There are several RFID blocking wallets already on the market. Will students be allowed to block the signal if they don't want to be tracked? This reminds me of those some of those PBS nature shows where a wildlife biologist has tagged a animal with a radio collar and is tracking its movements by radio. It also reminds me of the book "1984."
I am add something else to my own post (as if anyone really cares anyway). I just wanted to add that there are also free HTML versions of all three of those books available from ArthursClassicNovels.com.
I have never read The Jungle or the Heart of Darkness either, although I did read Brave new world. Would they be would be worthwhile for me to read sometime to fill in a few gaps in my education? I see that both books are available as free downloads from Gutenberg.org.
I went to school back in the 1960's in California. I was not very interested in history at the time and did not study very much. It wasn't until I was an adult that I become more interested in history and wanted to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of history. Some of the programs on PBS and the history channel have been a start for me. I don't remember exactly how well history was taught when I was in school. If we skip or gloss over everything that is controversial or which might offend someone's religious, political or economic beliefs, then we would loose many of the most important lessons of history. Would history still be of any value then? In a democracy, we need well educated voters not a bunch of ignoramuses.
Since we are talking about teachers and history, here is something I remember from when I was in grade school in about the 4th or 5th grade. I remember being lined getting ready up for our morning flag salute and pledge of allegiance. It must of been when Martin Luther King had just been killed (I am not sure if the flag was at half-mast or not). As we stood there, I remember our teacher just telling us that Martin Luther King was just a criminal who had been arrested. Another teacher standing nearby quickly became angry and got in an argument with her and said "is that what you teach your students?" At the time I didn't hardly know what they were talking about.
Yes, I seem to recall reading somewhere that the GPL is a license and that it is not a contract pretending to be a license, however, my knowledge about law is rather limited. I suppose the reason they sometimes display the GPL license during installation is to make companies who are planning to use it in one of their products aware of the requirements of the license. Fortunately, all the average user really needs to know is that they have "the freedom to run the program for any purpose, any way they like."
Whenever I skip past most portions of a EULA, I always fell like I might have just overlooked a terrible hidden clause such as selling my soul to the devil or something. I don't get that same feeling when I am reading the GPL license that comes with most free open-source programs. It is much simpler and more friendly sounding and comes from people that I trust. I use mostly free GPL licensed software on both my Linux computer and my Windows computer and only use a few commercial software packages.
I have been using McAfee since 1989, but have about had it with them. For a while, I had total confusion partially due to the fact that, in the past, at various times, I had registered two separate copies of McAfee from my one email address. They were for two separate Windows computers. Eventually, I started receiving various emails messages about needing to renew my McAfee subscription, but did not know which computer they were referring to.
I decided to simplify the situation by switching by using only free versions of security products. The oldest of my two computers was no longer working which eliminated one copy of McAfee. On my other Windows computer I switched to the free Zone Alarm firewall and the free ClamWin anti-virus scanner. The free version of the AVG anti-virus scanner would have been another possible alternative. I don't know how well the free ClamWin anti-virus scanner compares, but it probably does not matter since I don't use my Windows computer to receive email or to do much web browsing. I have been doing all of that on my Linux computer instead for the last few years so it is what is exposed to most of the security threats, not the Windows computer. Of course the Linux computer does not need anti-virus software and both computers sit behind a router in which the firewall has all ports closed from the direction of the outside world. The charge card I used to pay for the McAfee subscriptions had been stolen and replaced with one using a different account number since then, so I did not need to worry about them auto-renewing my subscription.
Unfortunately, that was not the end of the confusion. An elderly relative who lives next door uses the McAfee firewall and anti-virus scanner on her computer. Over the last couple of years she has renewed twice but until recently, still kept getting frequent pop-up messages saying that her subscription had expired. I think that last email message I sent to McAfee finally did result in that being solved, because she is no longer getting those pop-ups and emails. Fortunately, it did at least keep on downloading virus signatures and scanning for viruses. At one point, in frustration, about a year ago, I had not bothered renewing the firewall subscription, and was surprised to discover that, perhaps as a result, the firewall had been turned off for several weeks on her dial-up account. Needless to say, we will eventually be switching to something else on her computer too. Perhaps it will be something free or perhaps I will try purchasing Kaspersky or something like that instead (if they are any better).
On my Kubuntu Linux computer I get to avoid all this commercial software subscriptions and anti-virus scanning B.S. Only with the Windows computers do I have to deal with that kind of B.S.
I use Mike's Ad blocking hosts file, although I haven't checked to see if Aquantive is on the list of blocked URLs. I use it on both my Windows computer and my Linux computer. It can also be used with Mac OSX. Whenever Mike's website comes out with an updated version of his Ad Blocking Hosts file I update my computer's hosts file. However, it wouldn't surprise me if Microsoft eventually tries to create some kind of problems for users who dare to try to block any of Aquantive's URLs either through a hosts file or through the firewall in their router. Either that or perhaps Microsoft will just start ignoring parts of the hosts file.
Up until last fall, all I could get was 26.4K dial-up, I couldn't get DSL or cable. That would not have been too surprising if I was living in a rural area or in a third world country, but I live on the edge of a small city in Northern Arizona. I could look out my window and, within a few miles, see a shopping mall, a hospital, a junior college, a private university, a hotel, two golf courses, an Indian casino, a small airport with several runways and several expensive new housing developments. Despite that I could not get anything other than 26.4K dial-up. Not even 56K dial-up was available.
Last year the telephone company finally added a new switch nearby and dug a several mile long ditch dug for a new conduit with whatever was in it. Finally, after many months of additional waiting, DSL finally became available where I live. At my location the speed is 1.5Mbps down/ 896Kpbs up. It more than meets all my needs an something less than that would have probably been adequate for me. It is a huge improvement over 26.4K dial-up.
The biggest concern should be what to do about the people who can't get anything other than dial-up.
My 1.5Mbps down/896Kbps up DSL connection doesn't qualify as broadband either by their definition. I live in Northern Arizona and until recently all I could get in my neighborhood was 26.4K dial-up. DSL finally became available here and my new 1.5Mbps DSL connection more than meets my needs. I downloaded a 697MB Kubuntu Linux ISO the other day which probably took and hour or two but I did not have to sit and watch it download. I was browsing on the internet at the same time and the web pages were still loading quickly while it was downloading the huge ISO file. Besides, it's not like I download something like that every day.
1.5Mbps/896Kpbs is plenty for me. What are these people doing that they more than that? If someone has a motel, hotel or RV park with a WiFi hotspot, they might need more speed. Other than hotspot owners or business my main concern would be for the people out there who still don't have any other choice than dial-up. For some of dial-up users 56K dial-up speeds have not yet arrived.
I misplace my cellphone at least once a month and always find it by using my landline to call my cell phone. Last month I heard it ringing from inside a dirty sock in one of my hiking boots. Before that I had heard it ringing from inside of dirty clothes in my dirty clothes hamper. Once, I even heard it ringing from inside the freezer mixed in with a bag of frozen food that I had just brought back from the grocery store. On several occasions I have found it under or behind the seat of my truck. How do people without land lines find their cell phones? Do they walk over to a neighbor's house and ask them to call their number?
I had a party line for several years back in the mid-1970s, in Northern Arizona. Occasionally I would pick up the phone to make a call and find that the line was already in use, so I would quickly hang up and try again a few minutes later. I shared that phone line with several of my neighbors. I usually tried to not tie up the line for too long and avoided talking about too many personal details on the phone. When I was talking I would sometimes hear someone pick up their phone and quickly hang up. I don't know of anyone else who was still using a party line in the 1970s.
I frequently get cellular calls at work where I hear about every other word and then we loose the connection. Sometimes, they then keep calling me back over. When they finally do get through and stay connected, missing syllables or words still sometimes alter the meaning of what they say. The customer might say he is Mr. Dalmer who needs something 22 feet long on the 23rd. I end up hearing him say he is Mr. Dam and that he needs something 2 feet long on the 3rd.
I am probably old-fashioned but I prefer to use a regular phone with a cord as much as possible. The only reason that I even own a cell phone is so that I can call for help if I break my leg while hiking or if my truck breaks down while out in the middle of no where. I only make a few calls per month with my cell phone. My one concession to progress in telephone technology is that I am gladly using the DSL recently became available where I live. I don't have cable where I live and the 1.5 Mbps DSL connection from the telephone company was a major improvement over dial-up.
Yes, customers could purchase and install the Codeweavers Crossover Linux version of Wine for $39.95. I have used it for about 5 years now under various versions of Linux including Ubuntu. It was originally called CrossOver Office, but was recently renamed Crossover Linux. At different times I have used it to run either Microsoft Office 97 or Office 2000 and a couple of other Windows programs. However, despite having Microsoft Office insalled, I have a various times, mostly used the free Linux versions of Open Office, Koffice, Abiword and Gnumeric instead.
I haven't yet tried it on Ubuntu or Kubuntu 7.04 yet, but presumably it would be easy to install and use. Of course not all Windows software will run under Wine (or Crossover Linux) so perhaps it would be best for Dell to not to include it with their computers. Otherwise, perhaps they would get too many technical support calls from new Linux users trying to run their favorite, but not compatible, Windows programs. Of course customers could still install that on their own, but hopefully, having selected and installed it themselves, they will know enough to realize the limitations to the selection of Windows programs that Wine (or Crossover Linux) can and can't run.
For the majority of their software they should go ahead and make the switch to using Linux substitutes for their favorite programs. Fortunately with Ubuntu, there is an amazing alternate universe of hundreds of free software programs written for Linux, just waiting to be downloaded and installed, using the Synaptic package manager.
Until recently 26.4 K dial-up was all that was available where I live. Neither broadband cable or DSL was available and even 56K dial-up was not available (just 26.4K). Then a few months ago DSL finally became available and I now can download at 1.5 MBs and upload at about 800 K. The 26.4K was such a pain when I was taking several college classes that had lots of graphics intensive online study material. Security updates for Windows and Linux sometimes took hours to download.
I live in a small city in Arizona, but am not in a rural area. Most people in my Zip code did have cable and in some also had DSL available, but not where I live.
I get a slightly different message when using Firefox under Linux than what that I get when using Firefox under Windows 2000. I first went there while using Linux and it mentioned the part about "not supporting Mac or Linux." Here is the Firefox under Linux version of the message:
Sorry, but as of May 2, 2005, Movielink no longer supports Windows 98 and ME operating systems.
Movielink also does not support Mac or Linux.
In order to enjoy the Movielink service, you must use Windows 2000 or XP,
which support certain technologies we utilize for downloading movies.
I then went back to the website while using Firefox under Windows 2000 and got this message instead:
Sorry, but in order to enjoy the Movielink service you must use Internet Explorer 5.0 (or higher) or Mozilla/Firefox with an
IE Tab Extension (IE installation required).
I also got the same above message when using Opera under Windows XP. I also noticed that someone else mentioned that users outside of the USA get yet another message. When using Konqueror under Linux I get yet another message which is this:
Sorry, but in order to enjoy the Movielink service your browser scripting AND cookies must be enabled.
I unplugged the telephone line on my DSL router just now, for a few minutes, and was then dynamically assigned a new IP address just now. That happens to all DSL users a lot during summer thunderstorms, due to the power briefly going off every few days or so. I suppose that would probably also happen to broadband cable users too, but I don't know for sure.
I also use several different computers. I have both a desktop computer and a laptop computer at home and another computer at work. I also sometimes take occasional part-time College computer courses and have a computer on my desk there too. So I will sometimes use up to four different computers in one day and each will have different cookies and some of the computers have different IP address too. Not only that, but I also have more than one browser on most of those computers and don't always use the same browser every day. Advertisers must be counting me at least several times.
When using a free WiFi hotspot from a laptop, a always clear my cookies out first, because I realize that data is sent unencrypted over the air and can be picked up by anyone running packet sniffing software. I am not sure how useful that information would be to them, but they could probably use that to go to the same website and it would assume it was me returning. Because of that, I clear out the cookies more frequently on the laptop computer.
Re:10 minutes, 1 minute... no big deal
on
WEP Broken Even Worse
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· Score: 2, Interesting
For my computers at home, I used the "Perfect Password Generator" that is on the grc.com web page to generate the longest most random possible WPA password. Each time I visit that web page a different a password is generated. I then placed the password on a USB key and transfered the password to both of my computers and the wireless router. I then cut and pasted the password instead of trying to type the huge password. For the extra paranoid, slicing and dicing and mixing up the long password that is generated could also done as an extra precaution, although the password did come from a secure website at a security oriented web page.
I have always found knobs to be much easier and less distracting to use. When I was younger, most products only had knobs and switches. I learned to drive in a 1965 Volvo which had ergonomically located knobs and levers which were designed to easily be located and adjusted without the driver taking his eyes off the road. I soon knew where everything was without looking. I when driving in rain or snow, I never needed to take their eyes off the road, or think much, just to turn on and adjust the defroster, heater, or adjust the volume on the radio. Simple feel, the range of travel and the sounds of clicks and such gave me plenty of feedback. Unfortunately, my early 1990's 4WD pickup and most other newer vehicles are not designed that way. Doing a simple task such as turning on the defroster and adjusting it properly is a several step process. Even though I have been driving the truck form many years, I still can not do simple tasks like that without looking. The step of adjusting the temperature requires me to, take my eyes off the road, find the correct button among many others, and then watch the progress on a scroll bar for two or three seconds while holding the button. That means several seconds of having my eyes and attention off of the road while driving in rain or on ice as the windshield is starting to fog up. Most modern cars that I have driven also seem to require the driver to take his or her eyes of the road, at least briefly, while making ordinary adjustments.
I would also prefer to have at least several knobs when using any kind of radio while driving. I have an old early 1990's 2-meter/440 radio, in my truck, which I occasionally use to talk to the local hams through mountaintop repeaters. Unfortunately, mine does not have any knobs. I would prefer to have simple knobs for at least a few main features such as volume, squelch, frequency.
One other perhaps unrelated complaint that I have about modern cars is that rear view mirrors are usually lower in newer cars. I am just tall enough that, on most new cars, the rear view mirror blocks a small portion of my forward view. I frequently need to stretch and look over the top of the mirror or bend over and look under the mirror just to see pedestrians on the right-hand side of the road. I was driving though a construction zone one time and noticed a white helmet just barely visible over the top of the rear view mirror and some boots just barely visible under the mirror. I bent over to look under the mirror and then noticed a construction worker holding a stop sign about 20 feet ahead of me. That is a problem even on most new full size cars for me. On older cars and trucks that was never a problem, even on smaller cars.
I use Mike's add blocking hosts files on my three computers that blocks advertising related communication with DoubleClick and other similar advertising related URL's. The modified hosts file takes the attempts to communicate with them and diverts them to the 127.0.0.1 loop back address on my computers. I use one of their modified hosts files on all three of my computers. One of the computers is a Windows 2000, another runs Windows XP and the third runs Ubuntu Linux. The modified hosts file trick works on all three computers and I update the modified hosts file regularly.
Before doing that, I used to go directly to the DoubleClick webpage and choose the opt-out option from the DoubleClick website. That would let them know that I did not wish to be tracked by them and a special cookie would be downloaded that would stop them from tracking me on-line.
I have not actually seen what is on their CD, but there are some examples of free programs, most of which, have already been mentioned, that are available for both Windows and Linux.
High-speed Internet access finally became available where I live a few months ago when the telephone company finally began offering DSL in my neighborhood. Up until then I had been using dial-up at 26.4 K, because the local telephone lines where only good for 26.4 K connections. For years, I had been seeing the QWest commercials on TV avertising DSL, but it was never actually available in my neighborhood. They finally installed some new conduit and telephone lines (or whatever) in a several mile long ditch that they dug and also installed a new switch nearby. About 6 months after that, DSL became available for about $26 per month for a 1.5 Mbs connection. A 7 Mbps DSL connection, which is also available, would have cost extra. I am also able to receive telephone calls at the same time that I am on the Internet now.
They told me that using Linux was not supported with their DSL connections, but my home network of one Ubuntu Linux computer and one Windows XP Laptop had not trouble connecting to the DSL router/modem that they sent me. My Linux computer also did not have any trouble accessing the configuration utility for the DSL router from within the Firefox browser. I think what they actually meant was that the MSN premium software would not work, the automatic installation CD would also not work and that their technical support people were not familiar with using Linux. Their DSL router/modem, itself, did not actually care what type of computer was connecting to it as long as it could handle standard protocols such as DHCP and TCP/IP.
I live in a smaller city in Northern Arizona and broadband cable Internet access was also available in most parts of town (but not where I live). I am not in a rural area. I was also slightly out of range to receive the 256 K to 1 Mbps wireless connections that are offered by a local Internet provider. Relatively high-speed Internet access from a satellite dish was available from Starband and other companies, but that was more expensive than what I would have wanted to pay. I am happy to now finally have a high-speed conneciton.
The assumption is that wireless access points are permanently located in one location, but once in a while that is not true. One example would be a couple who has both a summer cabin and a winter home. They might own just one wireless access point or wireless router and take it to their other home for the other potion of the year. Another example would be a retired couple who has a home in a colder part of the country and who, every winter, take their large motor home or travel trailer to Arizona or Florida for the winter. They might also take their wireless router and their laptop computer with them for the winter. Because of these moving wireless routers, the database of wireless locations will, presumably, occasionally be wrong.
There are also cases where a wireless router might make a one time move to a new location. For instance a home owner or business might move to a new location. Another example would be a small business owner who would initially configure and try out their wireless router at home and then after they have everything working perfectly take it to work and set it up permanently there. How quickly will the database of wireless access points be updated with the new location?
Of course, no such system is perfect. For example, I just put my address into mapquest.com and even after all these years, their map still is wrong about where I live. About seven years ago, I sent them the GPS coordinates for my address and described the nearest cross streets and they thanked me for the information and never changed a thing.
I have heard over-the-air high definition Television (HDTV) is not yet available where I live. Will they be turning off analog TV reception before bringing HDTV to where I live. I was told that it was not available here by several electronic salesmen at a couple of the local department stores. About a year earlier, I had entered my address into a web page about HDTV reception and it said that HDTV reception was not available where I live. I don't actually have an HDTV, I don't know for sure if that is correct. I live in a small city in the mountains of Northern Arizona. Are there some other smaller towns that have analog TV but don't yet have HDTV antenna reception? Am I wrong about the situation in my town?
I don't have cable where I live either, so perhaps I will need to either get a satellite dish or stop watching TV. At least, I could still rent or purchase DVDs of my favorite shows. However, television has never been very important to me, so I am not too concerned. I am perfectly happy with my 13 inch television set and the rabbit ears reception even though I could easily afford a larger TV and a small satellite dish. Up until the early 1980s, I had a black and white TV with 10 inch screen and was perfectly happy with that too.
At least high speed DSL Internet access finally became available here a few months ago and I am no longer using dial-up. Now I will soon need to figure out what to do to keep receiving some kind of television. I don't really care if it is high definition or not or how many channels there are, I just want to still be able to receive something.
Ooops, in the post I was responding to I misread the word "conservation" as "conservatism." Unfortunately, I am at the age where I need reading glasses. I would like to add, that even though I am a economic conservative and a Republican, I am still concerned about environmental issues such as global warming, top soil erosion on farm land and the breeding of antibiotic resistant bacteria by the unnecessary overuse of antibiotics in cattle.
On thinking further, I am not sure if I should not have included Alex Jones as an example of a type of conservative, since (if I am not mistaken) I don't believe he is either a Republican or a Democrat. Perhaps he defies classification in that manner.
I once read a non-fiction article by someone in a science fiction magazine, a decade or two ago, that claimed the the labels "liberal" and "conservative" were too limiting. He complained that those labels only offered two alternatives on one axis. He suggested that, ideally,the labels should offer alternatives on at least two or more axis. Personally, I have always disliked attempts to oversimplify a person's varied collection of beliefs by suggesting that they have to be either liberal or conservative.
One of your questions was "Why do conservatives disregard conservation?" There is actually more than one type of conservative. I don't know how British conservatives compare to American conservatives. But, someone can be an economic conservative without necessarily being an social conservative. In the U.S., the religious right could be classified as a type of social conservative. Among other things the religious right voters are strongly against abortion, stem cell research, gay marriages and they seem to be the strongest supporters of the war in Iraq. The few religious right Republicans that I know still seem to strongly support George W. Bush and seem oblivious to the other criticisms against his various other policies.
I am also a Republican, but personally I am a economic conservative, but not a social conservative. The best example of an economic conservative would probably be Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater who unsuccessfully ran for president in 1964. That was mostly before my time, but if I understand correctly, some of his views seem to be exactly the opposite of the current Bush administration. I once read a small portion of his, well written, early-1960s book, "The Conscience of A Conservative." Among other things, he believed in reduced government size, decentralized government and strong states rights, limited functions of the government, and strong respect for the Constitution and the limits that it provides. He also did not seem to be as much influenced by big business interests as the current Bush administration. During his last term, before retiring as a senator, I remember that he voted against a defense project that was being manufactured in in his home state of Arizona because he felt it was too expensive.
There is also a third type of conservative in the U.S., but I am not sure what they are called. Radio host and political conspiracy theorist Alex Jones the best known example of them. Alex and many others believe that there is a huge secret global conspiracy, controlled by various wealthy families, to expert political control and enact polices which are contrary to what the public would want. They seem to believe that the global elite controls much of the press and can even influence what candidates are presented to us as choices. They claim that in 2004, voters in the U.S. had a choice between two Skull and Bones Society members, Democrat John Kerry and Republican George W. Bush. Supposedly, both had been members of that secret society when they were at Yale. If I understand correctly, many of his listeners believe that 911 was allowed to happen so that the government would have the excuse that it needed to expand government power, reduce civil liberties, and to override privacy concerns to allow the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations. I don't know how to prove or disprove if what they say is true or not (I hope not), but there are increasing numbers of people in the U.S. and Canada who believe that.
So simply saying that someone is liberal or conservative is not enough. Which type of liberal or conservative are they? Many of these several types of conservatives favor totally opposite polices. I am mostly a economic conservative/social moderate who uses Linux myself.
By the way, several of the most strongly pro-Microsoft people that I have met were very religious. I don't know if that is typical or not, but perhaps psychologically they prefer the safety of going with the most typical, safe, traditional, mainstream choices in both religion and operating systems. For example, I have a highly religious younger brother who works with computers
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There are several RFID blocking wallets already on the market. Will students be allowed to block the signal if they don't want to be tracked? This reminds me of those some of those PBS nature shows where a wildlife biologist has tagged a animal with a radio collar and is tracking its movements by radio. It also reminds me of the book "1984."
I have never read The Jungle or the Heart of Darkness either, although I did read Brave new world. Would they be would be worthwhile for me to read sometime to fill in a few gaps in my education? I see that both books are available as free downloads from Gutenberg.org.
I went to school back in the 1960's in California. I was not very interested in history at the time and did not study very much. It wasn't until I was an adult that I become more interested in history and wanted to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of history. Some of the programs on PBS and the history channel have been a start for me. I don't remember exactly how well history was taught when I was in school. If we skip or gloss over everything that is controversial or which might offend someone's religious, political or economic beliefs, then we would loose many of the most important lessons of history. Would history still be of any value then? In a democracy, we need well educated voters not a bunch of ignoramuses.
Since we are talking about teachers and history, here is something I remember from when I was in grade school in about the 4th or 5th grade. I remember being lined getting ready up for our morning flag salute and pledge of allegiance. It must of been when Martin Luther King had just been killed (I am not sure if the flag was at half-mast or not). As we stood there, I remember our teacher just telling us that Martin Luther King was just a criminal who had been arrested. Another teacher standing nearby quickly became angry and got in an argument with her and said "is that what you teach your students?" At the time I didn't hardly know what they were talking about.
Yes, I seem to recall reading somewhere that the GPL is a license and that it is not a contract pretending to be a license, however, my knowledge about law is rather limited. I suppose the reason they sometimes display the GPL license during installation is to make companies who are planning to use it in one of their products aware of the requirements of the license. Fortunately, all the average user really needs to know is that they have "the freedom to run the program for any purpose, any way they like."
The GPL and "freedom zero"
Whenever I skip past most portions of a EULA, I always fell like I might have just overlooked a terrible hidden clause such as selling my soul to the devil or something. I don't get that same feeling when I am reading the GPL license that comes with most free open-source programs. It is much simpler and more friendly sounding and comes from people that I trust. I use mostly free GPL licensed software on both my Linux computer and my Windows computer and only use a few commercial software packages.
I have been using McAfee since 1989, but have about had it with them. For a while, I had total confusion partially due to the fact that, in the past, at various times, I had registered two separate copies of McAfee from my one email address. They were for two separate Windows computers. Eventually, I started receiving various emails messages about needing to renew my McAfee subscription, but did not know which computer they were referring to.
I decided to simplify the situation by switching by using only free versions of security products. The oldest of my two computers was no longer working which eliminated one copy of McAfee. On my other Windows computer I switched to the free Zone Alarm firewall and the free ClamWin anti-virus scanner. The free version of the AVG anti-virus scanner would have been another possible alternative. I don't know how well the free ClamWin anti-virus scanner compares, but it probably does not matter since I don't use my Windows computer to receive email or to do much web browsing. I have been doing all of that on my Linux computer instead for the last few years so it is what is exposed to most of the security threats, not the Windows computer. Of course the Linux computer does not need anti-virus software and both computers sit behind a router in which the firewall has all ports closed from the direction of the outside world. The charge card I used to pay for the McAfee subscriptions had been stolen and replaced with one using a different account number since then, so I did not need to worry about them auto-renewing my subscription.
Unfortunately, that was not the end of the confusion. An elderly relative who lives next door uses the McAfee firewall and anti-virus scanner on her computer. Over the last couple of years she has renewed twice but until recently, still kept getting frequent pop-up messages saying that her subscription had expired. I think that last email message I sent to McAfee finally did result in that being solved, because she is no longer getting those pop-ups and emails. Fortunately, it did at least keep on downloading virus signatures and scanning for viruses. At one point, in frustration, about a year ago, I had not bothered renewing the firewall subscription, and was surprised to discover that, perhaps as a result, the firewall had been turned off for several weeks on her dial-up account. Needless to say, we will eventually be switching to something else on her computer too. Perhaps it will be something free or perhaps I will try purchasing Kaspersky or something like that instead (if they are any better).
On my Kubuntu Linux computer I get to avoid all this commercial software subscriptions and anti-virus scanning B.S. Only with the Windows computers do I have to deal with that kind of B.S.
I use Mike's Ad blocking hosts file, although I haven't checked to see if Aquantive is on the list of blocked URLs. I use it on both my Windows computer and my Linux computer. It can also be used with Mac OSX. Whenever Mike's website comes out with an updated version of his Ad Blocking Hosts file I update my computer's hosts file. However, it wouldn't surprise me if Microsoft eventually tries to create some kind of problems for users who dare to try to block any of Aquantive's URLs either through a hosts file or through the firewall in their router. Either that or perhaps Microsoft will just start ignoring parts of the hosts file.
Mike's Ad Blocking Hosts file
Up until last fall, all I could get was 26.4K dial-up, I couldn't get DSL or cable. That would not have been too surprising if I was living in a rural area or in a third world country, but I live on the edge of a small city in Northern Arizona. I could look out my window and, within a few miles, see a shopping mall, a hospital, a junior college, a private university, a hotel, two golf courses, an Indian casino, a small airport with several runways and several expensive new housing developments. Despite that I could not get anything other than 26.4K dial-up. Not even 56K dial-up was available.
Last year the telephone company finally added a new switch nearby and dug a several mile long ditch dug for a new conduit with whatever was in it. Finally, after many months of additional waiting, DSL finally became available where I live. At my location the speed is 1.5Mbps down/ 896Kpbs up. It more than meets all my needs an something less than that would have probably been adequate for me. It is a huge improvement over 26.4K dial-up.
The biggest concern should be what to do about the people who can't get anything other than dial-up.
My 1.5Mbps down/896Kbps up DSL connection doesn't qualify as broadband either by their definition. I live in Northern Arizona and until recently all I could get in my neighborhood was 26.4K dial-up. DSL finally became available here and my new 1.5Mbps DSL connection more than meets my needs. I downloaded a 697MB Kubuntu Linux ISO the other day which probably took and hour or two but I did not have to sit and watch it download. I was browsing on the internet at the same time and the web pages were still loading quickly while it was downloading the huge ISO file. Besides, it's not like I download something like that every day.
1.5Mbps/896Kpbs is plenty for me. What are these people doing that they more than that? If someone has a motel, hotel or RV park with a WiFi hotspot, they might need more speed. Other than hotspot owners or business my main concern would be for the people out there who still don't have any other choice than dial-up. For some of dial-up users 56K dial-up speeds have not yet arrived.
I misplace my cellphone at least once a month and always find it by using my landline to call my cell phone. Last month I heard it ringing from inside a dirty sock in one of my hiking boots. Before that I had heard it ringing from inside of dirty clothes in my dirty clothes hamper. Once, I even heard it ringing from inside the freezer mixed in with a bag of frozen food that I had just brought back from the grocery store. On several occasions I have found it under or behind the seat of my truck. How do people without land lines find their cell phones? Do they walk over to a neighbor's house and ask them to call their number?
I had a party line for several years back in the mid-1970s, in Northern Arizona. Occasionally I would pick up the phone to make a call and find that the line was already in use, so I would quickly hang up and try again a few minutes later. I shared that phone line with several of my neighbors. I usually tried to not tie up the line for too long and avoided talking about too many personal details on the phone. When I was talking I would sometimes hear someone pick up their phone and quickly hang up. I don't know of anyone else who was still using a party line in the 1970s.
I frequently get cellular calls at work where I hear about every other word and then we loose the connection. Sometimes, they then keep calling me back over. When they finally do get through and stay connected, missing syllables or words still sometimes alter the meaning of what they say. The customer might say he is Mr. Dalmer who needs something 22 feet long on the 23rd. I end up hearing him say he is Mr. Dam and that he needs something 2 feet long on the 3rd.
I am probably old-fashioned but I prefer to use a regular phone with a cord as much as possible. The only reason that I even own a cell phone is so that I can call for help if I break my leg while hiking or if my truck breaks down while out in the middle of no where. I only make a few calls per month with my cell phone. My one concession to progress in telephone technology is that I am gladly using the DSL recently became available where I live. I don't have cable where I live and the 1.5 Mbps DSL connection from the telephone company was a major improvement over dial-up.
Yes, customers could purchase and install the Codeweavers Crossover Linux version of Wine for $39.95. I have used it for about 5 years now under various versions of Linux including Ubuntu. It was originally called CrossOver Office, but was recently renamed Crossover Linux. At different times I have used it to run either Microsoft Office 97 or Office 2000 and a couple of other Windows programs. However, despite having Microsoft Office insalled, I have a various times, mostly used the free Linux versions of Open Office, Koffice, Abiword and Gnumeric instead.
I haven't yet tried it on Ubuntu or Kubuntu 7.04 yet, but presumably it would be easy to install and use. Of course not all Windows software will run under Wine (or Crossover Linux) so perhaps it would be best for Dell to not to include it with their computers. Otherwise, perhaps they would get too many technical support calls from new Linux users trying to run their favorite, but not compatible, Windows programs. Of course customers could still install that on their own, but hopefully, having selected and installed it themselves, they will know enough to realize the limitations to the selection of Windows programs that Wine (or Crossover Linux) can and can't run.
For the majority of their software they should go ahead and make the switch to using Linux substitutes for their favorite programs. Fortunately with Ubuntu, there is an amazing alternate universe of hundreds of free software programs written for Linux, just waiting to be downloaded and installed, using the Synaptic package manager.
Crossover Linux
Until recently 26.4 K dial-up was all that was available where I live. Neither broadband cable or DSL was available and even 56K dial-up was not available (just 26.4K). Then a few months ago DSL finally became available and I now can download at 1.5 MBs and upload at about 800 K. The 26.4K was such a pain when I was taking several college classes that had lots of graphics intensive online study material. Security updates for Windows and Linux sometimes took hours to download.
I live in a small city in Arizona, but am not in a rural area. Most people in my Zip code did have cable and in some also had DSL available, but not where I live.
I get a slightly different message when using Firefox under Linux than what that I get when using Firefox under Windows 2000. I first went there while using Linux and it mentioned the part about "not supporting Mac or Linux." Here is the Firefox under Linux version of the message:
I then went back to the website while using Firefox under Windows 2000 and got this message instead:
I also got the same above message when using Opera under Windows XP. I also noticed that someone else mentioned that users outside of the USA get yet another message. When using Konqueror under Linux I get yet another message which is this:
I unplugged the telephone line on my DSL router just now, for a few minutes, and was then dynamically assigned a new IP address just now. That happens to all DSL users a lot during summer thunderstorms, due to the power briefly going off every few days or so. I suppose that would probably also happen to broadband cable users too, but I don't know for sure.
I also use several different computers. I have both a desktop computer and a laptop computer at home and another computer at work. I also sometimes take occasional part-time College computer courses and have a computer on my desk there too. So I will sometimes use up to four different computers in one day and each will have different cookies and some of the computers have different IP address too. Not only that, but I also have more than one browser on most of those computers and don't always use the same browser every day. Advertisers must be counting me at least several times.
When using a free WiFi hotspot from a laptop, a always clear my cookies out first, because I realize that data is sent unencrypted over the air and can be picked up by anyone running packet sniffing software. I am not sure how useful that information would be to them, but they could probably use that to go to the same website and it would assume it was me returning. Because of that, I clear out the cookies more frequently on the laptop computer.
For my computers at home, I used the "Perfect Password Generator" that is on the grc.com web page to generate the longest most random possible WPA password. Each time I visit that web page a different a password is generated. I then placed the password on a USB key and transfered the password to both of my computers and the wireless router. I then cut and pasted the password instead of trying to type the huge password. For the extra paranoid, slicing and dicing and mixing up the long password that is generated could also done as an extra precaution, although the password did come from a secure website at a security oriented web page.
Perfect Passwords
I have always found knobs to be much easier and less distracting to use. When I was younger, most products only had knobs and switches. I learned to drive in a 1965 Volvo which had ergonomically located knobs and levers which were designed to easily be located and adjusted without the driver taking his eyes off the road. I soon knew where everything was without looking. I when driving in rain or snow, I never needed to take their eyes off the road, or think much, just to turn on and adjust the defroster, heater, or adjust the volume on the radio. Simple feel, the range of travel and the sounds of clicks and such gave me plenty of feedback. Unfortunately, my early 1990's 4WD pickup and most other newer vehicles are not designed that way. Doing a simple task such as turning on the defroster and adjusting it properly is a several step process. Even though I have been driving the truck form many years, I still can not do simple tasks like that without looking. The step of adjusting the temperature requires me to, take my eyes off the road, find the correct button among many others, and then watch the progress on a scroll bar for two or three seconds while holding the button. That means several seconds of having my eyes and attention off of the road while driving in rain or on ice as the windshield is starting to fog up. Most modern cars that I have driven also seem to require the driver to take his or her eyes of the road, at least briefly, while making ordinary adjustments.
I would also prefer to have at least several knobs when using any kind of radio while driving. I have an old early 1990's 2-meter/440 radio, in my truck, which I occasionally use to talk to the local hams through mountaintop repeaters. Unfortunately, mine does not have any knobs. I would prefer to have simple knobs for at least a few main features such as volume, squelch, frequency.
One other perhaps unrelated complaint that I have about modern cars is that rear view mirrors are usually lower in newer cars. I am just tall enough that, on most new cars, the rear view mirror blocks a small portion of my forward view. I frequently need to stretch and look over the top of the mirror or bend over and look under the mirror just to see pedestrians on the right-hand side of the road. I was driving though a construction zone one time and noticed a white helmet just barely visible over the top of the rear view mirror and some boots just barely visible under the mirror. I bent over to look under the mirror and then noticed a construction worker holding a stop sign about 20 feet ahead of me. That is a problem even on most new full size cars for me. On older cars and trucks that was never a problem, even on smaller cars.
I use Mike's add blocking hosts files on my three computers that blocks advertising related communication with DoubleClick and other similar advertising related URL's. The modified hosts file takes the attempts to communicate with them and diverts them to the 127.0.0.1 loop back address on my computers. I use one of their modified hosts files on all three of my computers. One of the computers is a Windows 2000, another runs Windows XP and the third runs Ubuntu Linux. The modified hosts file trick works on all three computers and I update the modified hosts file regularly.
Before doing that, I used to go directly to the DoubleClick webpage and choose the opt-out option from the DoubleClick website. That would let them know that I did not wish to be tracked by them and a special cookie would be downloaded that would stop them from tracking me on-line.
Here are a few other examples of free programs which I forgot to include. Like the others they are available in both Windows and Linux versions.
I have not actually seen what is on their CD, but there are some examples of free programs, most of which, have already been mentioned, that are available for both Windows and Linux.
High-speed Internet access finally became available where I live a few months ago when the telephone company finally began offering DSL in my neighborhood. Up until then I had been using dial-up at 26.4 K, because the local telephone lines where only good for 26.4 K connections. For years, I had been seeing the QWest commercials on TV avertising DSL, but it was never actually available in my neighborhood. They finally installed some new conduit and telephone lines (or whatever) in a several mile long ditch that they dug and also installed a new switch nearby. About 6 months after that, DSL became available for about $26 per month for a 1.5 Mbs connection. A 7 Mbps DSL connection, which is also available, would have cost extra. I am also able to receive telephone calls at the same time that I am on the Internet now.
They told me that using Linux was not supported with their DSL connections, but my home network of one Ubuntu Linux computer and one Windows XP Laptop had not trouble connecting to the DSL router/modem that they sent me. My Linux computer also did not have any trouble accessing the configuration utility for the DSL router from within the Firefox browser. I think what they actually meant was that the MSN premium software would not work, the automatic installation CD would also not work and that their technical support people were not familiar with using Linux. Their DSL router/modem, itself, did not actually care what type of computer was connecting to it as long as it could handle standard protocols such as DHCP and TCP/IP.
I live in a smaller city in Northern Arizona and broadband cable Internet access was also available in most parts of town (but not where I live). I am not in a rural area. I was also slightly out of range to receive the 256 K to 1 Mbps wireless connections that are offered by a local Internet provider. Relatively high-speed Internet access from a satellite dish was available from Starband and other companies, but that was more expensive than what I would have wanted to pay. I am happy to now finally have a high-speed conneciton.
The assumption is that wireless access points are permanently located in one location, but once in a while that is not true. One example would be a couple who has both a summer cabin and a winter home. They might own just one wireless access point or wireless router and take it to their other home for the other potion of the year. Another example would be a retired couple who has a home in a colder part of the country and who, every winter, take their large motor home or travel trailer to Arizona or Florida for the winter. They might also take their wireless router and their laptop computer with them for the winter. Because of these moving wireless routers, the database of wireless locations will, presumably, occasionally be wrong.
There are also cases where a wireless router might make a one time move to a new location. For instance a home owner or business might move to a new location. Another example would be a small business owner who would initially configure and try out their wireless router at home and then after they have everything working perfectly take it to work and set it up permanently there. How quickly will the database of wireless access points be updated with the new location?
Of course, no such system is perfect. For example, I just put my address into mapquest.com and even after all these years, their map still is wrong about where I live. About seven years ago, I sent them the GPS coordinates for my address and described the nearest cross streets and they thanked me for the information and never changed a thing.
I have heard over-the-air high definition Television (HDTV) is not yet available where I live. Will they be turning off analog TV reception before bringing HDTV to where I live. I was told that it was not available here by several electronic salesmen at a couple of the local department stores. About a year earlier, I had entered my address into a web page about HDTV reception and it said that HDTV reception was not available where I live. I don't actually have an HDTV, I don't know for sure if that is correct. I live in a small city in the mountains of Northern Arizona. Are there some other smaller towns that have analog TV but don't yet have HDTV antenna reception? Am I wrong about the situation in my town?
I don't have cable where I live either, so perhaps I will need to either get a satellite dish or stop watching TV. At least, I could still rent or purchase DVDs of my favorite shows. However, television has never been very important to me, so I am not too concerned. I am perfectly happy with my 13 inch television set and the rabbit ears reception even though I could easily afford a larger TV and a small satellite dish. Up until the early 1980s, I had a black and white TV with 10 inch screen and was perfectly happy with that too.
At least high speed DSL Internet access finally became available here a few months ago and I am no longer using dial-up. Now I will soon need to figure out what to do to keep receiving some kind of television. I don't really care if it is high definition or not or how many channels there are, I just want to still be able to receive something.
Ooops, in the post I was responding to I misread the word "conservation" as "conservatism." Unfortunately, I am at the age where I need reading glasses. I would like to add, that even though I am a economic conservative and a Republican, I am still concerned about environmental issues such as global warming, top soil erosion on farm land and the breeding of antibiotic resistant bacteria by the unnecessary overuse of antibiotics in cattle.
On thinking further, I am not sure if I should not have included Alex Jones as an example of a type of conservative, since (if I am not mistaken) I don't believe he is either a Republican or a Democrat. Perhaps he defies classification in that manner.
I once read a non-fiction article by someone in a science fiction magazine, a decade or two ago, that claimed the the labels "liberal" and "conservative" were too limiting. He complained that those labels only offered two alternatives on one axis. He suggested that, ideally,the labels should offer alternatives on at least two or more axis. Personally, I have always disliked attempts to oversimplify a person's varied collection of beliefs by suggesting that they have to be either liberal or conservative.
One of your questions was "Why do conservatives disregard conservation?" There is actually more than one type of conservative. I don't know how British conservatives compare to American conservatives. But, someone can be an economic conservative without necessarily being an social conservative. In the U.S., the religious right could be classified as a type of social conservative. Among other things the religious right voters are strongly against abortion, stem cell research, gay marriages and they seem to be the strongest supporters of the war in Iraq. The few religious right Republicans that I know still seem to strongly support George W. Bush and seem oblivious to the other criticisms against his various other policies.
I am also a Republican, but personally I am a economic conservative, but not a social conservative. The best example of an economic conservative would probably be Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater who unsuccessfully ran for president in 1964. That was mostly before my time, but if I understand correctly, some of his views seem to be exactly the opposite of the current Bush administration. I once read a small portion of his, well written, early-1960s book, "The Conscience of A Conservative." Among other things, he believed in reduced government size, decentralized government and strong states rights, limited functions of the government, and strong respect for the Constitution and the limits that it provides. He also did not seem to be as much influenced by big business interests as the current Bush administration. During his last term, before retiring as a senator, I remember that he voted against a defense project that was being manufactured in in his home state of Arizona because he felt it was too expensive.
There is also a third type of conservative in the U.S., but I am not sure what they are called. Radio host and political conspiracy theorist Alex Jones the best known example of them. Alex and many others believe that there is a huge secret global conspiracy, controlled by various wealthy families, to expert political control and enact polices which are contrary to what the public would want. They seem to believe that the global elite controls much of the press and can even influence what candidates are presented to us as choices. They claim that in 2004, voters in the U.S. had a choice between two Skull and Bones Society members, Democrat John Kerry and Republican George W. Bush. Supposedly, both had been members of that secret society when they were at Yale. If I understand correctly, many of his listeners believe that 911 was allowed to happen so that the government would have the excuse that it needed to expand government power, reduce civil liberties, and to override privacy concerns to allow the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations. I don't know how to prove or disprove if what they say is true or not (I hope not), but there are increasing numbers of people in the U.S. and Canada who believe that.
So simply saying that someone is liberal or conservative is not enough. Which type of liberal or conservative are they? Many of these several types of conservatives favor totally opposite polices. I am mostly a economic conservative/social moderate who uses Linux myself.
By the way, several of the most strongly pro-Microsoft people that I have met were very religious. I don't know if that is typical or not, but perhaps psychologically they prefer the safety of going with the most typical, safe, traditional, mainstream choices in both religion and operating systems. For example, I have a highly religious younger brother who works with computers