hi.

when i first signed up for onedrive, i was very explicitly looking for a way to convert .doc files (that is, office 2003 files, specifically) to .pdf files in a way that maintained formatting, including hyperlinks. so, a pdf printer would not be good enough, i need full conversion.

your competitors (google, adobe) kept breaking the formatting, so i tried here on a lark, hoping that office would be best at converting office. and, it did actually work - i was able to effortlessly convert up to 1600 page word 2003 documents with flawless formatting. i was impressed.

unfortunately, something changed over the last two weeks that has broken the conversion, and it appears to be specifically that the server is now forcing an extra conversion step to .docx. when you converted directly from .doc to .pdf, your results were flawless. but, the introduction of the extra conversion step has left your results about the same as your competitors, indicating that the issue in conversion is probably xml related.

i don't want to use the .docx format, or the underlying xml architecture. i want to be able to convert directly from .doc to .pdf.

there is a workaround in uploading as .doc and then viewing the version history, which allows for a direct conversion, but this seems unnecessarily awkward.

i believe that the reason i was able to directly convert initially is that the server was opening the files in protected mode. for some reason, it is no longer opening them in protected mode, and is now defaulting to the conversion step to docx "so i can edit the files". but, i don't want to edit the files, i want to convert them directly to pdf, in a way that bypasses the conversion to docx step.

it would be very useful if i could tell the server to always open all office files in protected mode, by default. i do not believe that this is currently possible. if it is possible, i would appreciate some guidance. if it is not, please accept my feature request.

so, this is what i think happened.

i think that when i uploaded the files to the server last week, they were initially interpreted as coming from an unsafe source and sort of quarantined as read-only, and opened in 'protected mode'. this allowed me to convert the files to pdf without having to deal with the conversion in between to docx.

now, the server is no longer interpreting the files as dangerous, and automatically converting them to docx for editing, which is actually the default behaviour.

but, the conversion to docx is breaking the formatting and needs to be avoided altogether. so, i actually want it to default to the quarantine.

there is a work around, which involves opening up the file's "version history". this converts it directly from doc to pdf.

i'm actually going to send them an email requesting default protected mode as a feature. and, it might exist in the paid version. but, like, i'm not paying for it...

i think it was opening it in something called "protected view". that's actually what i want. but i can't figure out how to make it default.

*sigh*

it seems to have been previously logging me in as a "guest user", which is actually what i want it to do. now, it's recognizing me and trying to convert the file for me.

at least it works, though. i just have to stop the conversion.

ok. moving on to the html5 frontend. maybe they'll even unbreak it for me.

so, opening up a new account didn't undo the forced conversions to docx to "edit" the file.

i don't want to use the service to edit documents, ever. i strictly want to use it to convert .doc files to .pdf. so, it's not necessary to convert the file to edit it because i don't actually want to edit it. in fact, converting it seems to run the risk of breaking the formatting, and that's why i've come here for the conversion in the first place, because this system is better at converting .doc files to .pdf (so long as it doesn't try to convert them to .docx files first).

it would be very useful if i could tell the server to open everything read-only, and never convert to docx. if microsoft changed something for my supposed benefit, it backfired and i would appreciate it if they would change it back.

i don't seem to be able to turn off the automatic conversion, but i can get around it by opening up the version history instead of launching the file directly. that did actually fix it.

it's typical microsoft, though. i point out that their service actually works, when google's and adobe's both don't, and they promptly break it by trying to force a proprietary format that i don't want on to me. fuck.

i'm actually going to delete the account and start again and hope it undoes the unwanted forced conversions.

so, it was the conversion from doc to docx at the server (something that didn't happen on my first dozen conversions.) that introduced the typset error.

and, i seem to be able to avoid it by going out of my way to avoid the conversion to docx at the server...

the original file seems to be fine.

this docx format has been nothing but disasters for microsoft, and i really wish they'd just get their head around the reality that there is going to be a subset of users that just refuses to migrate to it, ever.

but, let's see if it's fixed. if it is, i can move on to the html5.

ok, the machine is back up.

i'm going to try to work through this.

you wake up every day, you work hard, you play by the rules....

....and then you lose.

because you're too dumb to realize you need to cheat to get ahead. and, realizing that is a part of growing up.

maybe that's a commonality in his voting base, but i'm not going to begrudge him for being more intelligent than his voters are and understanding how to break the cycle of well-intentioned failure.

and these self-righteous, moralistic zealots that follow him so closely and are so worrying to me are not likely to see the irony in it.

in case i wasn't clear....

would i criticize bernie for stealing the election? no. that's how the game is actually played. if he doesn't cheat, he'll lose, and somebody else will cheat and win. that's reality.

what i'm concerned about is the nature of the coalition he's built, and it's questionable commitment to actual minority rights, not these kinds of false minorities that you see dominating the discourse. this is actually the usual list of reactionary groups - religious authorities, cultural conservatives, bourgeois academics. it's like right out of the textbook.

again, if i had a better idea, right? i don't. broadly speaking, leftists may still be better off trying to influence the discourse. but, i'm too wary...

i'm not going to get normative on him, though - you have to cheat to win in this system. that's fine. 

and, this headache is making me feel like i'm on drugs. it's very unpleasant; hard to focus.

.....but i may have to make some pasta tonight to fight it off.

i'm dehydrated. that's the root cause. i'm sure of it.

it would make sense for it to be about video card drivers.

i can't reinstall them, though, that triggers the collapse.

speaking of which, here comes another migraine.

seems like the reimage is necessary.

i wish i knew why hibernation wasn't working.

ok, i'm up, let's get to work.

i am five years younger than justin bieber's mother, and 14 years older than he is.

if you're curious.

so, i'm not quite old enough to be his mother. but, his mother did have him fairly young.

i'm going to have to reupload tonight because the file appears to be out of alignment. that's fine. let's hope it gets done pretty quick, and the testing process is smooth.

i'm going to take another nap...the nap this morning was kind of short....

there has been a rank smell in here over the last few days and i don't know the source of it. i have smelled this smell before, but i'm not sure exactly what it is. it might be straight up pollution from outside. if so, it's kind of curious that it set back in immediately after i cancelled the hearing.

if i'm able to tie it to something upstairs...

for now, i can't do anything about a smell that i can't entirely identify the source of. i don't think it's from below me, though, i think it's from above me.

*shrug*.

let's try to get back up again for around 17:00-18:00.

first liner note release for inri015

it took eighteen years and multiple attempts at a construction, but this record is finally permanently completed as an instrumental electronic work and i am finally proud to refer to it as my first record.

while most of these songs have defined concepts underlying them, i have ejected these concepts from the final recording and left them in a series of singles. i would prefer that this album be understood solely as the instrumental recording of electronic music that i am presenting it as.

written and demoed in multiple stages from 1994-1998. initially constructed in this form in june, 1998. a failed rescue was attempted in 2013. reconstructed and resequenced jan 6-10, 2016 from parts that were rebuilt over 2013-2016. re-released on jan 10, 2016. audio permanently closed on aug 10, 2016. finalized as lp001 on oct 10, 2016. first liner note release added on feb 6, 2020. this is my first official record; as always, please use headphones.

this release also includes a printable jewel case insert and will also eventually include a comprehensive package of journal entries from all phases of production (1996-1998, 2013-2020). as of feb 6, 2020, the release includes a 125 page booklet in doc, pdf & html, with an html5 audio & video frontend, that includes journal entries from the remastering process over sept-dec, 2013, as well as the video for inertia, from dec, 2013 .

credits

released June 20, 1998

j - guitars, effects, bass, synthesizers, drum programming, orchestral & other sequencing, sampling, vocal relics, cool edit synthesis, windows 95 sound recorder, found sounds, strategies, soundraider, hammerhead, sound design, metronome, digital wave editing, production

the rendered electronic orchestra includes piano, organ, electric guitar, orchestra hit, pizzicato strings, synth pads, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, electric bass, sitar, tubular bells, tinkle bells, synthesizer effects and flute.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inri-3

i'm just trying to figure out if i should date the inri015 liner note release to today or not, and i'm going to, even if the html5 update doesn't get up until tomorrow morning.

i've got the pc off altogether, but i'm hoping i don't have to reimage tonight, and, if i don't, it might be fairly quick.

so, i'm going to get that all in order. and i may have to test overnight.

if the tables were reversed, and bernie had lost at the last minute like this, what would you immediately deduce?

but, the tables have turned.

go look up the fundraising totals....

you've seen fundraising totals recently, right?

what we just learned in iowa, and we learned it much more quickly in 2020 on the democratic side than we did in 2016 on the republican side where it was a slow process that didn't really flip over until the very end, is where the establishment is, now.

you need to follow the money. you should know that. 

bernie's the boss, now - he's the one stealing elections, this cycle. get used to it. this is what's coming for the next several months - startling sanders victories snatched from the jaws of defeat.

he seems to have won at the last minute via a conservative catholic vote through a satellite caucus that was about ten times larger than most districts. that doesn't pass the smell test. it's like when hillary won via absentee ballots, or early voting. but, nobody will challenge it.

i am a little bit concerned about bernie's coalition, which seems to be a mishmash of reactionary forces. i don't see a better option in the party.

but, can bernie win this? well, that's the wrong question, isn't it? one does not "win" democratic primaries, one buys them. and, right now, he's got all of the cash.

the sneaky thing about bernie walking into this role of establishment politician is that nobody's going to believe it. the independent press is convinced that buttigieg tried to steal it. no; he got robbed. but, they don't actually care about truth any more than fox does, it's just the mirror image of the same ideologically enforced deceit.

meet bernie sanders, establishment juggernaut, democratic don. he's your daddy, kiss his ring.

and, watch him steal this election in front of your eyes, without anybody even suspecting it.

i don't want to rally around anybody else. as mentioned, his coalition worries me, but there's not a better solution in the running. i'm endorsing the greens...

i didn't get as much done as i wanted to last night, partly because i passed out around midnight, but i have to stop now to shut down. i hope to be back at it close to 19:00.

i at least finalized the actual notes. so, there is a 125 page booklet in doc and pdf uploaded to the bandcamp site.

i will need to finish the html5 frontend for it tonight and get it up by tomorrow.

so, the content is done. i'm just missing the third format.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inri-3