Perhaps they could also leave their cell phone at home, to avoid the possibility of their cell phone signal showing them as being in that store at the time and place where the printer was purchased.
A whistle-blower or political dissident could purchase an inexpensive printer in cash, without using their shoppers discount card. Then they could print the files from the USB device and then quickly dispose of the inexpensive printer.
Not wanting to risk loosing their job, or getting sued or harassed by their corrupt employer, they could even go so far as to purchase the printer in cash from a store in a different city. That way, records would show that the printer had been sold to someone in cash, in some city other than when the whistle-blower actually lives.
Does downloading updated printer drivers involve sending the printer's serial number and IP address back to the manufacturer? I do not know if that actually happens or not. To cover that possibility, a technically adept whistle-blower could disconnect their computer from the Internet and then boot up from a Knoppix disk or some other live Linux CD, before printing the documents. Most likely, the Linux live CD will already have the Linux driver for that printer, already on the CD. They could then dispose of the printer and the LiveCD before connecting the connecting their computer to the Internet and then booting it back up in Windows or Mac OS.
An alternative to using a Linux live CD, would be to purchase an old used computer in cash. Presumably, the driver for the printer could be installed from the CD without never having to be connected to the Internet. The inexpensive old used computer could then quickly be disposed of.
When mailing the documents to an activist group or the press, they could also mail if from a different city than where they actually live, so that the post mark would not show which city they live in.
Unfortunately, most whistleblowers or political dissidents probably would not know about the tiny yellow dots. Of course, it would be preferable if most criminals do not know about such technology. Most terrorist organizations are probably already sophisticated enough to avoid such mistakes, unfortunately.
The need for yellow ink would probably also explain why when one of the color cartridges runs out on the printer at work, the printer will refuse to print in black-and-white. Presumably, they would need the yellow cartridge to print the yellow microdots on the black-and-white documents. That is on a Hewlett-Packard combination printer/copy/fax machine.
Since 99% of what I print at work is in black-and-white, it is quite annoying to suddenly have it quit working when it suddenly says that it just ran out of one of the three colors. I then have to take an hour of my time to drive into town and back to go get that particular color ink cartridge.
That same printer, will also not allow me to even try to print on an ink cartridge that is starting to run empty. They probably do not want to risk not having the microdots not show up clearly.
The older Hewlett-Packard printers that I had used at home and at work, in the past, would all allow me to continue printing in black-and-white or color, when the color cartridge was empty or starting to run out. Until now, it never occurred to me that it might because of the needed to print yellow microdots, as a tracking device.
The article says "that means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home."
The required serving of grain could be a problem for children who suffer from celiac disease. It is an auto immune disease, where their bodies have a reaction to gluten which is found in grains such as wheat, barley, rye and triticale . My understanding is that celiac sufferers can eat millet, sorghum, rice, quinoa, amaranth or buckwheat. Celiac disease is a very common problem.
Various diet and nutrition authors have been arguing for years about what type of diet is best. The inspector was making sure that the lunches meet USDA requirements. The USDA requirements are just one viewpoint. Government inspectors should not be able to force their preferences on parents, especially when the child shows up with a fairly normal reasonable lunch.
I have both a Linux computer and a Windows XP computer at home and, for me, they both seem quite polished and easy to use. I have been using both for many years, so by now I am equally comfortable using either Linux or Windows. I see advantages and disadvantages to using either operating system.
Some past versions of Linux did have a few noticeable bugs or other problems. But, Kubuntu 10.04 seems to be working quite well on this computer.
Kubuntu uses KDE instead of Gnome, IceWM, Enlightenment, or one of the other free desktop environments available for Linux.
Like most Linux users, I have never needed to use a virus scanner. I do not know how a new computer user would think Linux and Windows compare. But, I do know of several older people seem to have trouble keeping their Windows computers working properly.
In some ways, installing, upgrading, and installing security updates is now easier with Linux than Windows. After downloading and installing the Synaptic package manager, I had a simple point-and-click tool to install, uninstall, and upgrade all of the software. That is unlike my Windows XP computer, where Windows updates itself automatically, but it is a constant struggle to keep everything else updated. I also like how it is safe and easy to download whatever free software I want from the official Kubuntu repositories.
Synaptic is a GUI front end for the APT, which is a command line tool. The Synaptic Package manager and official repositories are used on some versions of Linux such as Debian, Ubuntu, Kubuntu and PCLinuxOS. Other versions of Linux do it differently.
I also read about it in Tarzan at the Earths core by Edgar Rice Burroughs. That book describes how the Earth is hollow, with openings to the inhabitable inner world at the north and south poles.
In that book, Jason Gridley decided to build a rigid airship, using helium, with sufficient range to fly through the polar opening to the inner world and back. But, he was unsure how to build a hull that was sufficiently strong and light that could survive the conditions along the way. Not sure how to solve that problem, he traveled to the jungles of Africa to ask Tarzan for his advice. Fortunately, Tarzan had recently heard about a nearby lake-dwelling tribe that was using canoes made of a metal that was as strong as steel and as light as cork.
The book said that inner world had accidentally been discovered previously by David Innes and Abner Perry who had been planning to look for anthracite coal with their newly invented mechanical prospector. But, on their trial voyage, their steering mechanism jammed and they accidentally drilled 500 miles down into the Earth's core, reaching the hollow inner world. Perry remained behind, while Innes made the difficult trip back to the surface. The book does not mention them having any problems with the drilling mechanism becoming too hot.
Jason and Tarzan went on to build their 997 foot long airship from harbenite. Jason knew that Tarzan's skills would prove useful one the reached the Earth's core.
It is quite likely that the one juror who fell asleep could not help falling asleep. Despite taking my civic responsibility of jury duty seriously, I had trouble staying awake, when I was once on a one day jury trial. I did not get a good nights sleep the night before, and getting to the courtroom in time meant that I had to get up earlier than normal.
When filling out the jury duty questionnaire that I received in the mail, I had warned them that I sometimes had trouble with insomnia, but they selected me anyway. During jury selection, I did not try to use my only having had a few hours of sleep as an excuse to try and get out of jury duty, because I was wide awake and alert at the time and thought I would be OK.
During each of the breaks, I quickly walked up and down the steps from the basement to the top floor and back several times to try and wake up. At one point, the judge probably noticed me getting tired, and without singling me out, he asked everyone to stand up and stretch for a minute or two.
Fortunately, the questions and discussion about laws and correct procedures for bicyclists and cars on city streets, was interesting enough to help keep me awake. But unfortunately, during the afternoon, there was some boring stuff that was making me even more sleepy.
I took my civic duty as a juror seriously, but still had trouble staying awake. If it had been a longer trial, some days would have probably been worse. I would have been unable to focus on what they were saying because of the mental effort required to try to stay awake. I no longer have insomnia or any problems with tiredness anymore, by the way.
I would have preferred to use ladder line because of its lower losses, but probably should not run ladder line underneath the overhead power lines. I am planning to use a buried conduit for my RG-213 coax. I will probably use either the schedule 40 plastic conduit or the heavier schedule 80 plastic conduit. In the past, I always felt that I probably should not run my coax underneath the power lines, even if buried. Various difficulties like that in my location, are why 20 years have gone by without putting up an antenna for HF use.
I will not be able to dig a ditch for my buried conduit. So, I plan to add a thin layer of rocks and dirt on top of the conduit, after laying the conduit on top of the layer of the granite bedrock.
Where I live is upstairs from where I work at our small family business. Unfortunately, that means that my antenna will be in a publicly accessible area. So I have been concerned about someone getting shocked by touching my vertical antenna. Fortunately, the vertical antenna that I plan to use is made of fiberglass and is double insulated. I am planning to use an LDG electronics S9v31 31 foot tall multi-band vertical antenna.
Hardly anyone ever actually walks up through the brush, rocks, and prickly pear cactus to that particular spot. But, I also plan to plant several cactus around the base of my antenna, to keep people away.
I have been a licensed ham for 20 years, but have never been very active in the hobby. Two sets of intersecting over head power lines and the two intersecting roads, have left me with no good place for a large antenna. So, all I had was the 2-meter radio in my truck and the 2-meter radio at home. Using 2-meters did not require a large antenna, but only provided enough range for line-of-sight communications, or using mountain top repeaters to reach one of several nearby cities.
Now that band conditions are starting to improve, I have finally figured out where to put my antenna. There is a small bare spot about 100 feet away on top of a small minor hilltop where I have room for a decent sized vertical antenna and buried radials. It is just barely far enough away from the power lines. Hopefully, the power losses in 100 feet of coax will not be too much if I use RG-213 coax and put a weatherproof automatic antenna tuner at the base of the multi-band vertical antenna.
Unfortunately there is no place to put a ground rod for lightning protection on that side of the building. There is only about 2 inches of dirt on top of the solid rock on that side of the building. From there, to where I want to put my vertical antenna is solid rock all the way. My current plan is to just disconnect the coax cable and move it away from the building during much of the summer. At least I will finally be able to get on the air most of the year.
I am more interested in using CW and PSK31, than in talking on SSB. I hope to finally start using HF, now that band conditions are starting to improve. I will also need to read up on the basic rules and procedures, since it has been 10 years since I last studied for my General Class License, and I have not been active.
ZaReason is another company that also sells laptops (and desktops) without Windows installed. They offer a choice of various versions of Linux such as Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, Fedora,or no operating system at all.
I have had a ZaReason desktop computer for almost a year, so far, but they also sell laptops.
ZaReason and System76 sell both laptop and desktop computers with Linux pre-installed. About a year ago, I bought a ZaReason computer and have been quite happy with it. Mine is a desktop computer.
When buying my ZaReason computer, I got to choose between Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, Fedora, or no operating system.
I am not sure if those are available in Europe Europe or not. I live here in the U.S.
I have had fraudulent charges appear on my charge card about every other year, for the last 6 years. Of course, I did not end up having to pay the fraudulent charges.
I have rarely ever used WiFi for on-line shopping. I try harder than most people to keep both my Linux computer and my Windows computer secure, and do not have wireless. I have always looked to make sure that https has appeared in the URL, instead of http, before entering my charge number. As much as possible, I have usually tried to make my on-line purchases from larger companies, that hopefully are sophisticated enough to know how to secure their websites properly. I rarely ever eat out, and usually pay by cash when I do. But, those precautions were not enough.
In the previous incidents, my bank quickly called me or put a hold on my account after the first suspicious charge or two. But, in the latest incident I only noticed the fraudulent charges when my bill arrived in the mail.
The bank sent me some information about one of the fraudulent charges. Someone pretending to be me, emailed a clothing company saying that I supposedly wanted to send about $600 worth of clothing as a gift to my friend in Ghana. His first email asked if he could make such a purchase by sending an email with an attachment showing the front and back of my charge chard. The clothing company said that would be OK. The attached picture of the charge card, had my charge card number on the front, but the name of the bank was wrong. The signature on the back looked like a crude mark made by an illiterate person.
As a precaution, I am now making more local purchases with cash instead. When I recently had to make an on-line purchase from a less sophisticated small company, I used a prepaid Wallmart gift card, instead of using my regular charge card.
My old 13-inch analog TV is all that I need
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I am still happy with my old 13-inch analog TV and do not feel any desire to upgrade to HDTV or anything beyond HDTV. Back in the 1980s, I was satisfied with an even smaller 10-inch back and white TV set.
I do not understand why I should care about watching TV at the maximum resolution possible. I enjoy watching an occasional movie or television program just fine at a lower resolution. I also enjoy watching TV on a small screen about as much as on a larger screen.
The only place where I care about resolution is on my computer monitor. In that case, a higher resolution allows more information to be shown on the screen. But, as a far-sighted middle aged person who wears reading glasses to see a too close computer monitor, the currently available resolutions are all that I can handle.
I only watch a few hours of television per week. I do not have cable or satellite, and the mountain top translator for this part of Arizona was not required to make the digital transition. So, I am still watching TV with my old mid-1990s era 13-inch analog TV set without a converter box. When the evening news is on, I frequently just listen on a radio that has an analog channels 2-13 TV band. I usually just listen to the news while doing some other task, without having a screen to look at.
I was skeptical when the traffic circle was being built to replace a nearby traffic light. But afterwards, the traffic was flowing much better. With the traffic circle, I now rarely have to wait more than a few seconds to enter the intersection. Most of the time I get to keep rolling at about 25 MPH, without stopping, as I pass through the traffic circle.
If no one is coming, the cars can keep moving at about 25 MPH, without stopping. If someone who has the right-of-way is coming, it is usually possible to just slow down enough to just drop in behind them, without having to make a complete stop. When the traffic light had been there, everyone had to come to a complete stop, and it took time after the light change to get the cars and large trucks moving again.
By now, most of the local drivers had learned who has the right of way in a traffic circle. Here in Arizona, the person in the circle has the right-of-way, and the person entering the traffic circle has a yield sign.
This is a small city of about 50,000 people, in the mountains of northern Arizona. It is at the intersection of a highway and a two lane road. The two lane road has fairly light traffic, and the highway sometimes has moderately heavy traffic. It has been an ideal location for a traffic circle.
That sounds too much like in the book "1984," where there was a camera everyones homes, with big brother watching. If my TV set was watching me, it would also make me self conscious about sitting in front of the TV set in my underwear?
I only watch a few hours of television per month anyway. I have never had cable or satellite and do not miss not having it. I get 6 TV channels from my rabbit ears antenna. The mountain top translator between here an the Phoenix area was not required to make the digital transition. So, I am still getting analog TV on my old 13-inch, mid-1990s television set from my rabbit ears antenna without a converter box. If a TV set watching me and sending me targeted advertising, ever becomes the normal standard type of TV, I would just stop watching TV. Unless, I still had the option of still using an older technology or watching DVDs from Netflix.
That level of technology is good enough for me. However, I might eventually decide to sign up with Netflix, for the one disk at a time method. My Internet connection probably is not fast enough for watching movies over the Internet. At least with DVDs from Netflix, my TV set would not be watching me.
Over the years, my telephone line and the DSL line have occasionally quit working after a day or two of rain. Whenever I called the repair number for the telephone compay, they always told me that if it did not start working within 48 hours they would send a repairman out. The telephone always started working again within a day or two, so the repairman was never sent out. If a day or two of rain preceded the snow, there is a slight possibility that my telephone and DSL connection will not be working during the snowy day.
We do not get ice storms here in Arizona. At 5,200 foot elevation in Arizona, we do get occasional rain and snow. Whenever we do get snow, the schools and colleges are usually closed for just one day, because most of the snow is gone by the next day.
A few years ago, DSL finally became available where I live. In the past, I was taking several classes at a junior college that had some online study material, and I was always the only one on dial-up. To make matters worse, the telephone lines in my neighborhood were only good for 26.4K, not 56K or 28.8K.
Like you, I have always found it difficult to eat just one large hamburger and fries. I always had to stop eating while I was still hungry. Hamburgers and fries are one of those foods that taste too good, to where I want to just want keep eating and eating. Such meals also usually fail to satisfy my appetite and adequately maintain my energy level until the next meal.
I am better off avoiding such foods. Fortunately, my usual meals do not trigger that uncontrollable hunger and also easily satisfy my appetite until the next meal.
What works best for me is having a generous amount of cooked vegetables and sprouts and also apple or orange with my lunch and dinner. That fills me up nicely without craving more. For dinner, I typically have a very small piece of grass fed buffalo meat and some beans, along with my veggies and a piece of fruit. For lunch, I usually have a sandwich. By the way, the grass fed buffalo meat has only a small fraction of the amount of saturated fat that corn fed beef has.
The lower glycemic index foods have a more gradual slow absorption of carbohydrates, which is probably why my I no longer get hungry before my next meal. Even if a meal is delayed by several hours, I no longer get hungry (like I used to).
I have gradually lost 45 pounds over the last 5 years, without dieting or feeling hungry. I want to gradually lose a little more. In the past, I was one of those people who could not stop gaining weight every year, without feeling hungry. My energy level is also now much higher than when I was in my 20s, 30s, or 40s. I am not Asian, but for my genetics, that works best for me.
For breakfast, I usually usually have some BGLife Heart Balance hot barley cereal, which has lots of beta-glucan soluble fiber that slows the absorption of carbohydrates. It is the breakfast that seems to best control my appetite until lunch. I also throw in some frozen blueberries after I finish cooking it. But, I do allow myself to have an occasional piece of fruit between meals.
I meant to say that his birth certificate number was higher than people who were born the day day after him at the same hospital. I somehow left out the word "higher" when I was typing.
Birthers are routinely outraged at suggestions that blatant racism is at the heart of their disquiet with Obama's landslide victory in the 2008 presidential election. So it's really worth saying it to them, every time.
During the last presidential election in 2008, I was concerned about the birther claims that I had heard on talk radio and the Internet. For me ( and probably most other birthers), racism definitely had nothing to do with why I was concerned where he was born and needing to follow the rules of the constitution.
I had high hopes for Obama when he was first elected. At the time, I felt proud that this country was willing to elect our first black president. However I soon became disillusioned with his consistent tendency to support the views of large powerful special interest groups such as in the banking industry, Hollywood, the music recording industry, the pharmaceutical industries, and the insurance industry. I also became disappointed that he has continued to try to expand the Bush administrations "big brother" type monitoring of us on the Internet. I was also soon became disappointed by his continuing Bush's attempts to bail out the banking industry. One of my biggest disappointments with Obama, is his spending Trillions of dollars of borrowed money from China and leaving the bills for our children and grandchildren. None of those criticisms has anything to do with his race.
The reason that most birthers are outraged at saying that they are racists, is because they know that is untrue.
Back in 2008, Obamas unwillingness to release is birth certificate only fueled suspicion among the birthers. Many birthers are still wondering why he was so reluctant to relase it, which accounts for why they are scrutinizing it with great care.
Now that he has finally realeased his birth certificate, years later, one of the first things they noticed was that his birth certificate number was than people who were born after him at the same hospital. The birth certificate numbers were assigned by the Hawaii Health Department in Honolulu, with an automatic stamp that increments its number each time it is used. I do not feel that it is racist or illogical to be asking such questions. Having said that, I am not yet sure if the birth certificate is real or a fake.
It is also possible to buy a computer with Linux pre-installed, instead of having to remove Windows. ZaReason and System 76 both offer PCs with Linux pre-installed. If I am not mistaken, Linux is the only choice that either company offers on any of their computers.
In addition to not having to pay Microsoft for an OS that is not wanted, a Linux user could be confident that all of the hardware is totally Linux compatible. That would be good to know, even if a fresh clean install a different version of Linux was later done.
I have never even heard of building a 99% efficient power supply, like someone mentioned. But, here are the power consumption figures for my desktop computer which has 82% - 85% 80 Plus Bronze power supply. I am not a gamer, so power consumption when idle or under light load is all that matters in my case. I have an Intel i7 950 running at 3.07 GHz. It has a quiet and not very powerful inexpensive fanless video card that probably uses very little power when idle.
I have an 550 Watt 80 Plus Bronze power supply in my desktop computer. That power supply is supposed to be 85% efficient at 50% load and 82% efficient at 20% load. My computer and flat screen monitor are each plugged into a separate Kill-A-Watt meter. They say that my computer is using 84 Watts and the monitor is using 38 Watts. So I am using 15% of my rated power supply, right now, and probably wasting about 15 Watts.
The display on my UPS says that is is putting out 114 Watts to my computer, monitor, the speakers and everything, which is only slightly off from the above numbers.
I pay about 16 cents per KWH which is almost 3 times what LordLimecat pays, but am calculating power consumption under light load. Suppose I leave my computer on 24 hours per day, with the monitor turned off most of the time. If my math is correct, it would use about $118 worth of electricity per year (not counting the monitor). My power supply would be wasting about $21 per year.
I do not know the difference in efficiency between my power supply and a less efficient one, compared to the difference in power supply prices, so I am not sure how many years the payback period would be. So, my 82% efficient power supply might or might not quite pay for itself, compared to a cheaper power supply.
Below is how I calculated that the 15 Watts that my 82% efficient power supply wastes, adds up to 131 KWH per year and costs $21 per year. I hope my calculations are correct. So, if there were actually any 99% efficient power supplies available, they could save me about $21 per year.
15 W x (1 KW / 1000 W) x (24 hours / 1 day) x (365 days / 1 year) = 131.4 KWH / year
(131.4 KWH / 1 year) x $ 0.16 / 1 KWH = $21 / year
Drinking water is one of my concerns. I could use my Berkey water purifier to drink the water from the small nearby lake. Here in Arizona, I am fortunate to have a nearby source of water. I could probably tie several large jugs and cans of water to my bicycle, push my heavily loaded bicycle along the 1/2 mile route back home.
I have always kept several small packages of potassium iodide tablets on hand for emergency purposes. I have two packages have not yet reached the expiration date, and several more that are slightly beyond their expiration date. I do not expect to need to take the potassium iodide tablets anytime soon.
I eat beans, hot cereal, fruit and several types of vegetables and sprouts every day. I also eat smaller amounts of canned sardines, tuna, and unsalted peanuts. My supply of fruit and vegetables would be gone quickly, but I would still have plenty of beans, oatmeal, peanuts, canned sardines and tuna, and seeds for sprouting.
To cook the food, I have a small multi-fuel camping stove and also a very small efficient wood burning camping stove.
I do not have a wood stove or fireplace, so during a power failure during the winter my plan would be to wear my fleece lined pants, long underwear, jacket, hat and gloves and sleep in my sleeping bag. At 5,200 foot elevation in Arizona that should be adequate.
I do have a general class ham radio operators, but am not set up for long distance communications with HF. But, I do have a 2-meter/440 radio in my truck and a 2-meter radio at home and a smaller old hand held 2-meter radio. Without the help of the mountain top repeaters, I can easily access anything line of sight and a little beyond. When using one of several mountain top repeaters, I can easily talk to hams 70 miles or so away in nearby cities such as Phoenix, Flagstaff, Kingman, Williams or Sedona. I can do that on battery power from my truck.
For emergency purposes, I also have some #10 cans of various types of dried beans, rolled oats, quinoa, dried banana chips, and other types of dried food. I bought them from Walton Feed, which specializes in selling cans and buckets of dried foods packaged for longer storage life. If I remember correctly the rolled oats, noodles and dried beans are are supposed to be good for about 8 years, when stored at normal room temperature. Some foods such as powdered milk and flour have a very short storage life. Some hard shelled grains with their shells intact, such as wheat, have a very long storage life. I chose canned versions of the dried foods because so that the local pack rats and mice would not eat my emergency supplies.
As far as protein, most grains are missing one amino acid, but most beans are missing a different amino acid. Fortunately, if both beans an a grain are eaten withing about 24 hours, complete protein is absorbed, because of the complementary amino acids. So there would be adequate protein in such a diet even without the sardines and tuna.
I also have a hand crank operated AM/FM/Weather band radio and a hand crank operated LED flashlight, and several other flashlights. Unfortunately,I have not yet had time to learn very much about guns, or to practice much. I do have a.357 magnum revolver stored in a very small pistol safe, and also have an old Ruger 10/22 rifle. I would eventually like to also get a pump type 12-gage shotgun, because the distinctive sound of a shell being loaded would probably discourage many trouble makers. I would not want to have someone try to kill me just to steal the pack rat that I was cooking.
Don't ask what my address is. Several of my neighbors who are the ones who are also fairly well prepared, are the only ones who know that I am somewhat prepared.
I have seen several of those scareware pop-up advertisements on my Linux computer, claiming that viruses and spyware had been detected. In each case, without my permission, it would pretend to scan drive “C” and show a progress bar for about 30 seconds. It would then announce that it had found several types of viruses and spyware on drive “C” and also in my registry. Linux does not designate devices or partitions with drive letters or have a registry like Windows does, so both claims were obviously bogus.
It would then ask me to purchase their anti-virus software to fix the problems.
Contrary to what they were claiming, I doubted that their advertisement could have so casually scanned my hard drive like that, without my permission. I had a user configured firewall on both my computer and on my DSL modem, with all inbound ports closed. I was also up to date with all the latest security patches.
In another earlier encounter with a similar scareware advertisement, a couple of years earlier, it also tried to download an executable file, with a.EXE extension, without my permission. Of course my Linux computer did not know what to do with a Windows.EXE file, so it gave me a pop-up box asking me what pogram it should use to try to open a.EXE file. I did not suggest trying to run it under WINE and just chose the option to cancel the download instead.
Since then, I have started using the “No Script” plug-in for Firefox for most websites, so perhaps I will not see their scareware ads again.
For my address, it shows Qwest offering 6 - 10 Mbps, but the Qwest webpage shows only 1.5 Mbps being available here. I am currently connected to the Internet on a Qwest 1.5 Mbps DSL connection. The broadband map also shows Verizon and two other options being available. I am not sure if those choices and speeds are correct or not.
I have never used Facebook and do not have a Facebook ID either. So, perhaps I would also be dismissed due to the lack of information about me. I don’t think they would be able figure out my Slashdot ID, and I would not offer it to them in exchange to access to their WiFi network.
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps they could also leave their cell phone at home, to avoid the possibility of their cell phone signal showing them as being in that store at the time and place where the printer was purchased.
A whistle-blower or political dissident could purchase an inexpensive printer in cash, without using their shoppers discount card. Then they could print the files from the USB device and then quickly dispose of the inexpensive printer.
Not wanting to risk loosing their job, or getting sued or harassed by their corrupt employer, they could even go so far as to purchase the printer in cash from a store in a different city. That way, records would show that the printer had been sold to someone in cash, in some city other than when the whistle-blower actually lives.
Does downloading updated printer drivers involve sending the printer's serial number and IP address back to the manufacturer? I do not know if that actually happens or not. To cover that possibility, a technically adept whistle-blower could disconnect their computer from the Internet and then boot up from a Knoppix disk or some other live Linux CD, before printing the documents. Most likely, the Linux live CD will already have the Linux driver for that printer, already on the CD. They could then dispose of the printer and the LiveCD before connecting the connecting their computer to the Internet and then booting it back up in Windows or Mac OS.
An alternative to using a Linux live CD, would be to purchase an old used computer in cash. Presumably, the driver for the printer could be installed from the CD without never having to be connected to the Internet. The inexpensive old used computer could then quickly be disposed of.
When mailing the documents to an activist group or the press, they could also mail if from a different city than where they actually live, so that the post mark would not show which city they live in.
Unfortunately, most whistleblowers or political dissidents probably would not know about the tiny yellow dots. Of course, it would be preferable if most criminals do not know about such technology. Most terrorist organizations are probably already sophisticated enough to avoid such mistakes, unfortunately.
The need for yellow ink would probably also explain why when one of the color cartridges runs out on the printer at work, the printer will refuse to print in black-and-white. Presumably, they would need the yellow cartridge to print the yellow microdots on the black-and-white documents. That is on a Hewlett-Packard combination printer/copy/fax machine.
Since 99% of what I print at work is in black-and-white, it is quite annoying to suddenly have it quit working when it suddenly says that it just ran out of one of the three colors. I then have to take an hour of my time to drive into town and back to go get that particular color ink cartridge.
That same printer, will also not allow me to even try to print on an ink cartridge that is starting to run empty. They probably do not want to risk not having the microdots not show up clearly.
The older Hewlett-Packard printers that I had used at home and at work, in the past, would all allow me to continue printing in black-and-white or color, when the color cartridge was empty or starting to run out. Until now, it never occurred to me that it might because of the needed to print yellow microdots, as a tracking device.
What if the parent is a vegetarian or a vegan?
The article says "that means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home."
The required serving of grain could be a problem for children who suffer from celiac disease. It is an auto immune disease, where their bodies have a reaction to gluten which is found in grains such as wheat, barley, rye and triticale . My understanding is that celiac sufferers can eat millet, sorghum, rice, quinoa, amaranth or buckwheat. Celiac disease is a very common problem.
Various diet and nutrition authors have been arguing for years about what type of diet is best. The inspector was making sure that the lunches meet USDA requirements. The USDA requirements are just one viewpoint. Government inspectors should not be able to force their preferences on parents, especially when the child shows up with a fairly normal reasonable lunch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disease
I have both a Linux computer and a Windows XP computer at home and, for me, they both seem quite polished and easy to use. I have been using both for many years, so by now I am equally comfortable using either Linux or Windows. I see advantages and disadvantages to using either operating system.
Some past versions of Linux did have a few noticeable bugs or other problems. But, Kubuntu 10.04 seems to be working quite well on this computer.
Kubuntu uses KDE instead of Gnome, IceWM, Enlightenment, or one of the other free desktop environments available for Linux.
Like most Linux users, I have never needed to use a virus scanner. I do not know how a new computer user would think Linux and Windows compare. But, I do know of several older people seem to have trouble keeping their Windows computers working properly.
In some ways, installing, upgrading, and installing security updates is now easier with Linux than Windows. After downloading and installing the Synaptic package manager, I had a simple point-and-click tool to install, uninstall, and upgrade all of the software. That is unlike my Windows XP computer, where Windows updates itself automatically, but it is a constant struggle to keep everything else updated. I also like how it is safe and easy to download whatever free software I want from the official Kubuntu repositories.
Synaptic is a GUI front end for the APT, which is a command line tool. The Synaptic Package manager and official repositories are used on some versions of Linux such as Debian, Ubuntu, Kubuntu and PCLinuxOS. Other versions of Linux do it differently.
I also read about it in Tarzan at the Earths core by Edgar Rice Burroughs. That book describes how the Earth is hollow, with openings to the inhabitable inner world at the north and south poles.
In that book, Jason Gridley decided to build a rigid airship, using helium, with sufficient range to fly through the polar opening to the inner world and back. But, he was unsure how to build a hull that was sufficiently strong and light that could survive the conditions along the way. Not sure how to solve that problem, he traveled to the jungles of Africa to ask Tarzan for his advice. Fortunately, Tarzan had recently heard about a nearby lake-dwelling tribe that was using canoes made of a metal that was as strong as steel and as light as cork.
The book said that inner world had accidentally been discovered previously by David Innes and Abner Perry who had been planning to look for anthracite coal with their newly invented mechanical prospector. But, on their trial voyage, their steering mechanism jammed and they accidentally drilled 500 miles down into the Earth's core, reaching the hollow inner world. Perry remained behind, while Innes made the difficult trip back to the surface. The book does not mention them having any problems with the drilling mechanism becoming too hot.
Jason and Tarzan went on to build their 997 foot long airship from harbenite. Jason knew that Tarzan's skills would prove useful one the reached the Earth's core.
It is quite likely that the one juror who fell asleep could not help falling asleep. Despite taking my civic responsibility of jury duty seriously, I had trouble staying awake, when I was once on a one day jury trial. I did not get a good nights sleep the night before, and getting to the courtroom in time meant that I had to get up earlier than normal.
When filling out the jury duty questionnaire that I received in the mail, I had warned them that I sometimes had trouble with insomnia, but they selected me anyway. During jury selection, I did not try to use my only having had a few hours of sleep as an excuse to try and get out of jury duty, because I was wide awake and alert at the time and thought I would be OK.
During each of the breaks, I quickly walked up and down the steps from the basement to the top floor and back several times to try and wake up. At one point, the judge probably noticed me getting tired, and without singling me out, he asked everyone to stand up and stretch for a minute or two.
Fortunately, the questions and discussion about laws and correct procedures for bicyclists and cars on city streets, was interesting enough to help keep me awake. But unfortunately, during the afternoon, there was some boring stuff that was making me even more sleepy.
I took my civic duty as a juror seriously, but still had trouble staying awake. If it had been a longer trial, some days would have probably been worse. I would have been unable to focus on what they were saying because of the mental effort required to try to stay awake. I no longer have insomnia or any problems with tiredness anymore, by the way.
I would have preferred to use ladder line because of its lower losses, but probably should not run ladder line underneath the overhead power lines. I am planning to use a buried conduit for my RG-213 coax. I will probably use either the schedule 40 plastic conduit or the heavier schedule 80 plastic conduit. In the past, I always felt that I probably should not run my coax underneath the power lines, even if buried. Various difficulties like that in my location, are why 20 years have gone by without putting up an antenna for HF use.
I will not be able to dig a ditch for my buried conduit. So, I plan to add a thin layer of rocks and dirt on top of the conduit, after laying the conduit on top of the layer of the granite bedrock.
Where I live is upstairs from where I work at our small family business. Unfortunately, that means that my antenna will be in a publicly accessible area. So I have been concerned about someone getting shocked by touching my vertical antenna. Fortunately, the vertical antenna that I plan to use is made of fiberglass and is double insulated. I am planning to use an LDG electronics S9v31 31 foot tall multi-band vertical antenna.
Hardly anyone ever actually walks up through the brush, rocks, and prickly pear cactus to that particular spot. But, I also plan to plant several cactus around the base of my antenna, to keep people away.
I have been a licensed ham for 20 years, but have never been very active in the hobby. Two sets of intersecting over head power lines and the two intersecting roads, have left me with no good place for a large antenna. So, all I had was the 2-meter radio in my truck and the 2-meter radio at home. Using 2-meters did not require a large antenna, but only provided enough range for line-of-sight communications, or using mountain top repeaters to reach one of several nearby cities.
Now that band conditions are starting to improve, I have finally figured out where to put my antenna. There is a small bare spot about 100 feet away on top of a small minor hilltop where I have room for a decent sized vertical antenna and buried radials. It is just barely far enough away from the power lines. Hopefully, the power losses in 100 feet of coax will not be too much if I use RG-213 coax and put a weatherproof automatic antenna tuner at the base of the multi-band vertical antenna.
Unfortunately there is no place to put a ground rod for lightning protection on that side of the building. There is only about 2 inches of dirt on top of the solid rock on that side of the building. From there, to where I want to put my vertical antenna is solid rock all the way. My current plan is to just disconnect the coax cable and move it away from the building during much of the summer. At least I will finally be able to get on the air most of the year.
I am more interested in using CW and PSK31, than in talking on SSB. I hope to finally start using HF, now that band conditions are starting to improve. I will also need to read up on the basic rules and procedures, since it has been 10 years since I last studied for my General Class License, and I have not been active.
ZaReason is another company that also sells laptops (and desktops) without Windows installed. They offer a choice of various versions of Linux such as Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, Fedora,or no operating system at all.
I have had a ZaReason desktop computer for almost a year, so far, but they also sell laptops.
ZaReason
ZaReason and System76 sell both laptop and desktop computers with Linux pre-installed. About a year ago, I bought a ZaReason computer and have been quite happy with it. Mine is a desktop computer.
When buying my ZaReason computer, I got to choose between Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, Fedora, or no operating system.
I am not sure if those are available in Europe Europe or not. I live here in the U.S.
I have had fraudulent charges appear on my charge card about every other year, for the last 6 years. Of course, I did not end up having to pay the fraudulent charges.
I have rarely ever used WiFi for on-line shopping. I try harder than most people to keep both my Linux computer and my Windows computer secure, and do not have wireless. I have always looked to make sure that https has appeared in the URL, instead of http, before entering my charge number. As much as possible, I have usually tried to make my on-line purchases from larger companies, that hopefully are sophisticated enough to know how to secure their websites properly. I rarely ever eat out, and usually pay by cash when I do. But, those precautions were not enough.
In the previous incidents, my bank quickly called me or put a hold on my account after the first suspicious charge or two. But, in the latest incident I only noticed the fraudulent charges when my bill arrived in the mail.
The bank sent me some information about one of the fraudulent charges. Someone pretending to be me, emailed a clothing company saying that I supposedly wanted to send about $600 worth of clothing as a gift to my friend in Ghana. His first email asked if he could make such a purchase by sending an email with an attachment showing the front and back of my charge chard. The clothing company said that would be OK. The attached picture of the charge card, had my charge card number on the front, but the name of the bank was wrong. The signature on the back looked like a crude mark made by an illiterate person.
As a precaution, I am now making more local purchases with cash instead. When I recently had to make an on-line purchase from a less sophisticated small company, I used a prepaid Wallmart gift card, instead of using my regular charge card.
I am still happy with my old 13-inch analog TV and do not feel any desire to upgrade to HDTV or anything beyond HDTV. Back in the 1980s, I was satisfied with an even smaller 10-inch back and white TV set.
I do not understand why I should care about watching TV at the maximum resolution possible. I enjoy watching an occasional movie or television program just fine at a lower resolution. I also enjoy watching TV on a small screen about as much as on a larger screen.
The only place where I care about resolution is on my computer monitor. In that case, a higher resolution allows more information to be shown on the screen. But, as a far-sighted middle aged person who wears reading glasses to see a too close computer monitor, the currently available resolutions are all that I can handle.
I only watch a few hours of television per week. I do not have cable or satellite, and the mountain top translator for this part of Arizona was not required to make the digital transition. So, I am still watching TV with my old mid-1990s era 13-inch analog TV set without a converter box. When the evening news is on, I frequently just listen on a radio that has an analog channels 2-13 TV band. I usually just listen to the news while doing some other task, without having a screen to look at.
The traffic circles near where I live are all large enough to work very well. See the photo in the article below:
Photo and article about one of our local traffic circles here in Arizona
I was skeptical when the traffic circle was being built to replace a nearby traffic light. But afterwards, the traffic was flowing much better. With the traffic circle, I now rarely have to wait more than a few seconds to enter the intersection. Most of the time I get to keep rolling at about 25 MPH, without stopping, as I pass through the traffic circle.
If no one is coming, the cars can keep moving at about 25 MPH, without stopping. If someone who has the right-of-way is coming, it is usually possible to just slow down enough to just drop in behind them, without having to make a complete stop. When the traffic light had been there, everyone had to come to a complete stop, and it took time after the light change to get the cars and large trucks moving again.
By now, most of the local drivers had learned who has the right of way in a traffic circle. Here in Arizona, the person in the circle has the right-of-way, and the person entering the traffic circle has a yield sign.
This is a small city of about 50,000 people, in the mountains of northern Arizona. It is at the intersection of a highway and a two lane road. The two lane road has fairly light traffic, and the highway sometimes has moderately heavy traffic. It has been an ideal location for a traffic circle.
That sounds too much like in the book "1984," where there was a camera everyones homes, with big brother watching. If my TV set was watching me, it would also make me self conscious about sitting in front of the TV set in my underwear?
I only watch a few hours of television per month anyway. I have never had cable or satellite and do not miss not having it. I get 6 TV channels from my rabbit ears antenna. The mountain top translator between here an the Phoenix area was not required to make the digital transition. So, I am still getting analog TV on my old 13-inch, mid-1990s television set from my rabbit ears antenna without a converter box. If a TV set watching me and sending me targeted advertising, ever becomes the normal standard type of TV, I would just stop watching TV. Unless, I still had the option of still using an older technology or watching DVDs from Netflix.
That level of technology is good enough for me. However, I might eventually decide to sign up with Netflix, for the one disk at a time method. My Internet connection probably is not fast enough for watching movies over the Internet. At least with DVDs from Netflix, my TV set would not be watching me.
Over the years, my telephone line and the DSL line have occasionally quit working after a day or two of rain. Whenever I called the repair number for the telephone compay, they always told me that if it did not start working within 48 hours they would send a repairman out. The telephone always started working again within a day or two, so the repairman was never sent out. If a day or two of rain preceded the snow, there is a slight possibility that my telephone and DSL connection will not be working during the snowy day.
We do not get ice storms here in Arizona. At 5,200 foot elevation in Arizona, we do get occasional rain and snow. Whenever we do get snow, the schools and colleges are usually closed for just one day, because most of the snow is gone by the next day.
A few years ago, DSL finally became available where I live. In the past, I was taking several classes at a junior college that had some online study material, and I was always the only one on dial-up. To make matters worse, the telephone lines in my neighborhood were only good for 26.4K, not 56K or 28.8K.
Like you, I have always found it difficult to eat just one large hamburger and fries. I always had to stop eating while I was still hungry. Hamburgers and fries are one of those foods that taste too good, to where I want to just want keep eating and eating. Such meals also usually fail to satisfy my appetite and adequately maintain my energy level until the next meal.
I am better off avoiding such foods. Fortunately, my usual meals do not trigger that uncontrollable hunger and also easily satisfy my appetite until the next meal.
What works best for me is having a generous amount of cooked vegetables and sprouts and also apple or orange with my lunch and dinner. That fills me up nicely without craving more. For dinner, I typically have a very small piece of grass fed buffalo meat and some beans, along with my veggies and a piece of fruit. For lunch, I usually have a sandwich. By the way, the grass fed buffalo meat has only a small fraction of the amount of saturated fat that corn fed beef has.
The lower glycemic index foods have a more gradual slow absorption of carbohydrates, which is probably why my I no longer get hungry before my next meal. Even if a meal is delayed by several hours, I no longer get hungry (like I used to).
I have gradually lost 45 pounds over the last 5 years, without dieting or feeling hungry. I want to gradually lose a little more. In the past, I was one of those people who could not stop gaining weight every year, without feeling hungry. My energy level is also now much higher than when I was in my 20s, 30s, or 40s. I am not Asian, but for my genetics, that works best for me.
For breakfast, I usually usually have some BGLife Heart Balance hot barley cereal, which has lots of beta-glucan soluble fiber that slows the absorption of carbohydrates. It is the breakfast that seems to best control my appetite until lunch. I also throw in some frozen blueberries after I finish cooking it. But, I do allow myself to have an occasional piece of fruit between meals.
I meant to say that his birth certificate number was higher than people who were born the day day after him at the same hospital. I somehow left out the word "higher" when I was typing.
During the last presidential election in 2008, I was concerned about the birther claims that I had heard on talk radio and the Internet. For me ( and probably most other birthers), racism definitely had nothing to do with why I was concerned where he was born and needing to follow the rules of the constitution.
I had high hopes for Obama when he was first elected. At the time, I felt proud that this country was willing to elect our first black president. However I soon became disillusioned with his consistent tendency to support the views of large powerful special interest groups such as in the banking industry, Hollywood, the music recording industry, the pharmaceutical industries, and the insurance industry. I also became disappointed that he has continued to try to expand the Bush administrations "big brother" type monitoring of us on the Internet. I was also soon became disappointed by his continuing Bush's attempts to bail out the banking industry. One of my biggest disappointments with Obama, is his spending Trillions of dollars of borrowed money from China and leaving the bills for our children and grandchildren. None of those criticisms has anything to do with his race.
The reason that most birthers are outraged at saying that they are racists, is because they know that is untrue.
Back in 2008, Obamas unwillingness to release is birth certificate only fueled suspicion among the birthers. Many birthers are still wondering why he was so reluctant to relase it, which accounts for why they are scrutinizing it with great care.
Now that he has finally realeased his birth certificate, years later, one of the first things they noticed was that his birth certificate number was than people who were born after him at the same hospital. The birth certificate numbers were assigned by the Hawaii Health Department in Honolulu, with an automatic stamp that increments its number each time it is used. I do not feel that it is racist or illogical to be asking such questions. Having said that, I am not yet sure if the birth certificate is real or a fake.
It is also possible to buy a computer with Linux pre-installed, instead of having to remove Windows. ZaReason and System 76 both offer PCs with Linux pre-installed. If I am not mistaken, Linux is the only choice that either company offers on any of their computers.
In addition to not having to pay Microsoft for an OS that is not wanted, a Linux user could be confident that all of the hardware is totally Linux compatible. That would be good to know, even if a fresh clean install a different version of Linux was later done.
http://zareason.com/
http://www.system76.com/
I have never even heard of building a 99% efficient power supply, like someone mentioned. But, here are the power consumption figures for my desktop computer which has 82% - 85% 80 Plus Bronze power supply. I am not a gamer, so power consumption when idle or under light load is all that matters in my case. I have an Intel i7 950 running at 3.07 GHz. It has a quiet and not very powerful inexpensive fanless video card that probably uses very little power when idle.
I have an 550 Watt 80 Plus Bronze power supply in my desktop computer. That power supply is supposed to be 85% efficient at 50% load and 82% efficient at 20% load. My computer and flat screen monitor are each plugged into a separate Kill-A-Watt meter. They say that my computer is using 84 Watts and the monitor is using 38 Watts. So I am using 15% of my rated power supply, right now, and probably wasting about 15 Watts.
The display on my UPS says that is is putting out 114 Watts to my computer, monitor, the speakers and everything, which is only slightly off from the above numbers.
I pay about 16 cents per KWH which is almost 3 times what LordLimecat pays, but am calculating power consumption under light load. Suppose I leave my computer on 24 hours per day, with the monitor turned off most of the time. If my math is correct, it would use about $118 worth of electricity per year (not counting the monitor). My power supply would be wasting about $21 per year.
I do not know the difference in efficiency between my power supply and a less efficient one, compared to the difference in power supply prices, so I am not sure how many years the payback period would be. So, my 82% efficient power supply might or might not quite pay for itself, compared to a cheaper power supply.
Below is how I calculated that the 15 Watts that my 82% efficient power supply wastes, adds up to 131 KWH per year and costs $21 per year. I hope my calculations are correct. So, if there were actually any 99% efficient power supplies available, they could save me about $21 per year.
15 W x (1 KW / 1000 W) x (24 hours / 1 day) x (365 days / 1 year) = 131.4 KWH / year
(131.4 KWH / 1 year) x $ 0.16 / 1 KWH = $21 / year
Drinking water is one of my concerns. I could use my Berkey water purifier to drink the water from the small nearby lake. Here in Arizona, I am fortunate to have a nearby source of water. I could probably tie several large jugs and cans of water to my bicycle, push my heavily loaded bicycle along the 1/2 mile route back home.
I have always kept several small packages of potassium iodide tablets on hand for emergency purposes. I have two packages have not yet reached the expiration date, and several more that are slightly beyond their expiration date. I do not expect to need to take the potassium iodide tablets anytime soon.
I eat beans, hot cereal, fruit and several types of vegetables and sprouts every day. I also eat smaller amounts of canned sardines, tuna, and unsalted peanuts. My supply of fruit and vegetables would be gone quickly, but I would still have plenty of beans, oatmeal, peanuts, canned sardines and tuna, and seeds for sprouting.
To cook the food, I have a small multi-fuel camping stove and also a very small efficient wood burning camping stove.
I do not have a wood stove or fireplace, so during a power failure during the winter my plan would be to wear my fleece lined pants, long underwear, jacket, hat and gloves and sleep in my sleeping bag. At 5,200 foot elevation in Arizona that should be adequate.
I do have a general class ham radio operators, but am not set up for long distance communications with HF. But, I do have a 2-meter/440 radio in my truck and a 2-meter radio at home and a smaller old hand held 2-meter radio. Without the help of the mountain top repeaters, I can easily access anything line of sight and a little beyond. When using one of several mountain top repeaters, I can easily talk to hams 70 miles or so away in nearby cities such as Phoenix, Flagstaff, Kingman, Williams or Sedona. I can do that on battery power from my truck.
For emergency purposes, I also have some #10 cans of various types of dried beans, rolled oats, quinoa, dried banana chips, and other types of dried food. I bought them from Walton Feed, which specializes in selling cans and buckets of dried foods packaged for longer storage life. If I remember correctly the rolled oats, noodles and dried beans are are supposed to be good for about 8 years, when stored at normal room temperature. Some foods such as powdered milk and flour have a very short storage life. Some hard shelled grains with their shells intact, such as wheat, have a very long storage life. I chose canned versions of the dried foods because so that the local pack rats and mice would not eat my emergency supplies.
As far as protein, most grains are missing one amino acid, but most beans are missing a different amino acid. Fortunately, if both beans an a grain are eaten withing about 24 hours, complete protein is absorbed, because of the complementary amino acids. So there would be adequate protein in such a diet even without the sardines and tuna.
I also have a hand crank operated AM/FM/Weather band radio and a hand crank operated LED flashlight, and several other flashlights. Unfortunately,I have not yet had time to learn very much about guns, or to practice much. I do have a .357 magnum revolver stored in a very small pistol safe, and also have an old Ruger 10/22 rifle. I would eventually like to also get a pump type 12-gage shotgun, because the distinctive sound of a shell being loaded would probably discourage many trouble makers. I would not want to have someone try to kill me just to steal the pack rat that I was cooking.
Don't ask what my address is. Several of my neighbors who are the ones who are also fairly well prepared, are the only ones who know that I am somewhat prepared.
I have seen several of those scareware pop-up advertisements on my Linux computer, claiming that viruses and spyware had been detected. In each case, without my permission, it would pretend to scan drive “C” and show a progress bar for about 30 seconds. It would then announce that it had found several types of viruses and spyware on drive “C” and also in my registry. Linux does not designate devices or partitions with drive letters or have a registry like Windows does, so both claims were obviously bogus.
It would then ask me to purchase their anti-virus software to fix the problems.
Contrary to what they were claiming, I doubted that their advertisement could have so casually scanned my hard drive like that, without my permission. I had a user configured firewall on both my computer and on my DSL modem, with all inbound ports closed. I was also up to date with all the latest security patches.
In another earlier encounter with a similar scareware advertisement, a couple of years earlier, it also tried to download an executable file, with a .EXE extension, without my permission. Of course my Linux computer did not know what to do with a Windows .EXE file, so it gave me a pop-up box asking me what pogram it should use to try to open a .EXE file. I did not suggest trying to run it under WINE and just chose the option to cancel the download instead.
Since then, I have started using the “No Script” plug-in for Firefox for most websites, so perhaps I will not see their scareware ads again.
For my address, it shows Qwest offering 6 - 10 Mbps, but the Qwest webpage shows only 1.5 Mbps being available here. I am currently connected to the Internet on a Qwest 1.5 Mbps DSL connection. The broadband map also shows Verizon and two other options being available. I am not sure if those choices and speeds are correct or not.
I have never used Facebook and do not have a Facebook ID either. So, perhaps I would also be dismissed due to the lack of information about me. I don’t think they would be able figure out my Slashdot ID, and I would not offer it to them in exchange to access to their WiFi network.