u/l00ky_here

Ok, I know it's tempting to just select all your books and run it overnight and wake up to new metadata - but its causing a lot of problems.

In the past when Calibre was not as popular as it is now, and when BOT scraping and AI wasn't a concern so much for the metadata sources, it wasn't a big deal to line up a lot of books and let the download churn for hours, collecting the metadata.

Now - we lost Amazon, we lost Fantastic Fiction, Goodreads was down in June, and other newer metadata sources that allow API access has posted they have had a LOT more traffic from Calibre users to the point where some ip's have been flagged.

I get it - it's tempting to do, but please, realize what you are doing when you line up hundreds of books and click "Download Metadata and Covers" each book is a call on each metadata source - that source is a website - that website notices who is accessing it - and how. Automated calls from Calibre looks like autmated web scraping - and it is. These sites aren't stupid. They see 1000 calls in a row without a break directly into thier site not through a browser as what it is - automated scraping.

They don't want this. They will combat it by means that will break the plugins for any use. CAPTCHAs and WAF/Authentication is one way they have been doing it lately.

Reddit itself did it a few years ago when bots continually scraped the site - and now there is only one app or platform that you can access reddit from outside your browser. It kills me that we lost the Funbox app on Roku because of that. I loved that app - but that's besides the point.

There is going to come a day when you won't be able to access any website through Calibre to get any metadata. I don't want to have it come to that.

Calibre is going through a huge growth and with AI helping develop new plugins, with the new social websites offering more metadata - it's so tempting to just load up your books and download in a big batch to get all the new tags or whatever. Just limit the batches. Keep it under 20-50 books at a time.

What is actually happening in reality is you queue up a lot of books, and start running it ,by about the 20th book - every call results in a 202 or blocked access - but you won't know it until later when you go to finish and accept the final downloads.

Calibre wasted all those hours hitting the sites and getting blocked - and most likely getting your ip flagged in the process because Calibre kept sending out calls based on that queued list and didn't know to stop once you were getting blocked. It just logs that it was blocked and you end up with no changes in metadata.

Also, Im not sure if anyone stopped to think that downloading metadata like that is a huge gamble because you don't know that it's getting the right book.

Depending on the site, Calibre does a search on the title/author or isbn if its available. Depending on how the title/author is presented can make a big difference on the returns. Some sites require specific formatting of author initials, some sites don't accept multiple authors (in cases when more than one author is in a book) - Titles may need to be stripped of extra information like series or other things that get packed in. This results in either the book not being found or the wrong book being sent back. If you batch download you need to manually look over EACH result after its run - and approve or not approve the proposed changes. Each book. If you thought to save time by running the download and having it get all your books and the metadata would be perfect for each book - you are wrong. So, unless you plan on going through and checking out each one of those proposed changes instead of just "aproving all" you are going to be ending up in a worse spot than you were when you started. Now instead of not-nice metadata - you wil have your books title and author change to a whole different book - and you won't even know it because of course you didn't think to create an original title or original author column to copy over the original titles and authors for safe keeping to compare against what you ended up with.

Sorry, I digress but Im kind of in a mood right now when I see people post that they lined up 2000 books and wonder why now they are being blocked from getting metadata from some source.

TL;DR

Only use the batch download metadata and covers in the one-click method on 20 books or less at one time. Any more at once is going to be putting strain on the sites being called, will end up with bad book metadata, will end up getting your ip flagged and banned, cause the websites that are giving the metadata to tighten up on automated calls - breaking their use for everyone - and will cause you more problems than if you just did it in smaller batches.

EDIT: Yes - I have submitted a request to the BUGs mentioning this - I know it's a Calibre design thing that would prevent such batch uploading. I know that it's up to the site to allow or not allow the amount of books - hence the mention that it will allow what it will then just go on to block the following calls, but the point of this was just to bring awareness to the subject.

EDIT 2: The Bug/Request to Calibre has been answered. Calibre will be fixed to include a popup letting users know that they are attempting to download too much metadata - and a warning that the request will most likely be blocked from the servers they are attempting to accesss, along with a y/n "would you like to continue".

I was paraphrasing, but the fix was done in the commit on GitHub and it should be out in the next update or so :)

In April 2014 I bought a mechanical mod vape. My first and at the time, only vape. It got me off of cigarettes. It didn't leave the 3" radius of my body at any time. It was nicotinie and I had been a smoker for 20 years - I wouldn't lose it. I might set it down, I might misplace it, but it wouldn't be lost for long.

One day later that same year, I was on my couch. I sat the vape down next to me while sitting up on the couch. I was freeing my hand to grab something. I didn't think anything of it. When I went to get the vape again, it wasn't by my side. I thought it might have rolled on the floor, or got tangled up in pillows or blankets. However, after a very VERY VERY thourough search - a search that would have found it had it been there, the vape was hopelessly missing. I assumed it was hidden and would turn up. I ran to the store and bought a new vape because I wasn't buying cigarettes.

I should mention this was a large telescopic mechanical mod vape. About 8" long and 2" in diameter. About the size and weight of a flashlight - and very bright fushia in color. It would not be easily overlooked if any part of it showed against my dark furniture.

I got the new vape and having learned through the past that things alwasy came back to me - I stopped looking for the missing one.

About two weeks later, I had this feeling, something told me to stick my hand in the crack between the seat cushions, basically in the middle of the couch - not towards the back, not towards the front, not the crack next to the arms or the crack further down where my legs laid when I was laying down. It was as close to the center of the seating as you could get. I pushed into the crack between the second and third butt cushion, and pulled out that vape. It wasn't pushed to the bottom as if it had been pushed down and sitting on the base of the couch under the cushions. It was held perfectly between the two cushions, about one inch from the surface. For two weeks I sat on the couch, laid on the couch, and spent time on the couch.

I really didn't get too much into the details, but to cover all the bases - Yes, I fully FULLY inspected all areas of the couch initially when looking for the vape.

No - no one had been in my home, no visitors, no people who snuck in - there was nothing missing or moved

No - I did not unthinkingly pick up the vape and put it in the crack either without paying attention or in my sleep. When I did find it, I was so surprised I drove to the vape store with it to show them. That wouldn't have happened if it wasn't such a surprise to find.

Do I think that the vape had been there the whole two weeks, and I somehow overlooked it when doing an initial search? No. Do I think It fell into the crack when I sat it down initially and then through some kind of glitch in the matrix - it stopped being there and then sometime later - not necessarily the two weeks, but definitiely later - it came back as if it had never been moved. It fell there initially, and then it was gone. Higher dimention? Parallel universe? Written out because it wasn't in sight? I dont' know, but when I pulled it back up it was so easily found that it was as if it had always been right there just waiting for me to pull it up. Not hidden, it would have been found within the first few moments of searching inititally had it stayed there. That it took two weeks makes me wonder what happened.

My 10year old milligram scale is broken, it's killing me because I hardly use it - I had put it up when I threw out the noopep, anaracetam, and other Powder City stack bulk stuff I got back in 2015 (I want to cry because I had all the good stuff in bulk for super cheap), anyhow I was trying to measure out some copper peptides to mix in my hair serum (AKH-GU) and realized that the scale (AWS Gemini 20) wasn't quite accurate.

I really need a new scale, also I am attempting to split some medications and they are very VERY small, so I need a miligram scale. I would like one that has a lid but isn't too small, allows me to put a boat on it and works well with powders.

Im overwhelmed with the choices on Amazon - so, what are you all using?

One Perfect Wish.....

No loopholes, no time limits, just perfectly worded ONE time - and its irreversable, irrevokable, and cannot be addended AFTER it has been made. Until you finalize it - your ONE wish may be as long as you want, cover as many loopholes, as you want, but it must be ONE grammatically correct wish.

Make people fall in love, bring back the dead - it's ok - the wish uses temporal space and time to manage that.

I just want to know what the perfect 1 wish would be.

(Sorry, No wishing for more wishes)

Ive got a vague scene and phrase ear-worming me more moths now. I thought it was from Space Quest, but Im not finding it.

All Ive got is this mental picture of some guy in his thirties, standing next to a rock formation, or a spaceship bay, on what looks to be an alien planet, holding a communicator. He speaks into it while looking around and says "There's no sign of life...anywhere...". He kind of runs his hand over the side of his head, like he's smoothing back his hair, as he says "anywhere" and he's kind of making an attempt to be suave when he says it. Its so vague in my mind Im sure Ive conflate it. However, it is NOT in Toy Story, I just looked.

The scene is not from an actual movie, it's a scene being played as a movie or tv clip and the focus is on the actor.

Its either a clip of the "series" or "movie" being shown as a part of an awards show - in movie, or a film clip from a movie or series being showed at a convention.

Think "Tropic Thunder", or "Galaxy Quest".

Anyhow, I honestly havent looked TOO hard for it, but if anyone knows right off, I would appreciate it because Ive been running that line in that cadence in my head forever now.

I keep an enormous amount of data about myself.

I have ADHD and a compulsive need to be able to close any mental loop that might open later something I saw, read, posted, commented on, watched, searched for, paid for, thought about or dealt with.

I have downloaded and preserved data from Google, Facebook, Reddit, ChatGPT, Amazon, Hulu, my browsers, financial accounts, medical records, Goodreads, and basically anywhere else that has accumulated information about me.

Not to mention I have a personal Calibre library for my ebooks and have maintained meticulous reading logs - I spent pretty much 2014 - 2019 reading a book every day or so.

If data exists about me, there is a decent chance I have a copy of it.

But today I realized there is a difference between having the data - and reading it.

I started going through my old Google activity, and it was like finding breadcrumbs of my life, not just individual searches, but entire chains of thought.

The chains of thought and problem solving, the evolution of my interests and hobbies, where I was in life - if there was an earthquake - whatever was happening in the world - you can see it play out in realtime in my search history.

I was in school (I was a late in life college student) - I can see where i was doing research for classess and then mixed in there will be secondary searches because my fridge broke or I got a wild hair and wanted to online stalk my ex'es.

I am able to see exactly when I went on the deep web the first time, when I first downloaded Calibre - after asking how I can keep my Kindle books - which was after research on getting a kindle. I am able to see my life playing out step by step.

Searching for scholarships - then "what to wear for a scholarship interview?" and "Do you follow up a scholarship interview with a thank you note" - then back to anthropology, geology, and history searches...a little later there are searches for the 2014 scholarship banquets (I got a couple of them).

I was able to notice that the rabbit holes happen more at night than during the day - and then when I wake up - the topic tended to be dropped. I will research to buy something for hours but get decision paralysis and drop it.

That's just the Google Search History. I haven't gone into the Youtube history - which isn't as good because most of the videos are gone now - and the archive only goes back to 2018.

It felt less like browsing history and more like an accidental diary - except it was recorded while events were happening, without hindsight or later editing.

Has anyone else actually sat down and examined years of their own archived data?

Did you find anything surprising about your life, memory, habits, or the way your brain works?

Im watching YouTube and a clip from Imagine Dragon's concert shows Dan Reynolds out front in a skinny suit, and all I can see is a book boyfriend and a New Adult Romance plot about the famous band's sexy front man who falls for a girl in the crowd at a show, circa 2014.

Thats pretty much it. Im ticked that I have to wade through reddit walls of text and ads on my phone, and manually switch subs to go from one to the next, when I used to kick back and just surf it on Roku. Catching all the current memes, videos, and GIFs in a full screen.

I’m trying to figure out exactly what to request from Social Security so I can get copies of older medical and disability records that were part of my SSDI file.

I was approved for SSDI years ago, and I’m currently going through neurological testing to determine whether I have a degenerative condition or something else. I know my SSDI history included cognitive reviews and neuropsych testing, and I’m trying to get those older records to give my current doctor a baseline.

I specificaly know there was a full neuropsych report from around 2013. I do not remember the doctor’s name, but I know a summary of that report was included in my 2014 disability review. Social Security also sent me to one of their doctors for an evaluation around that time. I want copies of those reports, plus whatever else is in my SSDI file from the earlier years.

I recently made an appointent at the Social Security office, went in person, and signed the forms requesting my entire file. After about a month, I received a CD-ROM. What I got was baiscally only the last two reviews. It did not include the original claim file, the earlier review, the older medical records, the neuropsych reports, the third-party reports, or the supporting documentation from the beginning of my claim.

What I am missing includes:

1. The initial SSDI application/claim paperwork

2. The original disability determination records

3. Medical and psychological records submitted with the initial claim

4. California State Disability records that were used as evidence

5. County mental health department records

6. Prior hospitalization records

7. Job/work history forms from the initial application

8. Third-party function reports from my mother

9, The 2014 review material

10. Consultative exam reports from doctors Social Security sent me to

11.Any neuropsych/cognitive testing summaries or full reports in the file

The CD-ROM I received is mostly useless for what I actually need. I am trying to locate old medical records that the original offices no longer have because too much time has passed. Social Security may be the only place those records still exist.

I’m now realizing that a blanket request for “everything” apparently does not actually produce everything. I probably needed to ask for specific parts of the file, but there was no guidance at the office about what wording to use.

Does anyone know the correct terminology or specific request language I should use to get the complete older SSDI file, including the initial claim, disability determination records, medical evidence, consultative exams, neuropsych reports, continuing disability review files, and third-party reports?

Do I need to request the “medical evidence of record,” the “certified electronic folder,” the “disability determination explanation,” the “initial claim file,” the “CDR folders,” or something else?

Any guidance on exactly what to ask for would be appreciated.

Has there been anyone not unlocking some KOBO books? I keep getting a couple of ones that aren't epub available to download but when I get them from the desktop app, the app says they don't have DRM but they do have DRM. I end up with garbage books that have no covers and open to straight gibberish.

Back when I was at my heaviest, I was 260lbs, it was in 2015 that I had to buy a new couch. It wasnt a particularly cheap one, but they dont have a Levitz anymore and I wasnt going LayZBoy. I got a large one from Jeromes.

I tend to lay on my couch instead of sitting, and its as long and wide as a twin XL. Well, by 2017 the cushions were flat. Then one day while getting up, I lost my balance and landed a bit heavily on it. It snapped two of the underneath "S" wave springs. I later learned that I didnt make them pull away from the frame, they literally snapped apart about two inches from it. Do you know how much force it would take to break a decently thick gauge metal wire - actually, it was TWO of them - two inches from the end? Not the middle, but close to the frame, while leaving the end pieces still attached?

The furniture repair person basically pointed this out to me, and looked at me like I had two heads. They had no idea that could happen.

The fix was to put new wires in and nail them to the frame with some kind of metal plating.

That lasted about a month. I was told the flat cushions didnt help at all.

I went online and bought new foam inserts the fill the three seat cushions. After talking to the sales person I went for the 20 Year extra strength ones. They made a world of difference, but the couch was still a goner.

I ended up finding a very close match back at the same Jeromes. I bought it, and put the old cushions on it. Works great.

Anyhow, this was a long story for me to say that after a year of losing some 80lbs I hardly make a dent when I drop down on the couch. The cushions are almost too strong now, but thats fine. I still get a bit nervous when I realize that I wasnt paying attention and land on it hard, but then take notice of how the couch barely made a move.

So, yeah, that and my mattress toppers are getting extra life!

My building is smoke free and has been since 2018. Ive been vaping since 2014. I didnt realize that vaping was included. My landlord know I vaped, but he thinks I quit.

​

Im stuck because I did quit but now im back again. I need something to hide the vape while in my home.

​

It doesnt need to be perfect but it should last a while, shouldnt cost too much, and should remove vape odor and "smoke"

I have ADHD and have spent the past 24 hours hyperfocusing on this problem. Nothing I can do can get the metadata from Goodreads or Amazon into Calibre using download metadata.

Why? Because Amazon and by extension Goodreads basically decided to do with their sites what they have been doing to their Kindles. They locked that shit down. No longer can you get any information because now they changed the way they format their html pages. Used to be there was no problem grabbing the titles/authors/series/tags/publisher/pubdate/language/ISBN/ASIN - but now they got it locked down behind some kind of HTML that can't be parsed.

To top it all off Amazon has been changing all their ASINS for thieir books. Out of a current 750 purchased books in Amazon over 150 of them have missing ASIN's because they were changed (new editions) - or removed from Amazon all together - or went from Kindle to out of print paperbacks.

So if you have been collecting books from Amazon for a while and for whatever reason think it's a good idea to reset your Kindle - or you get a new Kindle - lol...you are going to be missing a bunch of covers. Nothing you can do outside of manually adding the cover to your device will get them to show.

Download the books, open the books, whatever - there is only ONE way to bypass this and it's a bitch. It involves finding out the current ASIN of the book on your device that is missing a cover - then finding the cover in Calibre and exporting the file and renaming it "thumbnail_(ASIN)_EBOK_portrait.jpg" (fill in the ASIN with the Current ASIN of the book on your device. Attach your Kindle to your computer and just copy it over to the thumbnails folder (hidden system folder). Then it will show.

Im sure theres more to say or discuss - but Im tired. So sorry. Sad day. Screw you Amazon.

I know there are other places to get the metadata but 13 years I have been using it this way.

You have been chosen to participate in the third round of clinical trials for a shot that will regrow all your teeth. The process isnt fun, but the final result is a mouth full of new teeth that will never decay, or break. These teeth are impervious to damage. The bones holding them will break before they do. You still need to keep up your oral hygiene for your gums and general cleanliness, but worries about cavities, or root canals or crowns is over.

​

Here is the process -

1. All your current teeth must be pulled out to make room for the tooth "buds" that will grow into these permanent teeth. You are not able to use dentures because nothing can inhibit the growth of the buds. This means you'll have to go without solid foods and all the other benefits having teeth include. Speaking, smiling, you facial structure is affected until they are fully formed, about 1 year and up to 2 years - they grow about the same pace as your adult teeth grew when you were a child.

​

2. In order to keep them growing you must continue to get weekly shots into the 4 quadrants of your jaw that contains the special "growth serum" this is done every week for the entire process. If you miss an appointment you will be removed from the primary study and put into the secondary one for getting the "cautionary results" ie..what happens if you miss an injection. This secondary trial requires you to pay $100 per injection visit. They dont really care if you miss appointments because they are gathering the data on what happens if you miss injections. The serum is very expensive and now you must pay a "co-pay".

​

4.there is a 5% chance that the teeth wont grow at all. A 30% chance that at least 2 teeth come out wonky, not BAD, but less than desirable shape, color or placement. However, the scientists are working on attempts to pull out and regrow the wonky teeth, but you will have to do the shots routine again. Not pulling out the new good teeth, but the ones you need replacing.

​

5. There is a greater that 15% that the teeth come out tinged blue.

​

6. You will have to go to the dentists they are using for the trial every 6 months for the rest of your life to keep track of the teeth, because these dentists must inject you with another serum to inhibit further growth. Like rodents, your teeth will constantly grow unless you keep getting the inhibitor injections.

​

EDIT: "Tinged blue" - there is a chance that you teeth pick up a certain color of blue that is very light to moderat, not uniformly. Make of it what you will. Its noticeable but not stop and point.

EDIT: I dropped the NDA, but you will still have the uploading of images daily

EDIT: Blue tinged lasts for the time it takes until they fully finish growing. Each tooth is an independent thing. Some tinged some dont. Again the 15% rule is in effect. And its PER TOOTH. NOT THE WHOLE MOUTH. EDIT: 15% or LESS chance of blue tinged.

I need some advice on how to approach a local dentist so that they don't start trash talking my current dentist in Los Algodones. I need someone local who can do the stuff here like general cleanings, sealants and possible emergecy work, implant cleaning and maitenance, keeping an eye out on things, periodontal management.

I do not want to be treated like I am a cash cow. Yes, I have had a bunch of work done, but I paid dearly for it and it was at a price that they can't touch.

I want to know if any dentist would be ammenable to keeping in touch with my Los Algodones dentist - who has a nice clinic - in Los Algodones. I want him to be made aware of and consulted on the work proposed to be done. All my current work is done by him and anything that voids the warranty on it is to be avoided. However, he doesnt' do sealants. I need this done I need to get the margins between the bottom of the crown and gumline somehow fixed so that I don't get more cavities there. I get them there all too easily because I have dry mouth due to medications.

I have dental implants that need someone local to keep an eye on them, and if there is a problem breweing I don't want it to "fail" and just have another one put in. I want a dentist who isn't about to try and say I have "open margins" when I don't. I don't want a dentist who takes 2 minutes to do a charting and then say "you need a deep cleaning" then does it and for four quadrants takes 60 minutes and charges me over $2000. I don't have pockets. My tooth brush doesn't turn pink. My dental floss doesn't have smells. I am getting receding gums, My Los Algodones dentist is not a periodontist. He's a cosmetic dentist and implant specialist. His office doesn't do bite wings only panos, and now he has some kind of hand held thing that does quick instant images.

I am seeing a new dentist tomorrow. This dentist bought out the practice of the ONLY dentist I previously saw once who didn't try and take me for a ride. I liked her work. So, learning she isn't there is making me nervous. I want to try and save my bottom teeth from being crowned. I need some kind of sealant or something. I want to ask how I can get this done and have them consult with my current dentist.

I live in Fullerton CA - I have Delta Dental PPO as well as getting DentaQuest next year and can go outside of the network and self claim with them as well. I have a bit of cash and possibly credit. I dont' mind paying for good work. As long as it's GOOD NECESSARY WORK. NOT A CASH GRAB.

Suggestions?

I am not going to bore with the details, but suffice it to say - I was trying to create a small personal project at home that required an api key from Google to access Gemini - and through the help of Gemini I got the key - and tried to run the project - but got hit with the "exhausted api token" error - despite not having used any tokens except the one to ping the server to get that error and using one of the free models.

I thought - well, I could see how much it costs to get api tokens. I was steered to their Cloud Platform - but I did NOT want to sign up for a full subscription service. I am a 52f living at home just attempting a little side project that would put a bridge between Gemini and ChatGPT so they could "collaborate" on something for me. I had no clue what I was doing outside of following the step by step instructions Gemini was making for this bridge.

Anyhow I get to the "pre-paid" and I thought "Ill throw $25 into this and that should be good" - so I got $25 in prepaid tokens - even though I saw that I could get up to $300 in free access if I signed up for their monthly cloud access - which I DID NOT WANT TO DO. I am a regular home consumer - I am not a business, I do not need an entire enterprise - billing - statements - whatever you call it that people have when they sign up for this cloud service. That's why I went with the pre-paid amount.

I go back to my project and run into the "exhausted api tokens" again - but this is on the ChatGPT side and think - yeah, Im done. I have ADHD and basically ran out of steam.

I then realize that I bought these tokens, and won't need them ever again - maybe I can get a refund. This is when I was thrown into Google Hell.

Trying to get help was a maze. I kept getting routed through bots, Cloud support categories, workspace / domain questions, billing/receivables menus, and other things that made no sense for a regular person who just bought prepaid API credit for a small personal experiment.

I could not find a human without being shoved into the wrong support path over and over.

I also felt like I was playing "beat the clock" because the humans would be gone in the next 45 minutes.

In the end - I never found someone - and left it alone to cool off. I also discovered through all this that I had been signed up for their Cloud service after all because it had been suggested that if I signed up and got the $300 in credits that the $25 pre-paid would not process. Then cancel the Cloud service. I get to the cloud service and learn that I had already been signed up - not once - but twice - I apparently got signed up in January when I had another attempt at another project that didn't go anywhere.

So - I figured - Great! Im already signed up - Gemini advised me to close it out and then the $25 will stop processing and I am not signed up for their Cloud service.

Yeah, no. I still got charged $25 that I cannot find a human to help me fix.

Oh - yeah - and they offered me to add the Youtube preimum to my current package for less than Im paying currently each month - but when I added it - they just created a Youtube premium subscription - not converted it into the one I currently have. So I got billed twice for Youtube premium this month.

Sorry - Im annoyed at it all.