The Official "Help me!" Thread

[LOC98]

But I'm not qiute sure who I should ask...

[Buffalobiian]

But I'm not qiute sure who I should ask...

Me neither. To be honest, I think your chances of finding those scripts are zero, but you're welcome to try. The only name that really rings a bell is Cazoo (if he is still around).

[LOC98]

I have sent a pm to an admin called AonE so let's se if he respond

[Buffalobiian]

I need something that's between 3-5mm (maybe up to 8mm) and soft so I can use it as cushioning material. (It needs to replace a vinyl tube that's been bent into a circle with a 28cm circumference. The vinyl tubing's too hard though, so I'll need something softer such as foam or some form of squishy plastic.

I don't know the name of such a thing though, if any exists. Does anyone have a clue?

[Kraco]

I'm in the process of building new armrests for my chair (a rather expensive office chair, so I don't replace the whole thing). For the cushioning part I went to a "rubber store", or rather an industrial hardware store, like they fancily advertise themselves, and bought what is called over here cellular plastic. It's different from the foamed plastic like polystyrene foam. I guess it's also called expanded plastic.



They sold this material either 10mm or 15mm thick. I got a piece of the 15mm variety. The roll width was 1.5m, though, so that was one minimum dimension, but they cut any length of it. So, my piece was 100mm x 1500mm x 15mm. This is kind of squishy material that's somewhat soft but when the pressure is remove, it will assume the original shape.

I don't know if you are looking for this sort material or the kind of gel stuff that's inside mouse pad wristrests? Or perhaps the memory foam inside fancier pillows?

Edit: (I noticed I named the image file cellularfoam.jpg, but "foam" is not a part of the material name. It's cellular plastic. My mistake.)

[Buffalobiian]

Hmm, and was this "industrial hardware" store one of those warehouses that sold things from timber to paints to gardening hoses and all that stuff? If so, then I've got a place like that nearby that I can have a look at. I went there for the tubing, and had a quick chat with a staff member about alternatives, but the best she could come up with was window seals.

I'm actually using as a "spacer" as per this mod:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/...nd-comfort-mod

I've used 5mm diameter vinyl tubing instead of the coax cable, and was thinking to see if I could use a softer material to increase comfort. Even if it's sitting inside the pad, the vinyl tube's still pretty hard. I've adjusted the headhand so it's not clamping tight as a workaround, but ideally I'd like a closer-fitting, softer fit.

The other thing was that acoustically, the vinyl tube seems to make the inside of the headphones too airy. Not terribly much, but noticable. I liked the warmer, brighter sound it had before, so was going to experiment with other materials to see if it would change that for the better.

[Kraco]

Right. Now I understand. The material used in that mod behind your link is foam plastic (or foamed plastic). It's the same material used in the simplest of mattresses and various other fillings, such as the original earpads of the headphones. It's more widely available than the cellural plastic for that simple reason as well: It's used everywhere. Who knows, you might have some old mattress around that you could slice a bit with a knife... As a material it's not terrible pressure resistant, that is, it's quite soft indeed.

The industrial hardware store is not like the usual big hardware stores you find everywhere that sell all kinds of stuff for DIY folks and homeowners. It's probably called industrial because most of their customers seem not to be individual civilians but various other companies, contractors, and professionals that need lots of specialized stuff normal dudes and dudettes don't in their everyday life. According to my experience this cellural plastic was one such thing because the myriad hardware shops, no matter how big they were, offered nothing before I found this particular store.

But yeah, you might survive with the ordinary foamy stuff you can't help but find in endless forms.

[Buffalobiian]

Just to clear up any misunderstandings, I'm thinking of using something instead of the vinyl tubing (eg a full foam cushion), rather than padding the vinyl tube with softer material.

Other alternative materials that came to my mind include doughnut-shaped felt (sewing many layers?) from a textile shop, or nylon rope (if it seems soft enough) from a camping store.

------------------------------







edit: Man, now that Kraco mentions DIY, it's amazing what you can come up with.

Since I wanted to use my headphones tonight, I ended up testing (and very much liking), this:



Cut one tissue in half down its height (to achieve to desired rolled diameter). Roll it up. Seal it with duct tape tabs sparingly. Repeat using other half of tissue. Slot rolls into earcup.

I even had a mini-pack so I could achieve just-short-of-perfect fit using 2x large and 1x mini tissue halves to line the inner circumference of the cups.

The tissue's not only softer, but acoustically more desirable. The vinyl tube must have been reflecting sound off its surface because it just sounded off and roomy. On the other hand, tissues (though compacted, since it's not covering the entire driver) are much more acoustically transparent.

So, who wants 10m of tubing? :P

[Death BOO Z]

I need help. for a university project.

We're conducting an experiment on music, and I need two songs by the same artist, one song that has 'social' lyrics, or something that promotes help, codependency, and general niceness. the other song should be the opposite in it's content, anger, hate and violence- 'anti-social'.

any ideas? it doesn't matter who the artist is

[Animeniax]

The subwoofer on my Logitech X-560 4.1 set makes rumbling noises even when no audio is fed to them. I set the bass knob all the way to high and that stopped it temporarily, but then the rumbling came back. Any idea how to get it to stop? It makes it sound like it's going to thunder and rain outside, which is a tease since we're in a severe drought.

[Buffalobiian]

I have no idea what is going on, but some other things to clarify would be:

1) You say it hums when there's no audio feed. Do you mean it hums when there's no audio cable attached, or that it hums when the volume from the source (PC?) is set to zero?

2) Does the hum increase/decrease/go away depending on the speaker's volume?

The only hum I know of is to do with grounding, and a quick search reveals this possible fix that may or may not apply to you.

http://www.youritronics.com/logitech...er-hum-solved/

It's no longer under warranty, I'm guessing?

edit: just realised you said rumbling, not humming. :S. How loud is this rumbling?

[Animeniax]

It's a low rumble that can be heard over ambient noise including my computer fans and the TV. It sounds like rumbling thunder outside from a storm that's still a few miles away. Thanks for the link, I'll take the sub apart and see if I can isolate the problem. Usually I'm willing to take things apart and see what I can find, but in this case I was ready to get a new set of speakers, since this Z-560 system is about 10 years old. The rumbling problem started out of nowhere, so I wasn't sure where to start troubleshooting beyond checking all external cable connections.

[enkoujin]

I always considered other people to be selfish if they ran in marathons or participated in fundraisers for cancer (or any other common life-threatening diseases) if they've been affected by it, had family members who are suffering or who have family members who have already died from it. The selfless people, I believed, in these organizations would be the people who had sincere hearts and volunteered themselves for events like these without anything in return (including networking, information, references, letter references).

1. Is this opinion self-justified? What is the common perception by the general public on this issue?

Now recently, I'm in a situation where a family member/relative of mine has last stage terminal cancer.

2. After my family member/relative's death, how will others perceive me if I reversed by above opinion (i.e. be a hypocrite for what I've believed in for the last seven years of my life) and started participating in the above marathons and fundraisers so that other families would avoid as much suffering and distress as my family had (i.e. do something in honour of my family member/relative's legacy)?

Again, thanks in advance. I greatly appreciate it.

[Animeniax]

I always considered other people to be selfish if they ran in marathons or participated in fundraisers for cancer (or any other common life-threatening diseases) if they've been affected by it, had family members who are suffering or who have family members who have already died from it. The selfless people, I believed, in these organizations would be the people who had sincere hearts and volunteered themselves for events like these without anything in return (including networking, information, references, letter references).

1. Is this opinion self-justified? What is the common perception by the general public on this issue?

Now recently, I'm in a situation where a family member/relative of mine has last stage terminal cancer.

2. After my family member/relative's death, how will others perceive me if I reversed by above opinion (i.e. be a hypocrite for what I've believed in for the last seven years of my life) and started participating in the above marathons and fundraisers so that other families would avoid as much suffering and distress as my family had (i.e. do something in honour of my family member/relative's legacy)?

Again, thanks in advance. I greatly appreciate it.

I used to give my friend shit for working at a soup kitchen and helping homeless people because she didn't do it out of genuine empathy and concern for their well-being. She did it to feel good about herself and to seem like a caring person. But another friend convinced me that no matter her reasons for doing it, be they selfish or selfless, in the end the bums were getting their soup, and that's what mattered most.

[Buffalobiian]

no matter her reasons for doing it, be they selfish or selfless, in the end the bums were getting their soup, and that's what mattered most.

^ This.

My mum is still going on to me about the importance of volunteering/donating out of goodwill and not any ulterior motive (not that it applied to my actions personally), and I've always settled with the idea that as long as the intended recipient is still benefiting from it, who gives a shit.

En, I don't think others will feel that badly about you unless you've been shitting all over everyone else for it (rather than just keeping it as a personal belief). But even then it still won't matter. People think differently after going through different things. It's growth/experience, and you've simply experienced it.

It's like driving safely after having some life-threatening accident, whereas you used to be all about "speeding to save time" on the road. You've simply experienced/learned something and changed your outlook. If you still drive like a lunatic afterwards simply because of what you said 10 years ago, that's just stupid pride/face.

It's just refusing to admit you were wrong in life once. (but replace "wrong" with "different")

[enkoujin]

It's a personal belief. I think I will find resilience and strength by doing just that after the death once I can accept being a hypocrite for the first time in my life.

Thanks a lot, you two. It really means a lot to me.

[David75]

Doing a truly helpful charity action out of selfishness? Who cares about you? It only matters you do that helpful job.
Then if you get benefits in return, who cares? it only matters you do that helpful job.
If in those returns you can help society again? good, nice. If it doesn't, who cares?

The bottom line is not how you feel about it, but what you can really do.

What is painful, is when hypocrites are said to come and help, do nothing or even create problems, and then still get benefits. Now I or other people care!

[Kraco]

I've shared Bill's sentiments for as long as I can remember: This world doesn't really care at all for what's going on inside your head (fortunately). Only your actions talk. Your own motivation is a different thing, but if your changed life situation gave something a new meaning, then that's your motivation.

If you indeed did criticize actively other people of it in the past, then you just have to be a man and apologize if needed.

[Buffalobiian]

It's a personal belief. I think I will find resilience and strength by doing just that after the death once I can accept being a hypocrite for the first time in my life.

Thanks a lot, you two. It really means a lot to me.

You talk about being a hypocrite. Why is that?

The only two reasons would be:

1) You still think your previous opinion was right, and even though you now think you're volunteering out of concern for others, you're really just trying to make yourself better, or

2) You think people around you share your previous opinion, and even though you know you're volunteering out of concern for others, you think they'll see you as a selfish person believing themselves to be selfless.

Which is it?

[enkoujin]

You talk about being a hypocrite. Why is that?

The only two reasons would be:

1) You still think your previous opinion was right, and even though you now think you're volunteering out of concern for others, you're really just trying to make yourself better, or

2) You think people around you share your previous opinion, and even though you know you're volunteering out of concern for others, you think they'll see you as a selfish person believing themselves to be selfless.

Which is it?

Just skip to the bolded and tl;dr parts for the main parts of my post. Thank you.

This sense of belief was something deeply rooted in my values that I developed by myself (maybe with some help) a long time ago. I always thought these values were self-justified and were values I would carry to the grave with me because they were rational, logical and often true (my apologies if I sound arrogant).

This is a difference between being simply "wrong" and then being "wrong" or "hypocritical" which undoes a major proportion of your life. It would make an average person go into denial and simply reject all ideas because of their refusal to change. For example, consider telling a zealous practioner of a certain religion that religion is a gigantic lie. Depending on the person's ability to accept new ideas, they will at least go into denial about the idea you've brought to them.

I never shared or discussed this belief with anyone else because it was something my peers, colleagues, friends, etc. at the time and probably even now, would not be able to accept.

As I go through this life-changing experience, some roots of my values are being vigorously shaken. Fortunately, though, I am keeping a balanced state of mind of the events surrounding me and I am chronicling the changes at face-value. That's why I posed such a question - otherwise, I would not worry enough about how I'll become a hypocrite.

I'm probably a little neurotic about it because I've never encountered such an idea. Now, I want to do something for my family member/relative - not as as a fulfillment of the legacy that they will leave behind or a "death list" they want me to complete after their deaths, but something I want to do out of my own free will in honour of them.

Unfortunately, that will go against the logical and rational beliefs I've developed for a very long time. In this case, while people who have had family members already deceased from the disease that the family members are now socially fighting against are not as selfish as those who are or have been already diagnosed with the disease-in-context, it's still selfish.

I mean, before this incident, I wouldn't have considered running in marathons as a fundraiser for cancer at all. I might have had other selfless tasks I'd be considering as charitable actions like developing my neighbourhood's newsletter, but not specifically cancer. Therefore, in the eyes of others who still think like me would label me as a selfish idiot. I'd like to refer to maddox's article on Christopher Reeve's death on the matter:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=creeve

I am no celebrity, but the first couple of lines basically sums up how I felt about it before:

...he's selfish. Reeve didn't give a shit about paralysis before his accident, but now that he's paralyzed, suddenly he opens up a paralysis foundation and cares about the plight of cripples? Where was his foundation in '95 when he played the role of a man with spinal cord injury?

One could argue that if cancer never existed in the first place, then there would be no need for these fundraising battles for it, which is true. I mean, otherwise, you could be advocating in this day and age about a disease that will make mutate your hands into cacti. It sounds absurd because it's never going to happen and no one sane enough would join your cause. So really, if one thought about it, even people who never knew anyone who had cancer and joined in social fights without anything in return (social status, bragging rights, opportunity to network, resume-building, reference letters, etc.) like these are still selfish to a certain degree.

Anyway, what I'm afraid of most right now is becoming a hypocrite.

To reiterate, I have never discussed this specific belief with anyone before.

I'm afraid I will snowball into someone with ideas I've always disliked. If one hypocrisy can change an individual, what is stopping the individual from accepting other new conflicting views and becoming a hypocritical person that that individual has always hated their entires lives prior to the life-changing situation?

For example, I guess it's like thievery. If a regular person lost their innocence by stealing something (whether it be material, psychological, etc.) from another person, what is stopping the thief from stealing more? Eventually, the thief will hit rock-bottom and end up in prison. What will become of a person full of hypocrisies?

In essence, I may just be a naive teenager (19 concurrently) who has never dealt with a life-changing situation before and I may be simply "growing up". I may just be scared of change, but I guess everyone has to deal with it at some point in their lives.

Like I said, I just may be I'm overthinking it too much due to a neurotic nature. I am seeking professional help about it in the meanwhile with a psychologist, family physcian and potentially, a psychiatrist in the future regarding my thoughts, behaviour and my life hereafter this event.

Thank you, again, to Animeniax, Buffalobiian, David75 and Kraco for your input and feedback. This communtiy is a really great place for life-changing situations one would not expect of that usually centers around Japanese literature and media.