I remember being totally grossed out by neck cracking before I started myself.

My mother who has the same unfortunate habit went to a chiropractor who told her that there were many cases of people who had quite literally *killed themselves* with overenthusiastic neck cracking. I have absolutely no doubt that if this is indeed possible it will happen to me if I do not stop soon.

I've tried before to stop. But then that tense/stiff feeling just builds up until I can't stand it until *snap crackle pop* ((bliss))

I want to be like how I was before I started this terrible habit when my neck just felt normal all the time. This is making me miserable. I can't afford to see a chiropractor on a regular basis.

Please, for the love of mankind, help me.

Japanese Noh documentary on PBS?

felix — Thu, 26 May 2005 12:24:05 -0800

In an interview in The Comics Journal, Dirk Deppy is talking about surrealism with Flaming Carrot author Bob Burden, when suddenly a remembered moment from a public television Japanese Noh Drama documentary leaps off the page... "DEPPEY: I think if I had to pinpoint the most surreal thing I've ever seen it would have to be a PBS special I saw as an early teenager on Japanese Noh theater, which is sort of the grotesque version of Kabuki. The special opened up with what seemed like this eight-minute shot of a woman who was bare from the middle of her breasts on up. It was a very tight angle, close-up shot of that, with her head tilted way back, looking over her shoulder at the camera with this utterly maniacal gleam in her eyes -- like she was about to devour a kitten or something. After about a minute of this, a little patch of saliva began slowly sliding out of the side of her mouth, slowly running down her chin, slowly running down her neck. Everything else was absolutely still..."

OK, where the heck is this from, and does anyone have either a source for the documentary, or the visual which it documents, or the play which contains the visual? Because I remember this too, and it's driving me mad. (small patch of saliva drools down chin)