I am old fashioned and do not use very many cellphones features. I only use it to make several calls per month. I keep it with me when doing my daily walk through rugged terrain for exercise, just in case I break a leg. I do not bring my reading glasses on the hikes, so I can not read what is on the menu or the buttons, so those fancy features become useless. In that situation, I would not be able to look-up a phone number, so I have memorized all of the most common phone numbers.
Here are the features that I do want. I would prefer a simple to operate cellphone that only uses a large easy to read buttons and knobs. The old-fashioned knobs would be to control volume and to turn it on or off, like they do with small simple radios. I do not want any external buttons whose settings can accidentally be changed by twisting movements or by brushing against boulders, branches, seat belts or car doors. I would also like the cellphone to be as rugged and waterproof as possible. On my daily walks for exercise, I have had one fall into a lake once and another once fell off of a small cliff once. If the cell phone can't survive such typical usage what good would it do me if I were to fall off of a cliff, bounce once and then land in the lake? Would the cellphone still work then?
I do not do very much text messaging, but might do it more if I could enter text without looking at the display. I type very well, but small cell phones do not have room for a keyboard. I do know morse code somewhat, so I would like the cellphone to have a built in method of entering text messages by morse code. It would be a feature that would only be useful for a small insignificant percentage of their elderly customers, so that probably will never become a common method of entering text messages.
Oh, and since I don't make or receive many calls, I would like an inexpensive plan for limited usage.
Oops, I looking back at what I was responding to, I see that I misread what he was asking. Somehow, I thought that he was saying that he wanted a system that did not have any moving parts. In the above response, I was thinking that was what he wanted. I was reading way too quickly and misunderstood the question.
As for what he was actually asking, I suppose he could just stick a SATA controller card in one of his PCI slots and hook the new serial-ATA hard drive to it.
The computer that I built myself about 1 1/2 years ago, is almost fanless too, but it does have a small water pump which is a moving part. It has a Zalman fanless water cooling system for the CPU and for the Northbridge chip. It doesn't use water cooling for the video card, because I was able to find a fanless video card which gets by with using heat sinks instead. It also has a fanless Antec power supply, although I probably could have got by with using their less expensive model which is a high efficiency power supply with an almost silent fan. I have a case fan, but can use a knob on the front of my computer to adjust its speed and noise level to something acceptable. It is a very quiet computer.
I am not a technician or an expert, but I suppose it would be possible to build a computer without a hard drive. I do know of a company which offers the option of plugging a 40-Pin Solid-State Drive into the IDE connector on almost any appropriate computer's motherboard to create a WiFi hotspot controller. Not having tried that myself, I am not specifically recommending that to anyone. I am not sure if it allows for lots of constant rewriting like a hard drive or not?
Here is an example of a computer which, if I am not mistaken, can run Windows XP or Linux from a 1, 2, or 4 GB compact flash (CF) drive. They also offer the option of using a hard disk. I don't know anything about their products and it is not a real powerful computer. I am just using it as an example. I am also not sure how well this compares to hard drives for constant rewriting and heavy usage. As I said, I am not a technician or an expert and don't know much about any of these alternative devices.
My favorite old keyboard was made back in the mid-1990's and has an old "AT" style connector. To connect it to a slightly more modern PS/2 style connector, I had to use a adapter. I use yet another adapter to connect that adapter to a USB port on a computer which lacks a PS/2 connector. I also have a KVM switch in the middle too, so that I can control both computers with just the one keyboard, monitor and mouse. Only one of the two computers lacks the PS/2 connector and needs the second adapter.
The old keyboard with the "AT" style connector requires only a very light touch, clicks nicely, and feels just right when typing. It also uses a split spacebar to place an extra backspace key at a more convenient, but non-standard location. I like it so well, that I bought several spare keyboards, just before they stopped making them, so that I could keep using them for the rest of my life at both home and work. With adapters connected to other adapters, I should be able to keep using the old NMB model RTB255CW+ keyboards for decades.
Recently, a couple of the keys stopped working as reliably on one of the keyboards. To solve the emergency, I snapped off the plastic cover on each key and used a brush to remove the years of accumulated hair, lint and small bits of shredded wheat from under each key. I then washed years of grime off of each plastic cover and then snapped them back on. Free of the hair and lint, the keyboard is now working perfectly and looks like new. I heard about doing that from a woman who's job is to clean keyboards, computer screens and printers at a local VA hospital. I bet we all have millions of dust mites living our keyboards.
Your work machine is more powerful and has more RAM that than the AMD-64s that either kabz or I are using. Perhaps your video card is not supported well under Linux or has a poorly written driver. As I mentioned elsewhere, my single-core AMD-64 3800+ has an 1 1/2 year old AGP video card that uses the nVidia GeForce FX 5200 with 256 MB of video ram. I use it to display at 1600 x 1200 resolution on my Dell 20.1 inch Dell 2007FP Flat Panel monitor. My sound card is a DIAMOND XtremeSound XS71DDL 7.1PCI Sound Card.
Running Kubuntu Linux on my AMD-64 3800+ feels about the same as running Windows XP on my Intel Core 2 Duo computer. Both computers respond instantly and can easily do several tasks a once smoothly. I don't get a draggy feeling on either computer.
Ok, I have still been trying to duplicate the problems that everyone has been talking about while running Kubuntu Linux on my single core AMD-64 3800+. I inserted a "World Music" CD and am listening to that right now under Amarok. At the same time I have been opening various applications and dragging the Windows around with absolutely no effect on how the music sounds. The mouse responds instantly and the cursor moves normally and the music still plays perfectly even when OpenOffice Writer is being opened or moved. It mouse and music are also unaffected by Gimp resizing and rotating photos or Firefox opening web pages. I have also tried cutting and pasting text between various applications with instant responsiveness at all times.
For comparison, I booted up Windows XP on my 1.83 GHz Core 2 duo computer and tried doing the same tasks on it. That is Windows XP running on a dual core computer with 2 GB of RAM. I could not tell any difference in performing any of those tasks on either computer, performance was smooth and instantaneous on either computer when doing multiple tasks at the same time. There was not even the slightest delay or lack of smoothness that I could detect on either computer when resizing, moving or cutting and pasting.
I finally decided to boot up in Gnome instead of KDE as a final attempt to duplicate the problems that other people have described. I have both the Ubuntu and Kubuntu desktop packages, so I can use either Gnome or KDE. Well anyway, Gnome performed those same tasks simultaneously just as well.
P.S., I forgot to mention that the computer is using the nvidia Linux video driver at 1600 x 1200 resolution on a 20.1 inch Dell 2007FP flatscreen monitor. I am using the VGA connector on the monitor instead of the other newer DVI (or whatever) type of connector so that I could hook it to my old KVM switch without using an adapter. I am also using different wallpaper for each of my 8 virtual disktops under KDE so that I can tell each one apart more easily.
The 1 GB of memory that I mentioned earlier consists of two sticks of Corsair 512 MB Dual-channel pc-3200 memory sticks mounted in the correct combination of slots for dual-channel use. I also use a fan-less water cooling system with a 2 foot tall finned aluminum external water tank for the AMD-64 CPU, that would not affect the performance, but it does make a quieter computer. This is a 1 1/2 year old computer with a single-core CPU and am posting the specifications so that you can see that it is not the latest and greatest computers out there.
When I first moved built this AMD-64 computer, I do I remember being pleasantly surprised by the instant responsiveness of the AMD-64. At the time, about 1 1/2 years or so ago, I had read an article that mentioned that the AMD-64 placed the memory controller directly on the CPU instead of in a separate chip on the motherboard and that was what gave it a faster more responsive feel.
The computer that I am using and mentioned in my post has a slightly older Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 motherboard that uses a socket 939 version of the AMD-64 and uses an AGP video card. I have the older ordinary type of PCI slots. Because I dislike noise, I chose a video card which only uses heat sinks and not a fan. The chipset in the AGP video card is the GeForce FX 5200 with 256MB of DDR memory on the video card. It is probably not a video card that a gamer would choose. The "lspci -v" command confirms those are my components and also says that I am using the nVidia nForce3 chipset on my motherboard. I have two ordinary 7200 RPM parallel ATA type hard drives (with no disk-mirroring) and do not have a serial-ATA hard drive hooked to the serial-ATA connector on the motherboard. I have several versions of Linux installed on this computer. I have both the AMD-64 and the i386 versions of Unbuntu/Kubuntu installed and also an older version of Slackware and even FreeDOS installed. I do not really see any hesitation that I can detect in any of those other than when a brief delay when first opening a program up. Every Windows computer I have ever used takes about the same amount of time to load a large program too.
I wonder if perhaps, this might now be the minimum hardware required to give that kind of responsive performance, or if the hardware has better drivers or something. Perhaps the chipset might even make a difference. I am not an expert on any of that.
I have used Linux, Windows 2000 and Windows XP at home for about 6 years now and haven't noticed much difference in the performance in how any of those perform. They all perform well. I do not recall ever encountering the small delays described in the article. At the moment, I am using a single core AMD 64 3800+ computer with 1 GB of RAM running the 386 version of Kubuntu Linux. If I also boot up my other computer, I can then use my KVM switch to switch my keyboard, monitor and mouse to looking at Windows XP running on a small book sized computer with a 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2 GB of RAM. Both computers perform very nicely.
While using Linux on the AMD-64, I moved a few Windows around just now and the response was smooth and instantaneous. I also moved from application to application just now highlighting and cutting and pasting stuff and the response was still instantaneous and smooth. I opened performance monitor on my Linux computer just now and see that my CPU is running at 3 - 5 % right now. I have several programs running at the same time and when I drag a window across the screen my CPU usage jumps to about 23 %. Looking elsewhere, I see that most of the time my 2.4 GHz CPU has remained throttled back to 1 GHz to save electricity during the light usage that it was experiencing. When I open the huge bloated OpenOffice Writer program the clock speed briefly jumps to 2.4 GHz for a moment and then drops back to 1 GHz. Memory usage is a 47% right now. I have rarely noticed any small delays when using Linux on this computer. If someone with a similar computer is getting sluggish performance perhaps the have some kind of driver problem or configuration problem. By the way, I am using the 386 version of Linux on my AMD-64 computer, because of the lack of a 64-bit version of the Flash player (yes, I know there are other, but less easy, ways to solve that problem).
Yes, perhaps the Linux kernel may theoretically may not be as optimized for desktop usage as he would like. Oh well, but that does not mean that the average desktop Linux user is noticing any slowness. I also use a Windows XP Laptop which was fast when it was new, but now, after booting up it takes about a minute or more before it is usable because various stuff is still loading in the background. It did not do that when it was new. I tried using a spyware scanning and removal program, but that did not solve the problem. Accumulating junk on start-up seems to a problem with Windows computers running commercial software. For some reason, Linux desktop computers do not experience that same problem over time.
Are some Linux users with similar hardware are experiencing delays? If so, then perhaps it is a driver problem or some other configuration problem. By the way, I am posting this before having finished reading the article, so I don't yet know for sure what all he had to say.
Below is the Slashdot article from May 6, 2007 about using Morse Code on cell phones that I mentioned. Perhaps CW would possibly just be sent using a button on the phone, while the cell phone is laying flat on a table. I think there may possibly be some way to send CW from a few Nokia phones, if I am not mistaken. Text messaging is almost useless for me when I am out hiking in bright sunlight and don't have my reading glasses with me, because I can't read the display. With Morse code, I probably could get by without needing to see the display or the labels on any keys. I already know Morse code and QWERTY typing and don't want to have to learn anything else anyway.
Re:Morse-to-text keyboard driver?
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Five Finger Keyboards
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· Score: 1, Interesting
I would be interested in something like that too, since I already know Morse code. I learned that to use with ham radio, although I have not used it very much. I don't know about any specific drivers for any particular cell phone, but here are a couple of links that mention people using Morse Code with a cellphone. It seems to me that someone could probably send CW with something smaller than a traditional telegraph key. I believe there was also once a discussion on Slashdot about that too, but I don't have time to look for the link.
I am somewhat of a privacy fanatic which is probably a futile exercise in today's world. Here is what various on-line databases, shopping cards and cell phone tracking would probably show about my so called life:
A) My driving record shows no accidents or tickets in over 35 years of driving
B) I have never been arrested
E) I don't owe any money to anyone and always completely pay of my charge card bills off every month
H) My shoppers discount card record would show that I don't purchase junk food, liquor or tobacco.
I) My bookstore discount card would show that I read magazines on Linux and ham radio and books on dieting.
J) That I don't use text messaging or make many cell phone calls and do not keep the cell phone with me most of the time
K) That once in a while, I have occasionally looked at soft-core porn
L) Tracking my movements by my cell phone would show that I walk 3 miles everyday for exercise along the same route. It would also track my weekly visits to the grocery store, the health food store and my my annual Christmas shopping visits to the mall and Wall-mart. An occasional cell phone photo would show a tarantula, quail, snake or Javalina from my daily walks.
Yes, you can see how much I have to hide, so I use an RFID blocking wallet? I keep my cell phone charging in a rarely used room, just in case some government official were to ever to secretly activate it as an eavesdropping device (I can still hear it ring from there). I keep all ports closed on the firewall in my router, use an ad blocking hosts file, use Linux and diligently install the latest security updates. I use a knob to turn off my ethernet connection when not using the Internet. I do not use my Windows computer for email or Internet browsing and do not even have it connected to the Internet most of the time (I use the Linux computer for that and a KVM switch to switch between the two computers). Perhaps, I should take the battery out of my cell phone when I do my daily walks so they can't track where I am. As a consumer, I will try to avoid buying any of the RFID tagged clothing and shoes that they are planning to sell to us in the near future (RFID tags for inventory control purposes). Even if I am not sure what I have to hide, when recently re-reading parts of George Orwell's "1984," I felt uncomfortable with how much more our world has become like what he describes in his book.
Typing on the keyboard of a desktop computer is much easier than with the keyboards on laptops. As a middle aged person who needs reading glasses, I need to use a 20 inch flat-screen monitor to be able to comfortably see 1600 x 1200 resolution. In recent years, using a 19 inch CRT monitor at any decent resolution became uncomfortable, so I moved up to a 20 inch flat screen monitor. Flat screen monitors are measured differently than CRTs my new monitor is actually 2 inches larger. It's great! Do they have laptops with 20 inch screens?
With a desktop computer, I know how to easily add or change hard drives, motherboards and other components, but have no idea how to do that with a laptop. I suppose I will also be one of the "diehard" desktop users. We don't use computers where I work, so it is not an issue for me there. However, I do realize that the article was mostly talking about using laptops at work.
If I did have a laptop with a large enough monitor, I would probably hook an external keyboard, external mouse and a large external hard drive to the USB port. I would then end up something that looks much like a desktop computer anyway.
As I already mentioned, I have been using Linux for about 6 or 7 years. During that time I do not recall either Libranet or Gentoo being the most widely used distro. The source based Gentoo has always just filled a small market niche for those who want the option of compiling everything from source. Libranet is a Canadian based Debian derived distro who's development has now been discontinued. You didn't mention Fedora Core was extremely popular several years ago and which still has a strong following. It is a Red Hat derived distro which uses RPM packages instead of Debian packages.
When I first started using Linux back in about 2000, I stated with Red Hat. Ubuntu has been gaining popularity for several years now. In the several years before that, whenever I went hang out have have some beer and pizza with the local Linux users at a local Linux User Group(LUG) meeting, some people would say they used Fedora Core, some used SuSE, some used Debian, some used Mandrake or something else. Now at local LUG meetings about half of the club members say they use either Ubuntu or Kubuntu. To me, the Linux market seems much less segmented than it was several years ago.
That may apply even more so to the various Linux Software packages that are available. In most cases there are several similar projects that do almost the same thing being developed at the same time. For example in the case of Linux word processors, the choices include OpenOffice Writer, Abiword, and KWord and desktop publishing software such as Scribus and LyX. If any software project experiences problems the Linux users can move on to one of the other better choices. Either that, or with GPL licensed software the project can easily be forked by someone wanting to create a better or different version of the project. In that sense it is sort of like evolution and "survival of the fittest." Presumably open source is much more of a dynamic, flowing, evolving process with various alternatives than proprietary software created by a one company monopoly such as Microsoft.
It took Microsoft a couple of tries and about 5 years to come out with Vista, and even after all that, it is only moderately popular with Windows users. If that had been a Linux project, either the project would have been forked or some other distro would have moved ahead and left them behind. For example, when Debian took too long to come out with new releases, Ubuntu (which is derived from Debian) managed to come out with new versions every 6 months and gained popularity. In a sense, that could be compared to the greater productivity that free market economies had over centrally planned economies such as communism. In this case, I am comparing Linux to a free market economy and Windows to a centrally planned communist economy.
Over the last year or two Ubuntu has become by far the most popular distro for the average Linux user, especially for desktop use at home. The article dismisses Ubuntu as just "the flavor of the month." It's more than just that, the popularity of Ubuntu is unprecedented. For the first time ever we finally have a distro that is starting to become the dominate choice. Ubuntu is typically what new Linux users who don't already have a favorite distro choose. Red Hat and SuSE remain popular with businesses, perhaps because they can get paid technical support if necessary (I don't know much about that). But, for the average Linux user Ubuntu increasingly the winner. There is also a server version of Ubuntu, as well.
Ubuntu is a Debian derived distro. Of those Linux users who don't use Ubuntu, many of them use Debian or a Debian derived distro such as Kubuntu or Mepis. They all use the apt-get package manager and some variation of Debian packages for installing, upgrading or removing new software. There are also easy to use point-and-click GUI front ends for apt-get such as Synaptic or Adept. Since they are all Debian derived distros they probably aren't a lot different. Even Knoppix, which is the most popular live CD version of Linux, is a Debian derived distro.
Kubuntu, which I use, is just a variation of Ubuntu. Kubuntu is just a version of Ubuntu that uses the KDE desktop and it's preferred selection of software instead of Gnome. A Ubuntu user, could use the Synaptic Package Manager to easily download and install the kubuntu-desktop package as well. I started with Ubuntu, then added Kubuntu and then made KDE my default choice when booting up. I ended up with both selections of software in the menu plus those programs I later added as well.
The article also mentions "Linux from scratch." That would appeal to the same kind of person who would like to build their own house themselves or assemble their own ham radio or car from a kit, just so they know how it all goes together. It's not for the average Linux user. Linux is becoming less of a fragmented market than it was several years ago. There are also various specialized distros for special purposes such as KnoppMyth which, for example, is for building your own Linux based personal video recorder. As for myself, I have used Linux at home for about 6 or 7 years. I started with Red Hat, then Slackware and am now using Kubuntu. Various other distros are good too, if someone is more familiar with one of them.
Earlier today, I just happened to be looking at the Jitterbug cell phone in the firstStreet catalogue. I don't know much about the Jitterbug, but I have occasionally thought about getting a simpler cell phone for myself. I only use the most basic features on a cell phone. I don't do text messaging because I don't have any friends or relatives who use that feature and have no one to text with. I don't take pictures with my cell phone when I am hiking because, I generally don't take my reading glasses with me when doing my daily hike for exercise, so I can't read what is on the display well enough to perform that task. I don't look up phone numbers on my cell phone, because I have already memorized the phone numbers of the few people that I do call. I only make about one outgoing call a month on my cell phone which is barely often enough to remember how to use the most basic features. However, I do receive about one call a week and have no trouble remembering how to answer the phone.
My cell phone apparently has a built in answering machine, but I have never known the pin number or whatever is needed to access the phone messages, so I have never checked my phone messages. I mostly keep the cell phone with me in case I break a leg while hiking or get bitten by a rattle snake, or in case my truck breaks down or in case I need to call 911. I have yet to actually use it for that purpose.
I am not totally incompetent with electronic equipment though, because over the years I have built several of my own computers and installed Linux on each of them. I have also installed and secured both the wired and wireless portions of my home network. I have a General class ham radio license and know Morse code. Someday I will tackle the more difficult challenge of learning to properly use a cell phone. Either that or perhaps I might possible just get the Jitterbug or something like that.
I downloaded and tried out Eraser on my Windows XP computer just now. When working with a file in Windows Explorer, I could right click on a file and "erase" is now listed as an option. That was a nice and easy way to securely delete a file.
I have both a Kubuntu Linux computer and a Windows XP computer. My main computer is the Linux computer. I only use the Windows computer for practice so that I continue having some computer skills beyond just using Linux. I use the Linux computer exclusively for my email, web browsing and most other tasks. I have a KVM switch which allows me to use one keyboard, mouse and monitor to control either computer. I can switch back and forth between either computer in about a second or so. The Linux computer is a regular sized computer and the Windows XP computer is a small book sized AOpen mini computer that only uses 23 Watts of power when idle. When running both, I can quickly switch back and forth between either computer quickly and easily and I only end up using an extra 23 Watts of power. I only connect the Windows computer to the Internet, every now and then for security updates and virus signature updates. I actually only use the Windows computer about once a month anyway.
My point is that if I had both a Vista computer and a Linux computer on the KVM switch, I would be more inclined than ever to continue doing activities such as email and web browsing exclusively on the Linux box. If I used the Vista computer at all, it would probably be for legally watching DRM restricted downloads or for using some kind of job related Windows only software such as AutoCAD or accounting software. It's not that I actually think that anything I do is illegal or inappropriate, but I still prefer to not give up more of my privacy to "big brother" or have someone send guessing why I was looking at certain web pages.
Of course, computer forensic work on a Linux, Mac, Windows XP or Windows 2000 computer would presumably also still come up with plenty of information too.
I used a Kill-A-Watt meter to measure power usage on my two computers. My main computer is a less than 2 year old single-core AMD-64 3800+ with 1 GB RAM, two hard drives, an 83% efficient power supply, a fanless water cooled CPU, a 20 inch flat panel monitor and runs Kubuntu Linux. The monitor uses 40 Watts and the rest of the computer uses about 94 Watts most of the time. In the sleep mode the monitor only uses about 1 Watt. Under heavy use the CPU power usage is much more. I don't like noise, so I chose a graphics card that did not require a fan and which probably does not use very much power.
I also have a second computer hooked to the same keyboard, monitor and mouse through a KVM switch. It is an AOpen Mini PC with an Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz CPU and 2 MB of RAM and Windows XP Professional. It uses 23 Watts most of the time, but uses more under heavy usage. The 20 inch flat panel monitor uses an additional 40 Watts or just 1 Watt in the sleep mode. Occasionally, I run both computers at the same time and with just one monitor, keyboard and mouse can switch back and forth between computers in about a second or so. Even when I occasionally run both computers at once, I am not using an unreasonable amount of power.
I am not a gamer and for what I do both computers meet my needs very nicely. The AMD-64 running Kubuntu computer is my main computer. I haven't measured the power usage during all the different sleep modes so my information is somewhat incomplete. With the monitor in the 1 Watt sleep mode, I can leave the computer on most of the day without feeling like I am wasting an unreasonable amount of power. To me, 500 Watts sounds way too wasteful.
If they do feel that they need access to the Internet and are so concerned about porn perhaps they should use a web content filter such as DansGuardian. In addition to doing that, perhaps blocking some advertising related URLs with Mike's Ad Blocking Hosts file might also be helpful. Of course using a software or hardware based firewall and up to date anti-virus software, anti-spyware software, and the latest security patches would also be good. I am not a computer professional or network administrator but those seem like reasonable precautions to me for a school network.
That trend makes me uncomfortable with the recent directive that Bush issued on May 9 signed that grants near dictatorial powers to the office of the president in the event of a national emergency declared by the president. I am surprised that directive has not yet received much discussion in the press or by Congress.
Posting yet again to my own post. I forgot to ask the question of whether or not such an electromagnetic pulse weapon would require the use a nuclear weapon. I am not an expert on the subject.
Sorry about having to reply to my own post, but here goes. One overlooked type of possible attack is the vulnerability of modern electronic devices to a strong electromagnetic pulse (EMP). I have heard of claims of tests where a small crude electromagnetic bomb was set off and for hundreds of yards around, cars would not start and various other electromagnetic devices were ruined. The trouble is that computer chips are very delicate and easily damaged and such chips are in our cars and various electronic devices. I have heard several claims that a more powerful, more advanced EMP bomb could destroy electronic devices for hundreds of miles. Is that really true? Have we done anything at all to prepare major cities for such an attack? What effect would such an attack have on a heavily populated areas such as Southern California? Would such an attack on major cities be feasible and worthwhile for terrorists?
Perhaps each citizen should each have a rugged old fashioned vacuum tube radio stored unplugged and not connected to an antenna, at least we could still get news then. Either that or have each of us store a more modern radio and perhaps a few other inexpensive electronic devices inside a Faraday cage. Perhaps police departments, fire departments and ambulances should keep a few extra two way radios stored inside a Faraday cage ready to be used after such an attack.Hopefully, an occasional ham radio operator will do the same with one of their older radios and will still have some working type of emergency power too. Of course, that is assuming that such is scenario is really a valid threat.
Perhaps we should also have a few weeks food on hand for emergencies too. A few few inexpensive large cans of dried rice and beans and similar items, stored in a cool place, would probably not cost all that much. If our government were to discover that our food supply had been poisoned by terrorists, we could all switch to using our emergency supplies of several weeks until authorities announced that that food supply was safe once again. I have head that Mormons all keep several months of emergency food stored away, although I am not a Mormon myself. Emergency food supplies could be useful in a few other scenarios too. During a global bird flue pandemic some of us might just want to lock our doors and stay home and avoid contact with other people for a few weeks or months. Perhaps keeping some extra soap on hand for washing our hands thoroughly might help too. I suppose a gun, for self defence, might help too, since nearly everyone else out there already has one.
Perhaps we should all be using the type of envelopes that we do not need to lick to seal. On some envelops you just remove the strip of tape and seal them. At least we don't need to lick our stamps any more. Hopefully, none of these scenarios will never really happen within my lifetime.
Have all of the passengers remove all their clothes and put on a disposable paper gown before boarding. That would make it much harder for them to hide a weapon, unless they used rectal explosives or were already infected with a deadly virsus or something. Don't allow them to bring any carry on any luggage aboard either, for the same reason. Then, handcuff all the passengers before boarding and keep them handcuffed until they unload. Have the stewardess lock each passenger into their seat as they load. They could be unlocked one at a time during the flight just long enough to go to the bathroom. To further control everyone, attach a radio controlled punishment collar to each passengers neck. Any troublesome passenger could then be punished or knocked be either an electric shock or anesthetic at the push of a button. An early Star Trek episode had Jim Kirk, Spock and McCoy being forced to wear such a device while visiting a colony ship.
To make sure that there are not any bombs hidden in the luggage, have all of the luggage sent on a different airplane by UPS, DHL or FedEx instead.
Of course once air travel became secure they would have to look a where else we are still vulnerable to terrorists. The recent news about poisonous animal feed contaminated with melamine from China suggests that our food supply is not secure. How about securing our borders too, who knows who might be crossing into our country from the Mexican border. I have also wondered if we can detect a nuclear device hidden in containerized cargo on a containerized cargo ship, before it enters a harbour? Probably not! What about a gunman in a school or a shopping mall? What if the envelopes we all lick before closing had been poisoned with poisonous glue? Then problem is not just how to protect ourselves against what the terrorists did yesterday, but against what they will do next.
I prefer reading printed books but don't have room for very many on my bookshelf , so to save space, ebooks are a good alternative. I have sometimes had to throw out old books to make room for new ones. Of course, I always felt guilty doing that, but I did not know what else to do with them. Instead of doing that, I could easily fit an entire library of many thousands of books on one small hard drive. There are may older books, in which the copyrights have expired, as well as some occasional newer books which for various reasons are available in ebook form for free.
I do buy occasional newer printed books too, which are not available for free, so I am still doing my share of helping to support the publishing industry.
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I am old fashioned and do not use very many cellphones features. I only use it to make several calls per month. I keep it with me when doing my daily walk through rugged terrain for exercise, just in case I break a leg. I do not bring my reading glasses on the hikes, so I can not read what is on the menu or the buttons, so those fancy features become useless. In that situation, I would not be able to look-up a phone number, so I have memorized all of the most common phone numbers.
Here are the features that I do want. I would prefer a simple to operate cellphone that only uses a large easy to read buttons and knobs. The old-fashioned knobs would be to control volume and to turn it on or off, like they do with small simple radios. I do not want any external buttons whose settings can accidentally be changed by twisting movements or by brushing against boulders, branches, seat belts or car doors. I would also like the cellphone to be as rugged and waterproof as possible. On my daily walks for exercise, I have had one fall into a lake once and another once fell off of a small cliff once. If the cell phone can't survive such typical usage what good would it do me if I were to fall off of a cliff, bounce once and then land in the lake? Would the cellphone still work then?
I do not do very much text messaging, but might do it more if I could enter text without looking at the display. I type very well, but small cell phones do not have room for a keyboard. I do know morse code somewhat, so I would like the cellphone to have a built in method of entering text messages by morse code. It would be a feature that would only be useful for a small insignificant percentage of their elderly customers, so that probably will never become a common method of entering text messages.
Oh, and since I don't make or receive many calls, I would like an inexpensive plan for limited usage.
Oops, I looking back at what I was responding to, I see that I misread what he was asking. Somehow, I thought that he was saying that he wanted a system that did not have any moving parts. In the above response, I was thinking that was what he wanted. I was reading way too quickly and misunderstood the question.
As for what he was actually asking, I suppose he could just stick a SATA controller card in one of his PCI slots and hook the new serial-ATA hard drive to it.
The computer that I built myself about 1 1/2 years ago, is almost fanless too, but it does have a small water pump which is a moving part. It has a Zalman fanless water cooling system for the CPU and for the Northbridge chip. It doesn't use water cooling for the video card, because I was able to find a fanless video card which gets by with using heat sinks instead. It also has a fanless Antec power supply, although I probably could have got by with using their less expensive model which is a high efficiency power supply with an almost silent fan. I have a case fan, but can use a knob on the front of my computer to adjust its speed and noise level to something acceptable. It is a very quiet computer.
Zalman Reserator 1 V2 is a fanless water cooling system
I am not a technician or an expert, but I suppose it would be possible to build a computer without a hard drive. I do know of a company which offers the option of plugging a 40-Pin Solid-State Drive into the IDE connector on almost any appropriate computer's motherboard to create a WiFi hotspot controller. Not having tried that myself, I am not specifically recommending that to anyone. I am not sure if it allows for lots of constant rewriting like a hard drive or not?
Here is an example of a computer which, if I am not mistaken, can run Windows XP or Linux from a 1, 2, or 4 GB compact flash (CF) drive. They also offer the option of using a hard disk. I don't know anything about their products and it is not a real powerful computer. I am just using it as an example. I am also not sure how well this compares to hard drives for constant rewriting and heavy usage. As I said, I am not a technician or an expert and don't know much about any of these alternative devices.
Norhtec MicroClient
My favorite old keyboard was made back in the mid-1990's and has an old "AT" style connector. To connect it to a slightly more modern PS/2 style connector, I had to use a adapter. I use yet another adapter to connect that adapter to a USB port on a computer which lacks a PS/2 connector. I also have a KVM switch in the middle too, so that I can control both computers with just the one keyboard, monitor and mouse. Only one of the two computers lacks the PS/2 connector and needs the second adapter.
The old keyboard with the "AT" style connector requires only a very light touch, clicks nicely, and feels just right when typing. It also uses a split spacebar to place an extra backspace key at a more convenient, but non-standard location. I like it so well, that I bought several spare keyboards, just before they stopped making them, so that I could keep using them for the rest of my life at both home and work. With adapters connected to other adapters, I should be able to keep using the old NMB model RTB255CW+ keyboards for decades.
Recently, a couple of the keys stopped working as reliably on one of the keyboards. To solve the emergency, I snapped off the plastic cover on each key and used a brush to remove the years of accumulated hair, lint and small bits of shredded wheat from under each key. I then washed years of grime off of each plastic cover and then snapped them back on. Free of the hair and lint, the keyboard is now working perfectly and looks like new. I heard about doing that from a woman who's job is to clean keyboards, computer screens and printers at a local VA hospital. I bet we all have millions of dust mites living our keyboards.
Your work machine is more powerful and has more RAM that than the AMD-64s that either kabz or I are using. Perhaps your video card is not supported well under Linux or has a poorly written driver. As I mentioned elsewhere, my single-core AMD-64 3800+ has an 1 1/2 year old AGP video card that uses the nVidia GeForce FX 5200 with 256 MB of video ram. I use it to display at 1600 x 1200 resolution on my Dell 20.1 inch Dell 2007FP Flat Panel monitor. My sound card is a DIAMOND XtremeSound XS71DDL 7.1PCI Sound Card.
Running Kubuntu Linux on my AMD-64 3800+ feels about the same as running Windows XP on my Intel Core 2 Duo computer. Both computers respond instantly and can easily do several tasks a once smoothly. I don't get a draggy feeling on either computer.
Ok, I have still been trying to duplicate the problems that everyone has been talking about while running Kubuntu Linux on my single core AMD-64 3800+. I inserted a "World Music" CD and am listening to that right now under Amarok. At the same time I have been opening various applications and dragging the Windows around with absolutely no effect on how the music sounds. The mouse responds instantly and the cursor moves normally and the music still plays perfectly even when OpenOffice Writer is being opened or moved. It mouse and music are also unaffected by Gimp resizing and rotating photos or Firefox opening web pages. I have also tried cutting and pasting text between various applications with instant responsiveness at all times.
For comparison, I booted up Windows XP on my 1.83 GHz Core 2 duo computer and tried doing the same tasks on it. That is Windows XP running on a dual core computer with 2 GB of RAM. I could not tell any difference in performing any of those tasks on either computer, performance was smooth and instantaneous on either computer when doing multiple tasks at the same time. There was not even the slightest delay or lack of smoothness that I could detect on either computer when resizing, moving or cutting and pasting.
I finally decided to boot up in Gnome instead of KDE as a final attempt to duplicate the problems that other people have described. I have both the Ubuntu and Kubuntu desktop packages, so I can use either Gnome or KDE. Well anyway, Gnome performed those same tasks simultaneously just as well.
P.S., I forgot to mention that the computer is using the nvidia Linux video driver at 1600 x 1200 resolution on a 20.1 inch Dell 2007FP flatscreen monitor. I am using the VGA connector on the monitor instead of the other newer DVI (or whatever) type of connector so that I could hook it to my old KVM switch without using an adapter. I am also using different wallpaper for each of my 8 virtual disktops under KDE so that I can tell each one apart more easily.
The 1 GB of memory that I mentioned earlier consists of two sticks of Corsair 512 MB Dual-channel pc-3200 memory sticks mounted in the correct combination of slots for dual-channel use. I also use a fan-less water cooling system with a 2 foot tall finned aluminum external water tank for the AMD-64 CPU, that would not affect the performance, but it does make a quieter computer. This is a 1 1/2 year old computer with a single-core CPU and am posting the specifications so that you can see that it is not the latest and greatest computers out there.
When I first moved built this AMD-64 computer, I do I remember being pleasantly surprised by the instant responsiveness of the AMD-64. At the time, about 1 1/2 years or so ago, I had read an article that mentioned that the AMD-64 placed the memory controller directly on the CPU instead of in a separate chip on the motherboard and that was what gave it a faster more responsive feel.
The computer that I am using and mentioned in my post has a slightly older Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 motherboard that uses a socket 939 version of the AMD-64 and uses an AGP video card. I have the older ordinary type of PCI slots. Because I dislike noise, I chose a video card which only uses heat sinks and not a fan. The chipset in the AGP video card is the GeForce FX 5200 with 256MB of DDR memory on the video card. It is probably not a video card that a gamer would choose. The "lspci -v" command confirms those are my components and also says that I am using the nVidia nForce3 chipset on my motherboard. I have two ordinary 7200 RPM parallel ATA type hard drives (with no disk-mirroring) and do not have a serial-ATA hard drive hooked to the serial-ATA connector on the motherboard. I have several versions of Linux installed on this computer. I have both the AMD-64 and the i386 versions of Unbuntu/Kubuntu installed and also an older version of Slackware and even FreeDOS installed. I do not really see any hesitation that I can detect in any of those other than when a brief delay when first opening a program up. Every Windows computer I have ever used takes about the same amount of time to load a large program too.
I wonder if perhaps, this might now be the minimum hardware required to give that kind of responsive performance, or if the hardware has better drivers or something. Perhaps the chipset might even make a difference. I am not an expert on any of that.
I have used Linux, Windows 2000 and Windows XP at home for about 6 years now and haven't noticed much difference in the performance in how any of those perform. They all perform well. I do not recall ever encountering the small delays described in the article. At the moment, I am using a single core AMD 64 3800+ computer with 1 GB of RAM running the 386 version of Kubuntu Linux. If I also boot up my other computer, I can then use my KVM switch to switch my keyboard, monitor and mouse to looking at Windows XP running on a small book sized computer with a 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2 GB of RAM. Both computers perform very nicely.
While using Linux on the AMD-64, I moved a few Windows around just now and the response was smooth and instantaneous. I also moved from application to application just now highlighting and cutting and pasting stuff and the response was still instantaneous and smooth. I opened performance monitor on my Linux computer just now and see that my CPU is running at 3 - 5 % right now. I have several programs running at the same time and when I drag a window across the screen my CPU usage jumps to about 23 %. Looking elsewhere, I see that most of the time my 2.4 GHz CPU has remained throttled back to 1 GHz to save electricity during the light usage that it was experiencing. When I open the huge bloated OpenOffice Writer program the clock speed briefly jumps to 2.4 GHz for a moment and then drops back to 1 GHz. Memory usage is a 47% right now. I have rarely noticed any small delays when using Linux on this computer. If someone with a similar computer is getting sluggish performance perhaps the have some kind of driver problem or configuration problem. By the way, I am using the 386 version of Linux on my AMD-64 computer, because of the lack of a 64-bit version of the Flash player (yes, I know there are other, but less easy, ways to solve that problem).
Yes, perhaps the Linux kernel may theoretically may not be as optimized for desktop usage as he would like. Oh well, but that does not mean that the average desktop Linux user is noticing any slowness. I also use a Windows XP Laptop which was fast when it was new, but now, after booting up it takes about a minute or more before it is usable because various stuff is still loading in the background. It did not do that when it was new. I tried using a spyware scanning and removal program, but that did not solve the problem. Accumulating junk on start-up seems to a problem with Windows computers running commercial software. For some reason, Linux desktop computers do not experience that same problem over time.
Are some Linux users with similar hardware are experiencing delays? If so, then perhaps it is a driver problem or some other configuration problem. By the way, I am posting this before having finished reading the article, so I don't yet know for sure what all he had to say.
Below is the Slashdot article from May 6, 2007 about using Morse Code on cell phones that I mentioned. Perhaps CW would possibly just be sent using a button on the phone, while the cell phone is laying flat on a table. I think there may possibly be some way to send CW from a few Nokia phones, if I am not mistaken. Text messaging is almost useless for me when I am out hiking in bright sunlight and don't have my reading glasses with me, because I can't read the display. With Morse code, I probably could get by without needing to see the display or the labels on any keys. I already know Morse code and QWERTY typing and don't want to have to learn anything else anyway.
Morse Code Faster Than SMS
I would be interested in something like that too, since I already know Morse code. I learned that to use with ham radio, although I have not used it very much. I don't know about any specific drivers for any particular cell phone, but here are a couple of links that mention people using Morse Code with a cellphone. It seems to me that someone could probably send CW with something smaller than a traditional telegraph key. I believe there was also once a discussion on Slashdot about that too, but I don't have time to look for the link.
I am somewhat of a privacy fanatic which is probably a futile exercise in today's world. Here is what various on-line databases, shopping cards and cell phone tracking would probably show about my so called life:
Yes, you can see how much I have to hide, so I use an RFID blocking wallet? I keep my cell phone charging in a rarely used room, just in case some government official were to ever to secretly activate it as an eavesdropping device (I can still hear it ring from there). I keep all ports closed on the firewall in my router, use an ad blocking hosts file, use Linux and diligently install the latest security updates. I use a knob to turn off my ethernet connection when not using the Internet. I do not use my Windows computer for email or Internet browsing and do not even have it connected to the Internet most of the time (I use the Linux computer for that and a KVM switch to switch between the two computers). Perhaps, I should take the battery out of my cell phone when I do my daily walks so they can't track where I am. As a consumer, I will try to avoid buying any of the RFID tagged clothing and shoes that they are planning to sell to us in the near future (RFID tags for inventory control purposes). Even if I am not sure what I have to hide, when recently re-reading parts of George Orwell's "1984," I felt uncomfortable with how much more our world has become like what he describes in his book.
Typing on the keyboard of a desktop computer is much easier than with the keyboards on laptops. As a middle aged person who needs reading glasses, I need to use a 20 inch flat-screen monitor to be able to comfortably see 1600 x 1200 resolution. In recent years, using a 19 inch CRT monitor at any decent resolution became uncomfortable, so I moved up to a 20 inch flat screen monitor. Flat screen monitors are measured differently than CRTs my new monitor is actually 2 inches larger. It's great! Do they have laptops with 20 inch screens?
With a desktop computer, I know how to easily add or change hard drives, motherboards and other components, but have no idea how to do that with a laptop. I suppose I will also be one of the "diehard" desktop users. We don't use computers where I work, so it is not an issue for me there. However, I do realize that the article was mostly talking about using laptops at work.
If I did have a laptop with a large enough monitor, I would probably hook an external keyboard, external mouse and a large external hard drive to the USB port. I would then end up something that looks much like a desktop computer anyway.As I already mentioned, I have been using Linux for about 6 or 7 years. During that time I do not recall either Libranet or Gentoo being the most widely used distro. The source based Gentoo has always just filled a small market niche for those who want the option of compiling everything from source. Libranet is a Canadian based Debian derived distro who's development has now been discontinued. You didn't mention Fedora Core was extremely popular several years ago and which still has a strong following. It is a Red Hat derived distro which uses RPM packages instead of Debian packages.
When I first started using Linux back in about 2000, I stated with Red Hat. Ubuntu has been gaining popularity for several years now. In the several years before that, whenever I went hang out have have some beer and pizza with the local Linux users at a local Linux User Group(LUG) meeting, some people would say they used Fedora Core, some used SuSE, some used Debian, some used Mandrake or something else. Now at local LUG meetings about half of the club members say they use either Ubuntu or Kubuntu. To me, the Linux market seems much less segmented than it was several years ago.
That may apply even more so to the various Linux Software packages that are available. In most cases there are several similar projects that do almost the same thing being developed at the same time. For example in the case of Linux word processors, the choices include OpenOffice Writer, Abiword, and KWord and desktop publishing software such as Scribus and LyX. If any software project experiences problems the Linux users can move on to one of the other better choices. Either that, or with GPL licensed software the project can easily be forked by someone wanting to create a better or different version of the project. In that sense it is sort of like evolution and "survival of the fittest." Presumably open source is much more of a dynamic, flowing, evolving process with various alternatives than proprietary software created by a one company monopoly such as Microsoft.
It took Microsoft a couple of tries and about 5 years to come out with Vista, and even after all that, it is only moderately popular with Windows users. If that had been a Linux project, either the project would have been forked or some other distro would have moved ahead and left them behind. For example, when Debian took too long to come out with new releases, Ubuntu (which is derived from Debian) managed to come out with new versions every 6 months and gained popularity. In a sense, that could be compared to the greater productivity that free market economies had over centrally planned economies such as communism. In this case, I am comparing Linux to a free market economy and Windows to a centrally planned communist economy.
Over the last year or two Ubuntu has become by far the most popular distro for the average Linux user, especially for desktop use at home. The article dismisses Ubuntu as just "the flavor of the month." It's more than just that, the popularity of Ubuntu is unprecedented. For the first time ever we finally have a distro that is starting to become the dominate choice. Ubuntu is typically what new Linux users who don't already have a favorite distro choose. Red Hat and SuSE remain popular with businesses, perhaps because they can get paid technical support if necessary (I don't know much about that). But, for the average Linux user Ubuntu increasingly the winner. There is also a server version of Ubuntu, as well.
Ubuntu is a Debian derived distro. Of those Linux users who don't use Ubuntu, many of them use Debian or a Debian derived distro such as Kubuntu or Mepis. They all use the apt-get package manager and some variation of Debian packages for installing, upgrading or removing new software. There are also easy to use point-and-click GUI front ends for apt-get such as Synaptic or Adept. Since they are all Debian derived distros they probably aren't a lot different. Even Knoppix, which is the most popular live CD version of Linux, is a Debian derived distro.
Kubuntu, which I use, is just a variation of Ubuntu. Kubuntu is just a version of Ubuntu that uses the KDE desktop and it's preferred selection of software instead of Gnome. A Ubuntu user, could use the Synaptic Package Manager to easily download and install the kubuntu-desktop package as well. I started with Ubuntu, then added Kubuntu and then made KDE my default choice when booting up. I ended up with both selections of software in the menu plus those programs I later added as well.
The article also mentions "Linux from scratch." That would appeal to the same kind of person who would like to build their own house themselves or assemble their own ham radio or car from a kit, just so they know how it all goes together. It's not for the average Linux user. Linux is becoming less of a fragmented market than it was several years ago. There are also various specialized distros for special purposes such as KnoppMyth which, for example, is for building your own Linux based personal video recorder. As for myself, I have used Linux at home for about 6 or 7 years. I started with Red Hat, then Slackware and am now using Kubuntu. Various other distros are good too, if someone is more familiar with one of them.
Earlier today, I just happened to be looking at the Jitterbug cell phone in the firstStreet catalogue. I don't know much about the Jitterbug, but I have occasionally thought about getting a simpler cell phone for myself. I only use the most basic features on a cell phone. I don't do text messaging because I don't have any friends or relatives who use that feature and have no one to text with. I don't take pictures with my cell phone when I am hiking because, I generally don't take my reading glasses with me when doing my daily hike for exercise, so I can't read what is on the display well enough to perform that task. I don't look up phone numbers on my cell phone, because I have already memorized the phone numbers of the few people that I do call. I only make about one outgoing call a month on my cell phone which is barely often enough to remember how to use the most basic features. However, I do receive about one call a week and have no trouble remembering how to answer the phone.
My cell phone apparently has a built in answering machine, but I have never known the pin number or whatever is needed to access the phone messages, so I have never checked my phone messages. I mostly keep the cell phone with me in case I break a leg while hiking or get bitten by a rattle snake, or in case my truck breaks down or in case I need to call 911. I have yet to actually use it for that purpose.
I am not totally incompetent with electronic equipment though, because over the years I have built several of my own computers and installed Linux on each of them. I have also installed and secured both the wired and wireless portions of my home network. I have a General class ham radio license and know Morse code. Someday I will tackle the more difficult challenge of learning to properly use a cell phone. Either that or perhaps I might possible just get the Jitterbug or something like that.
firstStreet has the Jitterbug
I downloaded and tried out Eraser on my Windows XP computer just now. When working with a file in Windows Explorer, I could right click on a file and "erase" is now listed as an option. That was a nice and easy way to securely delete a file.
I have both a Kubuntu Linux computer and a Windows XP computer. My main computer is the Linux computer. I only use the Windows computer for practice so that I continue having some computer skills beyond just using Linux. I use the Linux computer exclusively for my email, web browsing and most other tasks. I have a KVM switch which allows me to use one keyboard, mouse and monitor to control either computer. I can switch back and forth between either computer in about a second or so. The Linux computer is a regular sized computer and the Windows XP computer is a small book sized AOpen mini computer that only uses 23 Watts of power when idle. When running both, I can quickly switch back and forth between either computer quickly and easily and I only end up using an extra 23 Watts of power. I only connect the Windows computer to the Internet, every now and then for security updates and virus signature updates. I actually only use the Windows computer about once a month anyway.
My point is that if I had both a Vista computer and a Linux computer on the KVM switch, I would be more inclined than ever to continue doing activities such as email and web browsing exclusively on the Linux box. If I used the Vista computer at all, it would probably be for legally watching DRM restricted downloads or for using some kind of job related Windows only software such as AutoCAD or accounting software. It's not that I actually think that anything I do is illegal or inappropriate, but I still prefer to not give up more of my privacy to "big brother" or have someone send guessing why I was looking at certain web pages.
Of course, computer forensic work on a Linux, Mac, Windows XP or Windows 2000 computer would presumably also still come up with plenty of information too.
I used a Kill-A-Watt meter to measure power usage on my two computers. My main computer is a less than 2 year old single-core AMD-64 3800+ with 1 GB RAM, two hard drives, an 83% efficient power supply, a fanless water cooled CPU, a 20 inch flat panel monitor and runs Kubuntu Linux. The monitor uses 40 Watts and the rest of the computer uses about 94 Watts most of the time. In the sleep mode the monitor only uses about 1 Watt. Under heavy use the CPU power usage is much more. I don't like noise, so I chose a graphics card that did not require a fan and which probably does not use very much power.
I also have a second computer hooked to the same keyboard, monitor and mouse through a KVM switch. It is an AOpen Mini PC with an Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz CPU and 2 MB of RAM and Windows XP Professional. It uses 23 Watts most of the time, but uses more under heavy usage. The 20 inch flat panel monitor uses an additional 40 Watts or just 1 Watt in the sleep mode. Occasionally, I run both computers at the same time and with just one monitor, keyboard and mouse can switch back and forth between computers in about a second or so. Even when I occasionally run both computers at once, I am not using an unreasonable amount of power.
I am not a gamer and for what I do both computers meet my needs very nicely. The AMD-64 running Kubuntu computer is my main computer. I haven't measured the power usage during all the different sleep modes so my information is somewhat incomplete. With the monitor in the 1 Watt sleep mode, I can leave the computer on most of the day without feeling like I am wasting an unreasonable amount of power. To me, 500 Watts sounds way too wasteful.
Kill-A-Watt meterIf they do feel that they need access to the Internet and are so concerned about porn perhaps they should use a web content filter such as DansGuardian. In addition to doing that, perhaps blocking some advertising related URLs with Mike's Ad Blocking Hosts file might also be helpful. Of course using a software or hardware based firewall and up to date anti-virus software, anti-spyware software, and the latest security patches would also be good. I am not a computer professional or network administrator but those seem like reasonable precautions to me for a school network.
DansGuardianMike's Ad Blocking Hosts file
That trend makes me uncomfortable with the recent directive that Bush issued on May 9 signed that grants near dictatorial powers to the office of the president in the event of a national emergency declared by the president. I am surprised that directive has not yet received much discussion in the press or by Congress.
National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive NSPD-51 and HSPD-20
Posting yet again to my own post. I forgot to ask the question of whether or not such an electromagnetic pulse weapon would require the use a nuclear weapon. I am not an expert on the subject.
Sorry about having to reply to my own post, but here goes. One overlooked type of possible attack is the vulnerability of modern electronic devices to a strong electromagnetic pulse (EMP). I have heard of claims of tests where a small crude electromagnetic bomb was set off and for hundreds of yards around, cars would not start and various other electromagnetic devices were ruined. The trouble is that computer chips are very delicate and easily damaged and such chips are in our cars and various electronic devices. I have heard several claims that a more powerful, more advanced EMP bomb could destroy electronic devices for hundreds of miles. Is that really true? Have we done anything at all to prepare major cities for such an attack? What effect would such an attack have on a heavily populated areas such as Southern California? Would such an attack on major cities be feasible and worthwhile for terrorists?
Perhaps each citizen should each have a rugged old fashioned vacuum tube radio stored unplugged and not connected to an antenna, at least we could still get news then. Either that or have each of us store a more modern radio and perhaps a few other inexpensive electronic devices inside a Faraday cage. Perhaps police departments, fire departments and ambulances should keep a few extra two way radios stored inside a Faraday cage ready to be used after such an attack.Hopefully, an occasional ham radio operator will do the same with one of their older radios and will still have some working type of emergency power too. Of course, that is assuming that such is scenario is really a valid threat.
Perhaps we should also have a few weeks food on hand for emergencies too. A few few inexpensive large cans of dried rice and beans and similar items, stored in a cool place, would probably not cost all that much. If our government were to discover that our food supply had been poisoned by terrorists, we could all switch to using our emergency supplies of several weeks until authorities announced that that food supply was safe once again. I have head that Mormons all keep several months of emergency food stored away, although I am not a Mormon myself. Emergency food supplies could be useful in a few other scenarios too. During a global bird flue pandemic some of us might just want to lock our doors and stay home and avoid contact with other people for a few weeks or months. Perhaps keeping some extra soap on hand for washing our hands thoroughly might help too. I suppose a gun, for self defence, might help too, since nearly everyone else out there already has one.
Perhaps we should all be using the type of envelopes that we do not need to lick to seal. On some envelops you just remove the strip of tape and seal them. At least we don't need to lick our stamps any more. Hopefully, none of these scenarios will never really happen within my lifetime.
Have all of the passengers remove all their clothes and put on a disposable paper gown before boarding. That would make it much harder for them to hide a weapon, unless they used rectal explosives or were already infected with a deadly virsus or something. Don't allow them to bring any carry on any luggage aboard either, for the same reason. Then, handcuff all the passengers before boarding and keep them handcuffed until they unload. Have the stewardess lock each passenger into their seat as they load. They could be unlocked one at a time during the flight just long enough to go to the bathroom. To further control everyone, attach a radio controlled punishment collar to each passengers neck. Any troublesome passenger could then be punished or knocked be either an electric shock or anesthetic at the push of a button. An early Star Trek episode had Jim Kirk, Spock and McCoy being forced to wear such a device while visiting a colony ship.
To make sure that there are not any bombs hidden in the luggage, have all of the luggage sent on a different airplane by UPS, DHL or FedEx instead.
Of course once air travel became secure they would have to look a where else we are still vulnerable to terrorists. The recent news about poisonous animal feed contaminated with melamine from China suggests that our food supply is not secure. How about securing our borders too, who knows who might be crossing into our country from the Mexican border. I have also wondered if we can detect a nuclear device hidden in containerized cargo on a containerized cargo ship, before it enters a harbour? Probably not! What about a gunman in a school or a shopping mall? What if the envelopes we all lick before closing had been poisoned with poisonous glue? Then problem is not just how to protect ourselves against what the terrorists did yesterday, but against what they will do next.
I prefer reading printed books but don't have room for very many on my bookshelf , so to save space, ebooks are a good alternative. I have sometimes had to throw out old books to make room for new ones. Of course, I always felt guilty doing that, but I did not know what else to do with them. Instead of doing that, I could easily fit an entire library of many thousands of books on one small hard drive. There are may older books, in which the copyrights have expired, as well as some occasional newer books which for various reasons are available in ebook form for free.
Here a few sources of free ebooks:I do buy occasional newer printed books too, which are not available for free, so I am still doing my share of helping to support the publishing industry.