I am the kind of slightly disorganized kind of person who would actually forget a rarely used encryption password or pass-phrase. On the various on-line shopping websites I use, I have occasionally had to click the "I forgot my password" button. The same was true when I briefly played around with encrypting several files on my home computer.
After briefly playing around with using an encryption on my Linux computer at home, I soon decided to not bother using encryption any longer. After that, I no longer made any effort to remember the pass-phrase. But, I have still not yet gotten around to deleting those several encrypted, compressed tar practice backup files that are still on my external USB hard drive. I should go ahead and delete those several old encryption practice files soon.
All I can remember is that whatever the pass-phrase was, it was probably about 16 characters long, with a fairly random mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and punctuation characters. But, all the characters could easily be derived from what at the time seemed to be a fairly easy to remember, slightly amusing, easy to visualize, little sentence. I also had the pass-phrase written down on a piece of paper, which I misplaced about a year or two ago. It was not something found in a dictionary, or something easily guessed like my birth date or the name a girlfriend's dog.
Of course if I really had anything more important on my home computer than things like my social security number and a couple of old love letters, I would have kept on using the encryption program.I have also wondered what some judge would do, if they insisted that someone give them some old, hard to remember, forgotten encryption password.
I know how to replace the parts on my desktop computer, but have not yet learned how to change parts on a laptop. On my desktop computer, I can easily access the parts inside by just pulling the handle and removing the side cover, in just a few seconds. No screws are used in my computer case. About 3 or 4 years ago I replaced the obsolete and somewhat flaky unreliable motherboard, with a newer and better motherboard.
About a year ago the power supply went bad, so I replaced it with a new more energy efficient 80-plus rated power supply. This last year, I also replaced the case fan and the CD/DVD burner, when they both failed.
The small Northbridge cooler fan on my several year old AMD-64 has been somewhat noisy and erratic sounding for about the last year or two. So I plan to replace it with a Zalman passive heat sink. That should get rid of the noise for good.
Every few years, several keys on the keyboard have quit working reliably. So each time, I would then pry the caps off of each key and then remove all the dust, hair, and bits of food, from under each key. Afterwards the keyboard was good for several more years. It is always best to try to get the correct cap on the correct key, when snapping them back on. I have been using this same keyboard since I had it on a different computer, back in the mid-1990s.
About 3 years ago the cord on the 10 year old CRT monitor went bad, so I upgraded to a 20-inch flat screen monitor. When I started running out of space on my hard drive, I replaced one of the two hard drives with a larger capacity 1 TB hard drive. A while back, I decided that it would be nice to have more memory, so I upgraded to 2 GB of RAM.
This several year old desktop computer still seems fast enough and runs the latest version of Kubuntu Linux very well. I hope to keep using it for several more years.
I am not sure if the parts in the average laptop or notebook computer are as easily replaced or not. But, I eventually plan to get a small notebook sized computer, just for traveling or when I am away from home. However, my desktop computer will continue to be my main computer.
Analog TV still exists in this part of Arizona. The digital transition has not yet occurred here. Some mountain top translators were exempt from the requirement to make the digital transition. The nearest translator here, is still analog. I still get 6 analog TV channels on my old mid-1990s TV set from a rabbit ears antenna, without the help of a converter box. I do not have cable or satellite.
For several years, I kept hearing that analog TV would not exist beyond the deadline. Well, that deadline came and went, and I am still watching TV on my old mid-1990s TV set. My old, mid-1990s 13-inch TV set is sill working just fine with antenna reception, without a converter box. If I am not mistaken, the old mountaintop translator in on Mt. Francis.
When I briefly tried hooking up a converter box, I lost all 6 analog channels and got just 1 digital channel instead. So I disconnected the converter box, and went back to watching analog TV instead.
In addition to the 13 inch TV set, I also have an older version of the CCrane Radio Plus, which back then included audio only reception of the channel 2-13 television band. That radio still gets 4 analog TV channels very clearly. It also gets NBC on channel 6, which my TV set does not get. Because the radio does not include the UHF channels, the it does not get the 3 UHF analog TV channels.
I am one of the few people in this small city, which do not have cable or satellite. I have also heard of a couple of mountaintop translators in New Mexico and Colorado, which are still analog. I have wondered how the mountain top translator is still sending out analog TV, if the signals they are receiving are digital. I assume the must have installed converter boxes at the translator.
If my old 13 inch analog TV sets ever wears out, I hope that a new TV set would still also be capable of receiving the older style NTSC signals (not just the newer ATSC digital signals). If I am not mistaken, some cable TV systems are still analog, so I hope that means that backwards compatibility with analog TV will still be around for a while. If not, should I get a new or used older NTSC capable analogy TV, while they are still available? My approximately 15 year old 13 inch TV set might not last forever.
It finally would change whenever another car pulled up along side me, after a few minutes. Fortunately, I never did have to spend all night waiting for the light to change.
Here is link to of a photo of a local roundabout which works quite well. That traffic circle is large enough to work very well. Most of the time, the drivers only need to slow down to about 20 to 25 MPH, without having to make a complete stop. It helps that the large dump trucks and tractor-trailer rigs usually do not have to make a complete stop. When they keep rolling, they can get back up to the 50 MPH highway speed much more quickly, without holding up everyone behind them. When a car does need to stop, it is rarely for more than a few seconds.
After the traffic circle was built, most of the local drivers gradually learned that the person in the circle has the right of way. Everyone entering the circle has a yield sign. About once every 30 minutes a horn is honked, because of someone who still does not know the rules.
I really like the traffic circle myself. At that particular location, the traffic circle has proven to be far superior to the traffic light which it replaced. However, I have not seen enough example to know for sure how they work in various other types of locations. This one is in a small city in Arizona. It is at the intersection of a 4-lane highway and a 2-lane side street. The traffic on the highway appears to probably be about 3 times as heavy as the traffic on the other street. During rush hour, the traffic is much heavier than how it appears in the photo. But even so, it is not super heavy traffic, like in a large city.
When there used to be a traffic light at that intersection, during rush hour, occasionally the tail end of the line could not get moving good before the light turned red again. I wish that there were more traffic circles, instead of traffic lights, between where I live and town.
I remember hearing that Phoenix traffic engineer from the 1970s, say on TV why he disliked using left turn signals. If I remember correctly, roughly what he said was that adding a left turn signal for each direction, significantly reduced the time that the light could be green. That would reduce traffic flow, although it does make it easier and to make a left turn. I only heard him talk for a few seconds on TV, once back then.
I had noticed the same thing when traveling through well timed, evenly spaced lights and then encountering a traffic light which had a turn signal. It was much harder to make it through an intersection which had a left turn signal. Presumably, the shorter amount of time that the light was green was the problem. So, I think he actually had a good point.
I only head him talk once for a few seconds once when I was watching the local the local television news back then. What he said was in response to one or more people who wanted more left turn signals. I found his brief anti-left turn signal response, to be sufficiently thought provoking, to have vaguely remembered what he said decades later.
I moved away from Phoenix, just before it got too big, with too many people, too much smog, and too much heavy traffic.
I had similar problems with a local stoplight which would not change for my pick-up truck, late at night. I would pull up to the T-intersection, trying to turn left, then would just sit there for 5 or 10 minutes, until another car eventually pulled up beside me. The light would rapidly cycle through various changes, without ever giving me a green light. Because it was a T-intersection, not getting a green light meant that I could neither make a left turn or go straight ahead. Unfortunately, there was also a "No Right Turn" sign at the intersection. Since no other cars were around, I was always tempted to just drive through the red light, but never did.
I would try moving my truck back and for trying to trigger the buried magnetic sensors, but that never helped. I also sometimes tried moving into the other lane, but that never did help either. Then I would usually try switching my headlights back and forth between high beam and low beam, just in case the traffic light had an optical sensor. None of that ever worked.
Finally, another car would pull up beside me and the light would always immediately change. Usually, it was a small car weighing about 2/3 the weight of my full sized 4 wheel drive pickup. Was the traffic light waiting for more than one vehicle to show up at the intersection?
Does my V-6 powered, full sized four wheel drive pickup truck sit too high off the ground relative to its mass to trigger the magnetic sensors? It is very rare for a full sized pickup truck to be powered by a V-6 and five speed manual transmission, so mine weighs less than most. However, it is the typical stock factory height off the ground for a typical full sized four wheel drive pickup truck.
I did hear about someone else who had the same problem, with the same stoplight, when driving his pickup truck late at night. That problem went on for me for a couple of years, when going to shop at the grocery store, late at night. Finally, that intersection got rebuilt a couple of years ago, and the new traffic light does not have that problem. Back then, I would sometimes drive several extra miles though a route with a much lower speed limit, just to avoid having to go through that one stoplight, late at night.
I have occasionally had similar problems at two other intersections.
Here is a link to a photo of the local traffic circle that I was talking about. The article was from a couple of years ago. A Photo of our local traffic circle
In the early 1970s, most of the traffic lights in Phoenix, Arizona were evenly spaced and well synchronized for travel in either direction. That was back before they messed up the synchronization by adding all those extra stoplights in front of the Walmarts and other major shopping centers. The consistent even spacing between major intersections, made it possible to synchronize the lights for traveling at a specific speed such as 35 or 40 MPH. When driving, I could usually tell if I was encountering a light a little to soon or almost too late. I would then speed up or slow down slightly, to stay synchronized with the lights.
Back then, there were a occasional small signs saying what speed the lights were synchronized for. Unfortunately, very few drivers seemed to notice or understand the significance of the specific speed which they were synchronized for. Some drivers would travel slightly too fast and have to stop for almost every red light. Other drivers would travel slightly too slow, forcing them and everyone behind them, to stop for every stoplight. Whenever possible, I would pass such of of sync drivers.
Each stoplight was probably about 1/2 a mile apart. In recent decades, stoplights have been added in front of major shopping centers. So now there are three closely spaced stoplights in a row, which totally messes up the synchronization.
I have wondered if perhaps they might have been able to maintain the synchronization if traffic circles had been used in front of the Walmarts and shopping centers, instead of stoplights.
There is an ideal sized traffic circle on the highway near where in northern Arizona. Most of the time, most drivers make it through the traffic circle without having to make a complete stop. That is probably an ideal sized traffic circle, with about a 50 foot or more wide pile of landscaped dirt in the center of the circle.
There used to be a traffic light at that intersection, before they built the traffic circle. I was surprised to see how much better the traffic flow is through the new traffic circle, even during rush hour. The highway traffic is heavier than the traffic from the cross street at the traffic circle. I suspect that combination might be an ideal for using a traffic circle. Quite a few traffic circles have recently been built in the smaller cities of northern Arizona, such in the small city where I live. By the way, none of the traffic circles are in front of a Walmart or a shopping center, so I have not actually seen an example of that.
I have noticed that my tastes can change significantly after several months of eating differently. About 30 years ago, I used to put 2% milk on my oatmeal for breakfast and did not like skim milk. Then, after putting skim milk on my cereal for several months, I started to prefer skim milk and no longer like whole milk or 2% milk.
I have also found that the same thing happens when eating sweet foods. I used to like soft drinks, then, I switching to unsweetened tea and coffee instead many years ago. After a few months, whenever I would try to drink a soft drink, it always tasted unbearably disgustingly sweet. The soft drinks tasted so terrible, that I could no longer stand to drink one.
In recent years, I have been eating even less fatty or overly sweet foods, and have found my tastes change again. A red bell pepper now tastes wonderfully sweet and makes a wonderful snack. A better than average good apple or a banana now also tastes wonderfully sweet. They now taste so deliciously sweet that I want to saver each delicious bite of an apple, banana or red bell pepper. Who needs a cookies or other junk food, when the less sweet ordinary foods start to taste so sweet.
As for the typical overly salty soup, I have occasionally made soup of my own at home, with little or no added salt, and it tastes better to me than the salty tasting store bought canned soup.
Instead of having to trick people's taste buds, each person could just cut back on the bad fats, excessive salt and excessive amounts of fast absorbing types of sugars and carbohydrates. Over time people's sense of taste would gradually adjust to liking or even preferring food that way. There is no fancy new food industry technological tricks needed for that.
What I meant, is that for me computers are just a hobby, not an occupation. However, I have had several computer courses and computer networking courses in the past, but have never turned it into an occupation and have not stayed up to date with some of the technology changes.
Even so, I realize that my skills are way beyond what the average computer user has, so I hesitated in saying that I was not an expert.
I also noticed the URL where the scareware advertisement was coming from. Just as an experiment, I added its URL to my hosts file in a way that diverted it harmlessly to the 127.0.0.1 loopback address on my computer. When I then went back to the same companies web paged, the link to the scareware advertisement was blocked. That trick would work for either a Windows, Mac or Linux computer. Of course, the average computer user would not know how to do something like that.
There are also many important parts of computers and networking where my knowledge is lacking, so I do not really think of myself as an expert.
Well, it really did not take that long to decide it was total bullshit, but despite trying repeatedly to close the tab, it kept reappearing in my browser and continuing on. So, I was busy trying to figure out how to get my browser to stop showing the scareware advertisement. At the same time, I was noticing with some amusement the incorrect information and impossible claims that it was making. The first time it happened, I had never even heard of scareware, so I was kind of curious, yet nervous about the aggressiveness of the program.
Of course I did not even consider giving the scareware permission to scan my computer and did not even consider purchasing their product. But, after finally trying to close the tab or pop-up again, it started trying to download their program to my computer anyway.
I finally exited from Firefox and just to be safe, I unplugged my Ethernet cable. Ahead of that, I had noticed the URL where the advertisement was coming from. So, as an experiment, I added that URL to my hosts file and diverting it to my 127.0.0.1 loopback address. I then reconnected my Ethernet cable and restarted Firefox and went back to the same companies web page without the linked scareware advertisement appearing.
Despite already knowing that is was bullshit, I later looked up the names of the two viruses names it had mentioned, elsewhere on the Internet. It said they only infected certain versions of Windows.
On several occasions over the years, I have encountered scareware which said that viruses and spyware had been detected on my Linux computer. Each time that was while I was browsing the Internet while using Linux at home. I had never heard of any Linux viruses actually circulating in the wild, so I was skeptical that they had actually detected both viruses and spyware on my computer.
On each of those occasions, it offered to scan my hard drive for viruses and spyware. Despite trying to say no and/or close their web page the advertisement reappeared and pretended to start scanning my hard drive. It said that it was scanning my drive C, with a progress bar showing that a scan was supposedly in progress. That seemed bogus, because drive letters are not used in Linux for designating hard drives or partitons.
I had a firewall enabled in both my DSL router and on my computer, with all the incoming ports and most of outgoing ports closed. So, I doubted that it was actually quite that easy to effortlessly scan my hard drive, like that.
After about 60 seconds of scanning my hard drive, they announced that several several viruses and several types of spyware had been found on drive C and also in my registry. Linux does not have a drive C and also does not have a registry, so again that seemed bogus. They then recommended that I purchase their anti-virus product to solve the problem. Not having actually noticed that I was using a Linux instead of Windows, they did not offer me a Linux version.
On at least one of those encounters with scareware over the years, it even tried to download their antivirus program to my computer just after I again tried to close the tab (or possibly a pop-up). Firefox then asked me what program it should use to open a Windows executable file. It also gave me the alternative of choosing where to save the file, or canceling the download. Of course, I did not even consider trying to download the program and see if I could get it to run under WINE.
After the most recent scareware encounter, I immediately installed the NoScript and AdBlock plug-ins for Firefox. I did that on both my Linux computer and my Windows computer. I had finally had enough of scripts and advertisements. Now, when I encounter an occasional trusted web page which requires scripting enabled, I right-click on the icon in the lower right to either temporarily or permanently allow scripts for just that web page. I am not a computer expert, but my guess is that without scripting enabled, I would probably have less trouble closing the advertisement without it instantly reappearing again.
I use Kubuntu 10.04 which is the KDE version of Ubuntu 10.04. I installed it last week and it seems to be working perfectly. I chose the alternate install version of the AMD 64 version of Kubuntu 10.04. As most of you probably already know, Ubuntu uses the Gnome desktop environment, whereas Kubuntu uses the KDE desktop environment. With Linux you get several choices in desktop environments.
Being somewhat nervous about upgrading, I kept my old version of Kubuntu 9.10 and installed a fresh clean copy of Kubuntu 10.04 onto a different partition. That way I knew that I could always go back to my older version, if I needed to.
I am one of the few people who insists on using different wallpaper for each of my virtual desktops. After installing Kubuntu 10.04, I had trouble figuring out how to get it to allow me to use different wallpaper for each of my virtual desktops. The way to enable doing that had changed since Kubuntu 9.10. I eventually found how to do that by clicking "Settings," then "System Settings," then "Desktop," then "Multiple Desktops," then checking the box for "different activity for each desktop." After doing that, I went to each virtual desktop and right clicked on a blank portion of the screen and then selected the "Desktop Activity Settings." I chose my favorite wallpaper from there.
I don't care very much what default software they include with Kubuntu, since I know what programs I prefer and can quickly and easily download and install them for free from the official Ubuntu repositories. There are hundreds of free Linux programs available from the official repositories. I prefer to use Synaptic to download those programs, because it is an easy to use point and click front end for apt-get. I have not yet tried using KPackageKit instead, which comes already installed with Kubuntu. When I first installed Kubuntu 10.04, I used apt-get to download the Synaptic package manager, and then used Synaptic to install every other favorite free program of mine.
I have been happily using Linux on the desktop for about 10 years now, but, I am not a computer expert. Kubuntu 10.04 seems to perform quite well on my several year old AMD 64 X2 4200+ computer. Unlike the earlier Kubuntu 9.10, I have not yet found any bugs or other problems with Kubuntu 10.04.
I have encountered traffic lights which never turn green for my direction, even after waiting through many cycles for about 5 or 10 minutes. There was one light in town which seemed to be wait for its buried magnetic sensing loops to detect at least two cars to arrive before it would turn green. I would be coming back from a grocery store at about midnight and have to sit there for about 5 minutes while waiting for another car to arrive, then it would finally change. Unfortunately, there was also a no right turn sign at the intersection, which made it impossible for me to legally escape from the situation.
There were three lights in town, more or less, like that. I have wondered if perhaps something about my pickup truck or the way that I approach the intersection, fails to trigger the buried magnetic sensing loops. I once talked to another local resident who had the same problem, in his pickup truck, with one of the same traffic lights.
I would hate to encounter a traffic light which could turn off my engine in that situation, preventing me from backing up or turning right to escape the problem. Would there be an emergency override switch for the system? Would they require such a system being retrofitted to my older 1992 pickup truck? I also wonder what would happen if the power to the traffic lights goes out during a thunder storm. Would our engines default to start in such a situation, so that we could treat the failed traffic lights as 4-way stop signs?
Thirty five years ago, most of the stop lights in Phoenix, Arizona were evenly spaced 1/2 mile apart and synchronized. When traveling at a speed that matches the synchronization, I could sometimes travel from one end of Phoenix to the other, while hitting nearly every light green. As an alternative to IBM's patent, why make anyone stop at all, just keep their movements properly synchronized with the green lights.
That was only possible during times of light traffic, when I could choose just the right speed. As I looked ahead, I could usually tell how about how long it would be before a light would change. If there was a crosswalk sign, what it said in the distance was also a clue. Surprisingly, very few other drivers seemed to be aware that there was a correct speed for staying with the synchronized lights. Most other drivers seemed to be traveling slightly above or below the correct speed. As the driver of a less powerful car with an almost worn out clutch and no air conditioning, I preferred to keep the car moving.
I always wondered why there was not some kind of electronic or visual indicator which would tell drivers if they needed to speed up or slow down slight to stay synchronized. I imagined possibly having an electronic box on everyones dash which would make deeper or higher pitched beeps to tell the drivers whether to go faster or slower. Each traffic light could put out a weak radio signal giving information to the box in each car. That could be combined with either a range finding technique for distance to the next stop light, or possibly GPS.
In recent decades, many more traffic lights have been added at entrances to shopping centers and elsewhere at incorrect distances from the next light that messes up the even synchronization.
In the small city were I live, I drive through a traffic circle most days. The traffic circle does not have a traffic light, and only uses yield signs. It replaced the less efficient traffic light which used to be there. With the traffic circle, drivers rarely have to wait more than a few seconds to get though the intersection. Traffic from one direction is lighter than the other, which I suspect is probably an ideal situation for using a traffic circle instead of a traffic light.
When a traffic light is needed at a location which does not match appropriate spacing between lights, perhaps I traffic circle should be used there instead.
Occasionally, I have overheard both sides of a cellphone conversation, even when they are not using the speaker phone feature. One time, I found myself unable to resist the urge to add my two cents worth to what the person on the other end was saying. So I leaned over and briefly added what I knew about the subject.
I have also noticed the much the same thing in how sound passes through the walls in Doctor's offices. I have occasionally overheard portions of what was being said between the doctor and patient in the next examination room. Several years ago, I heard two nurses down the hall wondering where the telephone book was. I could see that it was laying on a table near me, so I opened the door and walked down the hall and handed the telephone book to the nurse.
Because I use Ubuntu 9.10, my computer setup is still fairly unusual even when using NoScript. Despite using the NoScript plug-in for Firefox, the test showed that only one in 21,800 browsers has the same fingerprint as my computer. Among other things, it said that I am using Ubuntu 9.10 on a 64-bit computer with Firefox 3.5.9. In five categories of information from the test, it said "no javascript," because the test could not obtain any information about things like browser plug in details, time zone, screen size and color depth, or system fonts.
My being one in 21,800 is still better than the average computer which is one in 286,777, but it sounds like my computer is still somewhat easily recognizable.
Every few days I turn off my DSL modem, which causes my IP address to change. But, even if I were to have the cookies cleared out more often, or disable using them, my computer would still be fairly recognizable. When I get around to upgrading to the latest Ubuntu 10.4 version, perhaps my computer will be slightly less unusual, but even then it would still be an uncommon setup.
In the late 1960s, my dad's small Wheel Horse garden tractor must have had that or some other type of automatic transmission. When I pushed a lever forwards, the further forwards I pushed the lever, the faster it went. If I pulled the lever in the opposite direction, it went backwards, with it going faster the further the lever was moved.
I was not quite old enough to have a driver's license back then. So, I remember having lunch in high school, with everyone talking about having driven their tractor. They all laughed when they found out that our tractor had an automatic transmission. At the time I was quite embarrassed about our family having a garden tractor which had an automatic transmission. Looking back, it is hard to imagine that I was really so embarrassed about something so unimportant, like that.
The tractor also had a very small trailer which it towed. Not being old enough to drive a car, I would frequently practice backing the trailer. As a result, I soon learned to back a trailer as well as a professional truck driver, long before I even had my learner's permit. In many ways, the smallest trailers are the hardest to back, because things change so quickly.
I use an old fashioned rabbit ears antenna for my TV reception. I have never had cable (or a satellite dish either). I get 6 analog channels on my old mid-1990s 13-inch television set. Six of the channels are converted back to analog form as they pass through the old mountain top translator station between here and Phoenix. The repeater station was not required to make the digital conversion. When using a converter box, I get 1 digital channel instead of the 6 analog channels.
On one of those channels, I only get the sound, but no picture. I am able to get the sound for that channel, when tunning it in from the channel 2-13 televison band on my CC Radio. When using the TV there is no worthwhile sound or a picture, on that channel. That channel is important because it is the only one which has the national network news at 5:30 pm.
If cable fails, everyone could just hook up an antenna and still get several channels. Other good alternatives would be books, magazines, the Internet, DVDs, or radio.
I refuse to use pirated software, which is why I use Linux and the vast collection of free software available for it instead. I have happily been using Linux on the desktop at home, for the last 10 years. With either Ubuntu or Kubuntu Linux, I love the way that apt-get (or Synaptic) gives me an amazing collection hundreds of great free programs available to be downloaded and installed legally. It is a huge selection of free open-source programs that are typically licensed under the GPL license or the LGPL license or other some other similar free software license.
Some of those same free programs such as OpenOffice and Firefox, are also available in Windows versions for people who prefer to continue using Windows.
When I occasionally hear those late night anti-software pircacy radio ads from the BSA, I feel so glad that I mainly use Linux at home instead of commercial software. I am referring to the BSA ads which ask people to report software piracy in the workplace, to get a reward.
There are also several good non-free commercial programs available for Linux that I have gladly supported by purchasing their products, such as Autopana Giga and CrossOver Linux.
I have always refused to use pirated software, which is why I use Linux instead. I have happily been using Linux on the desktop at home, for the last 10 years. With either Ubuntu or Kubuntu Linux, I love the way that apt-get (or Synaptic) gives me hundreds of great free programs available to be downloaded and installed (or uninstalled) legally. It is a huge selection of free open-source programs that are typically licensed under the GPL license or the LGPL license or other some other similar free software license.
Some of those same free programs are also available in Windows versions, for people who prefer to continue using Windows. Of course, OpenOffice is a good example of a free program that is available for both Windows and Linux users. If people want free software, they should legally use those types of free software software, instead of using pirated software. The more people use and support such projects, the more GPL or LGPL or similarly licensed such free software, will be available.
Back in the 1990s, I was one of the few people who would refuse to illegally install copies of software from friends. I refused to use pirated software, yet wanted to have access to a wide variety of free software. So in the year 2000, I switched to using Linux. I now use my Linux computer about 99% of the time and my Windows computer only about 1% of the time.
There are also several non-free commercial programs that I run under Linux, such as Autopano Giga and CrossOver Linux, that I have purchased. I do not mind supporting development of an occasional commercial program available for Linux, by paying for it.
I live in Arizona and have learned to spot the speed cameras, long before I get up close to them. With very little extra effort, while scanning the traffic ahead, I always notice the speed cameras. I then slow down slightly before getting close to them. However, I do not drive significantly over the speed limit anyway.
There are are two main types of speed cameras that I see in Arizona. One is the permanent setup, the other is the white SUV with hardware mounted on a bar several feet above the roof. In some cases (but not always) the camera is preceded by a sign which says "photo enforcement zone ahead." A couple of cities in Arizona also use an unmarked vehicle, which is usually parked out in the middle of nowhere with no one around, in a way that is not typical of where anyone else would park.
I am not someone who tailgates, so I do not need to stay as focused the car just ahead of me. Because of that, I have always tended to scan what is happening at least a few cars or more further down the road. That allows me to predict what the traffic will do ahead of time and also means that I tend to see the photo radar before they see me. It also helps that, in my pickup-truck, I sit up slightly higher than much of the other traffic.
Of course when my view ahead is blocked by one or more large semi-trailers, there is a slight chance of failing to see the photo radar ahead of time. On the routes I have taken across Arizona this last year or two, most of the photo radar has usually been in or near the Phoenix area.
I have sometimes wondered how close I need to get to the photo radar before they start checking my speed. I have also wondered if having several vehicles still between me and the photo radar, affects their being able to check my speed or not.
In the last 40 years of driving I have never had a speeding ticket or an accident.
As a child, during our grade school's every morning flag salute and prayer, we would usually sing the "Star Spangled Banner." I always thought one line ended with "atom bombs bursting in air." After a few years of singing it that way every morning, I eventually realized that they were actually singing something roughly more like "and the bombs bursting in air."
During this same time period, the Cuban missile crisis occurred, where we had to frequently practice hiding under our desks, with one arm covering our closed eyes and the other arm protecting the back our heads. So my misinterpretation of the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner, seemed appropriate for the time.
At one point during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a 10 inch wide , slowly spinning, charred black piece of paper slowly drifted down from the sky, and landed ominously next to us, during the morning flag salute. Several years later, we had an earthquake while saying the lord's prayer one morning, with the bushes shaking.
I have never had cable or satellite and do not miss not having it. With the rabbit ears antenna on my old 13 inch TV, I get about 6 channels from the mountain top translator. Surprisingly, all except one of the channels is still analog, because some mountain top translators were not required to make the digital conversion. This is in Arizona.
I am not a sports fan, so I do not need cable for that. If I had more channels, I would probably spend way too much time watching TV. I also just dislike the idea of having to pay for something like TV, which has always been free all my life.
I may try NetFlix someday. Ordinary video rental services are not a practical option for me, since I do not want to have to drive to town the next day or two just to return a video. With NetFlix keeping the DVD for as long as I want, and then mailing it back, would work much better for me. I am not sure if my DSL connection would be adequate for downloading the NetFlix movies from the Internet, or not.
It was most of the way through the 1980s before I even bothered to upgrade from a 10 inch black and white TV to a 13 inch color TV. If the old 10 inch black and white TV had not worn out, I would still probably be happily using it now.
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I am the kind of slightly disorganized kind of person who would actually forget a rarely used encryption password or pass-phrase. On the various on-line shopping websites I use, I have occasionally had to click the "I forgot my password" button. The same was true when I briefly played around with encrypting several files on my home computer.
After briefly playing around with using an encryption on my Linux computer at home, I soon decided to not bother using encryption any longer. After that, I no longer made any effort to remember the pass-phrase. But, I have still not yet gotten around to deleting those several encrypted, compressed tar practice backup files that are still on my external USB hard drive. I should go ahead and delete those several old encryption practice files soon.
All I can remember is that whatever the pass-phrase was, it was probably about 16 characters long, with a fairly random mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and punctuation characters. But, all the characters could easily be derived from what at the time seemed to be a fairly easy to remember, slightly amusing, easy to visualize, little sentence. I also had the pass-phrase written down on a piece of paper, which I misplaced about a year or two ago. It was not something found in a dictionary, or something easily guessed like my birth date or the name a girlfriend's dog.
Of course if I really had anything more important on my home computer than things like my social security number and a couple of old love letters, I would have kept on using the encryption program.I have also wondered what some judge would do, if they insisted that someone give them some old, hard to remember, forgotten encryption password.
I know how to replace the parts on my desktop computer, but have not yet learned how to change parts on a laptop. On my desktop computer, I can easily access the parts inside by just pulling the handle and removing the side cover, in just a few seconds. No screws are used in my computer case. About 3 or 4 years ago I replaced the obsolete and somewhat flaky unreliable motherboard, with a newer and better motherboard.
About a year ago the power supply went bad, so I replaced it with a new more energy efficient 80-plus rated power supply. This last year, I also replaced the case fan and the CD/DVD burner, when they both failed.
The small Northbridge cooler fan on my several year old AMD-64 has been somewhat noisy and erratic sounding for about the last year or two. So I plan to replace it with a Zalman passive heat sink. That should get rid of the noise for good.
Every few years, several keys on the keyboard have quit working reliably. So each time, I would then pry the caps off of each key and then remove all the dust, hair, and bits of food, from under each key. Afterwards the keyboard was good for several more years. It is always best to try to get the correct cap on the correct key, when snapping them back on. I have been using this same keyboard since I had it on a different computer, back in the mid-1990s.
About 3 years ago the cord on the 10 year old CRT monitor went bad, so I upgraded to a 20-inch flat screen monitor. When I started running out of space on my hard drive, I replaced one of the two hard drives with a larger capacity 1 TB hard drive. A while back, I decided that it would be nice to have more memory, so I upgraded to 2 GB of RAM.
This several year old desktop computer still seems fast enough and runs the latest version of Kubuntu Linux very well. I hope to keep using it for several more years.
I am not sure if the parts in the average laptop or notebook computer are as easily replaced or not. But, I eventually plan to get a small notebook sized computer, just for traveling or when I am away from home. However, my desktop computer will continue to be my main computer.
Analog TV still exists in this part of Arizona. The digital transition has not yet occurred here. Some mountain top translators were exempt from the requirement to make the digital transition. The nearest translator here, is still analog. I still get 6 analog TV channels on my old mid-1990s TV set from a rabbit ears antenna, without the help of a converter box. I do not have cable or satellite.
For several years, I kept hearing that analog TV would not exist beyond the deadline. Well, that deadline came and went, and I am still watching TV on my old mid-1990s TV set. My old, mid-1990s 13-inch TV set is sill working just fine with antenna reception, without a converter box. If I am not mistaken, the old mountaintop translator in on Mt. Francis.
When I briefly tried hooking up a converter box, I lost all 6 analog channels and got just 1 digital channel instead. So I disconnected the converter box, and went back to watching analog TV instead.
In addition to the 13 inch TV set, I also have an older version of the CCrane Radio Plus, which back then included audio only reception of the channel 2-13 television band. That radio still gets 4 analog TV channels very clearly. It also gets NBC on channel 6, which my TV set does not get. Because the radio does not include the UHF channels, the it does not get the 3 UHF analog TV channels.
I am one of the few people in this small city, which do not have cable or satellite. I have also heard of a couple of mountaintop translators in New Mexico and Colorado, which are still analog. I have wondered how the mountain top translator is still sending out analog TV, if the signals they are receiving are digital. I assume the must have installed converter boxes at the translator.
If my old 13 inch analog TV sets ever wears out, I hope that a new TV set would still also be capable of receiving the older style NTSC signals (not just the newer ATSC digital signals). If I am not mistaken, some cable TV systems are still analog, so I hope that means that backwards compatibility with analog TV will still be around for a while. If not, should I get a new or used older NTSC capable analogy TV, while they are still available? My approximately 15 year old 13 inch TV set might not last forever.
It finally would change whenever another car pulled up along side me, after a few minutes. Fortunately, I never did have to spend all night waiting for the light to change.
Here is link to of a photo of a local roundabout which works quite well. That traffic circle is large enough to work very well. Most of the time, the drivers only need to slow down to about 20 to 25 MPH, without having to make a complete stop. It helps that the large dump trucks and tractor-trailer rigs usually do not have to make a complete stop. When they keep rolling, they can get back up to the 50 MPH highway speed much more quickly, without holding up everyone behind them. When a car does need to stop, it is rarely for more than a few seconds.
A local traffic circle near where I live
After the traffic circle was built, most of the local drivers gradually learned that the person in the circle has the right of way. Everyone entering the circle has a yield sign. About once every 30 minutes a horn is honked, because of someone who still does not know the rules.
I really like the traffic circle myself. At that particular location, the traffic circle has proven to be far superior to the traffic light which it replaced. However, I have not seen enough example to know for sure how they work in various other types of locations. This one is in a small city in Arizona. It is at the intersection of a 4-lane highway and a 2-lane side street. The traffic on the highway appears to probably be about 3 times as heavy as the traffic on the other street. During rush hour, the traffic is much heavier than how it appears in the photo. But even so, it is not super heavy traffic, like in a large city.
When there used to be a traffic light at that intersection, during rush hour, occasionally the tail end of the line could not get moving good before the light turned red again. I wish that there were more traffic circles, instead of traffic lights, between where I live and town.
I remember hearing that Phoenix traffic engineer from the 1970s, say on TV why he disliked using left turn signals. If I remember correctly, roughly what he said was that adding a left turn signal for each direction, significantly reduced the time that the light could be green. That would reduce traffic flow, although it does make it easier and to make a left turn. I only heard him talk for a few seconds on TV, once back then.
I had noticed the same thing when traveling through well timed, evenly spaced lights and then encountering a traffic light which had a turn signal. It was much harder to make it through an intersection which had a left turn signal. Presumably, the shorter amount of time that the light was green was the problem. So, I think he actually had a good point.
I only head him talk once for a few seconds once when I was watching the local the local television news back then. What he said was in response to one or more people who wanted more left turn signals. I found his brief anti-left turn signal response, to be sufficiently thought provoking, to have vaguely remembered what he said decades later.
I moved away from Phoenix, just before it got too big, with too many people, too much smog, and too much heavy traffic.
I had similar problems with a local stoplight which would not change for my pick-up truck, late at night. I would pull up to the T-intersection, trying to turn left, then would just sit there for 5 or 10 minutes, until another car eventually pulled up beside me. The light would rapidly cycle through various changes, without ever giving me a green light. Because it was a T-intersection, not getting a green light meant that I could neither make a left turn or go straight ahead. Unfortunately, there was also a "No Right Turn" sign at the intersection. Since no other cars were around, I was always tempted to just drive through the red light, but never did.
I would try moving my truck back and for trying to trigger the buried magnetic sensors, but that never helped. I also sometimes tried moving into the other lane, but that never did help either. Then I would usually try switching my headlights back and forth between high beam and low beam, just in case the traffic light had an optical sensor. None of that ever worked.
Finally, another car would pull up beside me and the light would always immediately change. Usually, it was a small car weighing about 2/3 the weight of my full sized 4 wheel drive pickup. Was the traffic light waiting for more than one vehicle to show up at the intersection?
Does my V-6 powered, full sized four wheel drive pickup truck sit too high off the ground relative to its mass to trigger the magnetic sensors? It is very rare for a full sized pickup truck to be powered by a V-6 and five speed manual transmission, so mine weighs less than most. However, it is the typical stock factory height off the ground for a typical full sized four wheel drive pickup truck.
I did hear about someone else who had the same problem, with the same stoplight, when driving his pickup truck late at night. That problem went on for me for a couple of years, when going to shop at the grocery store, late at night. Finally, that intersection got rebuilt a couple of years ago, and the new traffic light does not have that problem. Back then, I would sometimes drive several extra miles though a route with a much lower speed limit, just to avoid having to go through that one stoplight, late at night.
I have occasionally had similar problems at two other intersections.
Here is a link to a photo of the local traffic circle that I was talking about. The article was from a couple of years ago.
A Photo of our local traffic circle
In the early 1970s, most of the traffic lights in Phoenix, Arizona were evenly spaced and well synchronized for travel in either direction. That was back before they messed up the synchronization by adding all those extra stoplights in front of the Walmarts and other major shopping centers. The consistent even spacing between major intersections, made it possible to synchronize the lights for traveling at a specific speed such as 35 or 40 MPH. When driving, I could usually tell if I was encountering a light a little to soon or almost too late. I would then speed up or slow down slightly, to stay synchronized with the lights.
Back then, there were a occasional small signs saying what speed the lights were synchronized for. Unfortunately, very few drivers seemed to notice or understand the significance of the specific speed which they were synchronized for. Some drivers would travel slightly too fast and have to stop for almost every red light. Other drivers would travel slightly too slow, forcing them and everyone behind them, to stop for every stoplight. Whenever possible, I would pass such of of sync drivers.
Each stoplight was probably about 1/2 a mile apart. In recent decades, stoplights have been added in front of major shopping centers. So now there are three closely spaced stoplights in a row, which totally messes up the synchronization.
I have wondered if perhaps they might have been able to maintain the synchronization if traffic circles had been used in front of the Walmarts and shopping centers, instead of stoplights.
There is an ideal sized traffic circle on the highway near where in northern Arizona. Most of the time, most drivers make it through the traffic circle without having to make a complete stop. That is probably an ideal sized traffic circle, with about a 50 foot or more wide pile of landscaped dirt in the center of the circle.
There used to be a traffic light at that intersection, before they built the traffic circle. I was surprised to see how much better the traffic flow is through the new traffic circle, even during rush hour. The highway traffic is heavier than the traffic from the cross street at the traffic circle. I suspect that combination might be an ideal for using a traffic circle. Quite a few traffic circles have recently been built in the smaller cities of northern Arizona, such in the small city where I live. By the way, none of the traffic circles are in front of a Walmart or a shopping center, so I have not actually seen an example of that.
I have noticed that my tastes can change significantly after several months of eating differently. About 30 years ago, I used to put 2% milk on my oatmeal for breakfast and did not like skim milk. Then, after putting skim milk on my cereal for several months, I started to prefer skim milk and no longer like whole milk or 2% milk.
I have also found that the same thing happens when eating sweet foods. I used to like soft drinks, then, I switching to unsweetened tea and coffee instead many years ago. After a few months, whenever I would try to drink a soft drink, it always tasted unbearably disgustingly sweet. The soft drinks tasted so terrible, that I could no longer stand to drink one.
In recent years, I have been eating even less fatty or overly sweet foods, and have found my tastes change again. A red bell pepper now tastes wonderfully sweet and makes a wonderful snack. A better than average good apple or a banana now also tastes wonderfully sweet. They now taste so deliciously sweet that I want to saver each delicious bite of an apple, banana or red bell pepper. Who needs a cookies or other junk food, when the less sweet ordinary foods start to taste so sweet.
As for the typical overly salty soup, I have occasionally made soup of my own at home, with little or no added salt, and it tastes better to me than the salty tasting store bought canned soup.
Instead of having to trick people's taste buds, each person could just cut back on the bad fats, excessive salt and excessive amounts of fast absorbing types of sugars and carbohydrates. Over time people's sense of taste would gradually adjust to liking or even preferring food that way. There is no fancy new food industry technological tricks needed for that.
What I meant, is that for me computers are just a hobby, not an occupation. However, I have had several computer courses and computer networking courses in the past, but have never turned it into an occupation and have not stayed up to date with some of the technology changes.
Even so, I realize that my skills are way beyond what the average computer user has, so I hesitated in saying that I was not an expert.
I also noticed the URL where the scareware advertisement was coming from. Just as an experiment, I added its URL to my hosts file in a way that diverted it harmlessly to the 127.0.0.1 loopback address on my computer. When I then went back to the same companies web paged, the link to the scareware advertisement was blocked. That trick would work for either a Windows, Mac or Linux computer. Of course, the average computer user would not know how to do something like that.
There are also many important parts of computers and networking where my knowledge is lacking, so I do not really think of myself as an expert.
Well, it really did not take that long to decide it was total bullshit, but despite trying repeatedly to close the tab, it kept reappearing in my browser and continuing on. So, I was busy trying to figure out how to get my browser to stop showing the scareware advertisement. At the same time, I was noticing with some amusement the incorrect information and impossible claims that it was making. The first time it happened, I had never even heard of scareware, so I was kind of curious, yet nervous about the aggressiveness of the program.
Of course I did not even consider giving the scareware permission to scan my computer and did not even consider purchasing their product. But, after finally trying to close the tab or pop-up again, it started trying to download their program to my computer anyway.
I finally exited from Firefox and just to be safe, I unplugged my Ethernet cable. Ahead of that, I had noticed the URL where the advertisement was coming from. So, as an experiment, I added that URL to my hosts file and diverting it to my 127.0.0.1 loopback address. I then reconnected my Ethernet cable and restarted Firefox and went back to the same companies web page without the linked scareware advertisement appearing.
Despite already knowing that is was bullshit, I later looked up the names of the two viruses names it had mentioned, elsewhere on the Internet. It said they only infected certain versions of Windows.
On several occasions over the years, I have encountered scareware which said that viruses and spyware had been detected on my Linux computer. Each time that was while I was browsing the Internet while using Linux at home. I had never heard of any Linux viruses actually circulating in the wild, so I was skeptical that they had actually detected both viruses and spyware on my computer.
On each of those occasions, it offered to scan my hard drive for viruses and spyware. Despite trying to say no and/or close their web page the advertisement reappeared and pretended to start scanning my hard drive. It said that it was scanning my drive C, with a progress bar showing that a scan was supposedly in progress. That seemed bogus, because drive letters are not used in Linux for designating hard drives or partitons.
I had a firewall enabled in both my DSL router and on my computer, with all the incoming ports and most of outgoing ports closed. So, I doubted that it was actually quite that easy to effortlessly scan my hard drive, like that.
After about 60 seconds of scanning my hard drive, they announced that several several viruses and several types of spyware had been found on drive C and also in my registry. Linux does not have a drive C and also does not have a registry, so again that seemed bogus. They then recommended that I purchase their anti-virus product to solve the problem. Not having actually noticed that I was using a Linux instead of Windows, they did not offer me a Linux version.
On at least one of those encounters with scareware over the years, it even tried to download their antivirus program to my computer just after I again tried to close the tab (or possibly a pop-up). Firefox then asked me what program it should use to open a Windows executable file. It also gave me the alternative of choosing where to save the file, or canceling the download. Of course, I did not even consider trying to download the program and see if I could get it to run under WINE.
After the most recent scareware encounter, I immediately installed the NoScript and AdBlock plug-ins for Firefox. I did that on both my Linux computer and my Windows computer. I had finally had enough of scripts and advertisements. Now, when I encounter an occasional trusted web page which requires scripting enabled, I right-click on the icon in the lower right to either temporarily or permanently allow scripts for just that web page. I am not a computer expert, but my guess is that without scripting enabled, I would probably have less trouble closing the advertisement without it instantly reappearing again.
I use Kubuntu 10.04 which is the KDE version of Ubuntu 10.04. I installed it last week and it seems to be working perfectly. I chose the alternate install version of the AMD 64 version of Kubuntu 10.04. As most of you probably already know, Ubuntu uses the Gnome desktop environment, whereas Kubuntu uses the KDE desktop environment. With Linux you get several choices in desktop environments.
Being somewhat nervous about upgrading, I kept my old version of Kubuntu 9.10 and installed a fresh clean copy of Kubuntu 10.04 onto a different partition. That way I knew that I could always go back to my older version, if I needed to.
I am one of the few people who insists on using different wallpaper for each of my virtual desktops. After installing Kubuntu 10.04, I had trouble figuring out how to get it to allow me to use different wallpaper for each of my virtual desktops. The way to enable doing that had changed since Kubuntu 9.10. I eventually found how to do that by clicking "Settings," then "System Settings," then "Desktop," then "Multiple Desktops," then checking the box for "different activity for each desktop." After doing that, I went to each virtual desktop and right clicked on a blank portion of the screen and then selected the "Desktop Activity Settings." I chose my favorite wallpaper from there.
I don't care very much what default software they include with Kubuntu, since I know what programs I prefer and can quickly and easily download and install them for free from the official Ubuntu repositories. There are hundreds of free Linux programs available from the official repositories. I prefer to use Synaptic to download those programs, because it is an easy to use point and click front end for apt-get. I have not yet tried using KPackageKit instead, which comes already installed with Kubuntu. When I first installed Kubuntu 10.04, I used apt-get to download the Synaptic package manager, and then used Synaptic to install every other favorite free program of mine.
I have been happily using Linux on the desktop for about 10 years now, but, I am not a computer expert. Kubuntu 10.04 seems to perform quite well on my several year old AMD 64 X2 4200+ computer. Unlike the earlier Kubuntu 9.10, I have not yet found any bugs or other problems with Kubuntu 10.04.
I have encountered traffic lights which never turn green for my direction, even after waiting through many cycles for about 5 or 10 minutes. There was one light in town which seemed to be wait for its buried magnetic sensing loops to detect at least two cars to arrive before it would turn green. I would be coming back from a grocery store at about midnight and have to sit there for about 5 minutes while waiting for another car to arrive, then it would finally change. Unfortunately, there was also a no right turn sign at the intersection, which made it impossible for me to legally escape from the situation.
There were three lights in town, more or less, like that. I have wondered if perhaps something about my pickup truck or the way that I approach the intersection, fails to trigger the buried magnetic sensing loops. I once talked to another local resident who had the same problem, in his pickup truck, with one of the same traffic lights.
I would hate to encounter a traffic light which could turn off my engine in that situation, preventing me from backing up or turning right to escape the problem. Would there be an emergency override switch for the system? Would they require such a system being retrofitted to my older 1992 pickup truck? I also wonder what would happen if the power to the traffic lights goes out during a thunder storm. Would our engines default to start in such a situation, so that we could treat the failed traffic lights as 4-way stop signs?
Thirty five years ago, most of the stop lights in Phoenix, Arizona were evenly spaced 1/2 mile apart and synchronized. When traveling at a speed that matches the synchronization, I could sometimes travel from one end of Phoenix to the other, while hitting nearly every light green. As an alternative to IBM's patent, why make anyone stop at all, just keep their movements properly synchronized with the green lights.
That was only possible during times of light traffic, when I could choose just the right speed. As I looked ahead, I could usually tell how about how long it would be before a light would change. If there was a crosswalk sign, what it said in the distance was also a clue. Surprisingly, very few other drivers seemed to be aware that there was a correct speed for staying with the synchronized lights. Most other drivers seemed to be traveling slightly above or below the correct speed. As the driver of a less powerful car with an almost worn out clutch and no air conditioning, I preferred to keep the car moving.
I always wondered why there was not some kind of electronic or visual indicator which would tell drivers if they needed to speed up or slow down slight to stay synchronized. I imagined possibly having an electronic box on everyones dash which would make deeper or higher pitched beeps to tell the drivers whether to go faster or slower. Each traffic light could put out a weak radio signal giving information to the box in each car. That could be combined with either a range finding technique for distance to the next stop light, or possibly GPS.
In recent decades, many more traffic lights have been added at entrances to shopping centers and elsewhere at incorrect distances from the next light that messes up the even synchronization.
In the small city were I live, I drive through a traffic circle most days. The traffic circle does not have a traffic light, and only uses yield signs. It replaced the less efficient traffic light which used to be there. With the traffic circle, drivers rarely have to wait more than a few seconds to get though the intersection. Traffic from one direction is lighter than the other, which I suspect is probably an ideal situation for using a traffic circle instead of a traffic light.
When a traffic light is needed at a location which does not match appropriate spacing between lights, perhaps I traffic circle should be used there instead.
Occasionally, I have overheard both sides of a cellphone conversation, even when they are not using the speaker phone feature. One time, I found myself unable to resist the urge to add my two cents worth to what the person on the other end was saying. So I leaned over and briefly added what I knew about the subject.
I have also noticed the much the same thing in how sound passes through the walls in Doctor's offices. I have occasionally overheard portions of what was being said between the doctor and patient in the next examination room. Several years ago, I heard two nurses down the hall wondering where the telephone book was. I could see that it was laying on a table near me, so I opened the door and walked down the hall and handed the telephone book to the nurse.
Because I use Ubuntu 9.10, my computer setup is still fairly unusual even when using NoScript. Despite using the NoScript plug-in for Firefox, the test showed that only one in 21,800 browsers has the same fingerprint as my computer. Among other things, it said that I am using Ubuntu 9.10 on a 64-bit computer with Firefox 3.5.9. In five categories of information from the test, it said "no javascript," because the test could not obtain any information about things like browser plug in details, time zone, screen size and color depth, or system fonts.
My being one in 21,800 is still better than the average computer which is one in 286,777, but it sounds like my computer is still somewhat easily recognizable.
Every few days I turn off my DSL modem, which causes my IP address to change. But, even if I were to have the cookies cleared out more often, or disable using them, my computer would still be fairly recognizable. When I get around to upgrading to the latest Ubuntu 10.4 version, perhaps my computer will be slightly less unusual, but even then it would still be an uncommon setup.
In the late 1960s, my dad's small Wheel Horse garden tractor must have had that or some other type of automatic transmission. When I pushed a lever forwards, the further forwards I pushed the lever, the faster it went. If I pulled the lever in the opposite direction, it went backwards, with it going faster the further the lever was moved.
I was not quite old enough to have a driver's license back then. So, I remember having lunch in high school, with everyone talking about having driven their tractor. They all laughed when they found out that our tractor had an automatic transmission. At the time I was quite embarrassed about our family having a garden tractor which had an automatic transmission. Looking back, it is hard to imagine that I was really so embarrassed about something so unimportant, like that.
The tractor also had a very small trailer which it towed. Not being old enough to drive a car, I would frequently practice backing the trailer. As a result, I soon learned to back a trailer as well as a professional truck driver, long before I even had my learner's permit. In many ways, the smallest trailers are the hardest to back, because things change so quickly.
I use an old fashioned rabbit ears antenna for my TV reception. I have never had cable (or a satellite dish either). I get 6 analog channels on my old mid-1990s 13-inch television set. Six of the channels are converted back to analog form as they pass through the old mountain top translator station between here and Phoenix. The repeater station was not required to make the digital conversion. When using a converter box, I get 1 digital channel instead of the 6 analog channels.
On one of those channels, I only get the sound, but no picture. I am able to get the sound for that channel, when tunning it in from the channel 2-13 televison band on my CC Radio. When using the TV there is no worthwhile sound or a picture, on that channel. That channel is important because it is the only one which has the national network news at 5:30 pm.
If cable fails, everyone could just hook up an antenna and still get several channels. Other good alternatives would be books, magazines, the Internet, DVDs, or radio.
I refuse to use pirated software, which is why I use Linux and the vast collection of free software available for it instead. I have happily been using Linux on the desktop at home, for the last 10 years. With either Ubuntu or Kubuntu Linux, I love the way that apt-get (or Synaptic) gives me an amazing collection hundreds of great free programs available to be downloaded and installed legally. It is a huge selection of free open-source programs that are typically licensed under the GPL license or the LGPL license or other some other similar free software license.
Some of those same free programs such as OpenOffice and Firefox, are also available in Windows versions for people who prefer to continue using Windows.
When I occasionally hear those late night anti-software pircacy radio ads from the BSA, I feel so glad that I mainly use Linux at home instead of commercial software. I am referring to the BSA ads which ask people to report software piracy in the workplace, to get a reward.
There are also several good non-free commercial programs available for Linux that I have gladly supported by purchasing their products, such as Autopana Giga and CrossOver Linux.
I have always refused to use pirated software, which is why I use Linux instead. I have happily been using Linux on the desktop at home, for the last 10 years. With either Ubuntu or Kubuntu Linux, I love the way that apt-get (or Synaptic) gives me hundreds of great free programs available to be downloaded and installed (or uninstalled) legally. It is a huge selection of free open-source programs that are typically licensed under the GPL license or the LGPL license or other some other similar free software license.
Some of those same free programs are also available in Windows versions, for people who prefer to continue using Windows. Of course, OpenOffice is a good example of a free program that is available for both Windows and Linux users. If people want free software, they should legally use those types of free software software, instead of using pirated software. The more people use and support such projects, the more GPL or LGPL or similarly licensed such free software, will be available.
Back in the 1990s, I was one of the few people who would refuse to illegally install copies of software from friends. I refused to use pirated software, yet wanted to have access to a wide variety of free software. So in the year 2000, I switched to using Linux. I now use my Linux computer about 99% of the time and my Windows computer only about 1% of the time.
There are also several non-free commercial programs that I run under Linux, such as Autopano Giga and CrossOver Linux, that I have purchased. I do not mind supporting development of an occasional commercial program available for Linux, by paying for it.
I live in Arizona and have learned to spot the speed cameras, long before I get up close to them. With very little extra effort, while scanning the traffic ahead, I always notice the speed cameras. I then slow down slightly before getting close to them. However, I do not drive significantly over the speed limit anyway.
There are are two main types of speed cameras that I see in Arizona. One is the permanent setup, the other is the white SUV with hardware mounted on a bar several feet above the roof. In some cases (but not always) the camera is preceded by a sign which says "photo enforcement zone ahead." A couple of cities in Arizona also use an unmarked vehicle, which is usually parked out in the middle of nowhere with no one around, in a way that is not typical of where anyone else would park.
I am not someone who tailgates, so I do not need to stay as focused the car just ahead of me. Because of that, I have always tended to scan what is happening at least a few cars or more further down the road. That allows me to predict what the traffic will do ahead of time and also means that I tend to see the photo radar before they see me. It also helps that, in my pickup-truck, I sit up slightly higher than much of the other traffic.
Of course when my view ahead is blocked by one or more large semi-trailers, there is a slight chance of failing to see the photo radar ahead of time. On the routes I have taken across Arizona this last year or two, most of the photo radar has usually been in or near the Phoenix area.
I have sometimes wondered how close I need to get to the photo radar before they start checking my speed. I have also wondered if having several vehicles still between me and the photo radar, affects their being able to check my speed or not.
In the last 40 years of driving I have never had a speeding ticket or an accident.
As a child, during our grade school's every morning flag salute and prayer, we would usually sing the "Star Spangled Banner." I always thought one line ended with "atom bombs bursting in air." After a few years of singing it that way every morning, I eventually realized that they were actually singing something roughly more like "and the bombs bursting in air."
During this same time period, the Cuban missile crisis occurred, where we had to frequently practice hiding under our desks, with one arm covering our closed eyes and the other arm protecting the back our heads. So my misinterpretation of the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner, seemed appropriate for the time.
At one point during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a 10 inch wide , slowly spinning, charred black piece of paper slowly drifted down from the sky, and landed ominously next to us, during the morning flag salute. Several years later, we had an earthquake while saying the lord's prayer one morning, with the bushes shaking.
I have never had cable or satellite and do not miss not having it. With the rabbit ears antenna on my old 13 inch TV, I get about 6 channels from the mountain top translator. Surprisingly, all except one of the channels is still analog, because some mountain top translators were not required to make the digital conversion. This is in Arizona.
I am not a sports fan, so I do not need cable for that. If I had more channels, I would probably spend way too much time watching TV. I also just dislike the idea of having to pay for something like TV, which has always been free all my life.
I may try NetFlix someday. Ordinary video rental services are not a practical option for me, since I do not want to have to drive to town the next day or two just to return a video. With NetFlix keeping the DVD for as long as I want, and then mailing it back, would work much better for me. I am not sure if my DSL connection would be adequate for downloading the NetFlix movies from the Internet, or not.
It was most of the way through the 1980s before I even bothered to upgrade from a 10 inch black and white TV to a 13 inch color TV. If the old 10 inch black and white TV had not worn out, I would still probably be happily using it now.