Persistent, Niggling Questions

[Nate the Great]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817...id=Pd1zTFoQsQV

Someone has made an effort to reproduce the shoes from 2015 as seen in Back to the Future Part Two. But they don't have power laces.

PNQ: Isn't this entirely missing the point? We don't want shoes with oversized soles and lighted panels, we want power laces!

[Nate the Great]

Today I had my first hands-on experience with the Nintendo 3DS (demo kiosk at Target), and I have to echo the main question from other commentators:

PNQ: What's the point of glasses-free 3D if the motion controls ruin it?

[Nate the Great]

It's Nintendo 3DS time again!

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gamesgear/ni...unny-50005042/

PNQ: Is there a reason this controller extension couldn't be symmetrical? i.e. have a D-pad to the left of the analog stick instead of beneath it?

[Nate the Great]

http://money.msn.com/shopping-deals/...a-0d404695ef82

Stores are complaining about customers combining Buy One Get One Free (called BOGO from here on) coupons with BOGO sales to get both items free.

PNQ1: Why did these stores offer BOGO coupons and BOGO sales during the same time period in the first place?
PNQ2: Don't coupons already say "cannot be combined with any other promotion"? I'd call a BOGO sale a promotion, wouldn't you?

[Nate the Great]

I was recently reminded of the Pokemon FireRed And LeafGreen games and remembered...

PNQ: Why "LeafGreen?" I know that the original two Japanese games were Red and Green. But in the rest of the world they were Red and Blue. So why not rename LeafGreen to WaterBlue for the Western version?

[Nate the Great]

Nintendo says that they won't have two tablet controller support on the Wii U because they don't want to force people to buy two controllers.

PNQ: Who says Guy A will have to buy a second controller if Guy B comes over? Did it not occur to Nintendo that Guy B could come over with the controller from THEIR Wii U?

Really. If two Gameboy or DS owners want to play multiplayer, they each come with their own system. Same principle, only with a big screen and a single copy of the game.

And is it really impossible to resync Wii U controllers between multiple Wii U consoles? It sure doesn't seem like syncing Wiimotes is that complicated.

[Nate the Great]

Not really a PNQ, but a tech support question.

I'm doing a lot of writing in Microsoft Word right now that requires me to insert a lot of symbols (Greek letters for variables, mathematical operators, etc.). And using Insert->Symbol is getting tedious. Is there a way to set up a toolbar that just shows a row of symbols so I can click the toolbar and instantly add a symbol in just one click?

[NAHTMMM]

Originally Posted by Nate the Great

Not really a PNQ, but a tech support question.

I'm doing a lot of writing in Microsoft Word right now that requires me to insert a lot of symbols (Greek letters for variables, mathematical operators, etc.). And using Insert->Symbol is getting tedious. Is there a way to set up a toolbar that just shows a row of symbols so I can click the toolbar and instantly add a symbol in just one click?

If you have pre-ribbon Word, yes, you should be able at least to add the Symbol dialog to a toolbar or to a keyboard shortcut. Certainly you should be able to give the symbols their own keyboard shortcuts, I think. I never tried assigning buttons to individual symbols. I would doubt that that would be available.

However, if you've got a ribbon Word, congratulations! You have the most stylish Microsoft Word ever created. Unfortunately I guess maintaining code for useful things like editing toolbars and keyboard shortcuts was too hard, so instead Microsoft gave us a bunch of pointless visual "upgrades". I think the ability to add and remove pre-existing toolbars has finally been added, however, so maybe they'll get around to full customization within a few years.



Personally, whatever word processor I use, I keep all the symbols I use in a convenient place -- either I put them in another window or I keep track of where I just used them -- and copy + paste from there, rather than going to Insert Symbol or Symbol Map every single time I want to put in a theta.


[edit] I checked on Word 6 and there's no way to do a toolbar button, aside from a macro. Which you could totally do if the symbol has a keyboard shortcut. So if newer versions don't have the symbol-on-a-button capability, you could record a macro and assign it to a button.

[Nate the Great]

By doing a little research, if you mean "pre-ribbon Word" to be 2003 and earlier, then yes, I have Word 2002. So how do I insert a Symbol dialog?

[Nate the Great]

So I just saw Ponyo (on the Cliff by the Sea, if we want the full title)...

PNQ: Why does everyone else love this film when I see very little to recommend it?

I mean, the plot is continually taking a back-seat to Miyazaki visuals. And yes, I admit that they have a style that you can't get anywhere else, but eventually it turns into the special effects shots in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I reach my capacity of fluid, naturalistic visuals and just start hoping that the plot starts moving faster.

[NAHTMMM]

Originally Posted by Nate the Great

By doing a little research, if you mean "pre-ribbon Word" to be 2003 and earlier, then yes, I have Word 2002. So how do I insert a Symbol dialog?

See here, under "How to add a button to an existing toolbar" or "How to create a new toolbar". The command you want to add, assuming there isn't a pre-programmed Symbol button just waiting to be activated, is probably Symbol... or Insert Symbol or something like that.

[evay]

Originally Posted by NAHTMMM

However, if you've got a ribbon Word, congratulations! You have the most stylish Microsoft Word ever created. Unfortunately I guess maintaining code for useful things like editing toolbars and keyboard shortcuts was too hard, so instead Microsoft gave us a bunch of pointless visual "upgrades."

The technical term for this kind of upgrading: "Always helpful, never useful."

[Nate the Great]

Okay, so now I've got an Omega symbol in a toolbar. Clicking this jumps right to the symbol selection screen. This has removed all of one click from the process, but I suppose I should take what I can get.

[NAHTMMM]

Yeah. I would just keep a second document open off to the side with every symbol I've used, so I can select+copy from there when the symbol comes up again. I'm not one for alt-codes or macros.

[Nate the Great]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz22cw9ulLA

The theme song to Digimon Data Squad (the English dub of Digimon Savers, if you want to get pedantic).

PNQ: Is it just me, or does this song sound WAY more like it'd fit better as a theme to a season of Pokemon? The basic melody, tempo, energy, that is, not the lyrics per se. Cause seriously, when I close my eyes and focus on the tune, it doesn't sound like Digimon, it sounds like Pokemon!

[NAHTMMM]

Um, well, it sounds more organic than digital . . .

[Nate the Great]

So I find myself contemplating the list of simple machines, just like I've done on and off for years:

Lever
Wheel/Axle
Pulley
Inclined Plane
Wedge
Screw

PNQ1: Aren't these six machines really only two?

This link may explain:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_there_...imple_machines

Lever Family: Lever, Wheel/Axle, Pulley
Inclined Plane Family: Inclined Plane, Wedge, Screw

The Lever Family redirects forces around a pivot (rotation), and the Inclined Plane Family redirects forces against an angle (reflection).

PNQ2: So why do people still insist that there are six simple machines?

[NAHTMMM]

It really depends on how you want to sort them. If you like, you can consider the six simple machines to be types of the two fundamental categories. The fact remains that each of the six requires its own equipment and affects the target mass differently. The lever tends to push, for example, while the pulley pulls (or, to go the other direction, doesn't pull). The screw, wheel, and pulley all go around in a circle, but the mechanism in each case is quite different.

It comes down to having cases where one of those six is clearly the best way to deal with the problem. This differentiates between the actual machines. You wouldn't use a lever or a wheel to get a bucket of bolts six stories up a building under construction. A pulley would be best . . . or an inclined plane if you want your workers to have powerful leg muscles.

[Nate the Great]

A story from Not Always Right:

http://notalwaysright.com/john-hanco...s-shopping/430

A guy scans his card to pay for a purchase, but refuses to sign, so he tries to walk away. The clerk says that the stuff is still his, so don't leave it behind. The guys says that he didn't sign, so he didn't buy anything. But apparently he DID buy $120 worth of stuff.

PNQ1: If the signature isn't required for the money to be taken from a person's card, WHY is the signature asked for at all? I kinda thought that the signature was a protection for everyone involved from fraud.
PNQ2: Why didn't the store just refund the money? There should be a procedure for "customer changed his mind, return the money to his card", right?
PNQ3: Did the store not have anybody to chase this guy down and hand him his purchase?
PNQ4: How has this guy managed to exist this long with a credit card when he "never" signs for anything?

[Nate the Great]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/headph...040100314.html

A discussion of the pros and cons of allowing headphones and music in open offices.

PNQ: Why hasn't someone invented a telephone that interacts with the computer playing the music? Let me explain:

1. An employee is listening to music while they work.
2. The supervisor needs to talk to them.
3. In the current system they'd have to walk over to the individual desk or yell across the room.
4. What if there was a module attached to each computer and set of headphones? Boss wants to talk to Employee X at Desk Y. They press a button that pauses the music at Desk Y and then routes the interoffice phone call through to the employee through the same phone call.

Can you imagine it? You're listening to music, then hear a tone as the music pauses that tells you someone wants to talk to you. You talk, then when your boss hangs up the music comes back automatically at the same point when it went away.