Category: ‘Whatchamacallit’

Microsoft, What Are You Doing? – Originally Published June 2016

May 26, 2016 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

What are you doing Microsoft?  In the last few days, almost all of the headlines on tech news sites were about the Chrome Browser replacing Internet Explorer as the most used browser.  Even though I don’t use IE very much, I became even more concerned when I read the the usage statistics include Microsoft’s new Edge browser in the totals.  This means that IE has slipped even more that the totals reflect.  Of course, one of the main reasons IE ever had such a high usage is because it has always been the Windows Operating System Default browser.  With the past years push by Microsoft to update users to Windows 10, they can no longer use what has been the dominant browser.

I’ve written in the past my reasons for not installing Windows 10 on any of my main computers.  Not only is the OS still not stable enough for me to trust with my daily use machines, I have no desire to install it on my old hardware.  I do have it installed on two machines and it works great, when it works.  It seems that about every other update messes up my settings, uninstalls some of my software or does some other niggling thing that makes me utter a few bad words.

I’m not planning to ever install Windows 10 on my two Windows 7 machines.  Aside from my hardware concerns, I’ve got them both running exactly like I want.  The only thing I don’t like about them is that I’ve had to disable Windows update.  Once a week or so, I check for updates and carefully scrutinize them before I install.  I don’t want to install a new operating system by accident.

Four years ago, in July of 2012, I wrote an article for the newsletter explaining why I switched from a Windows phone to an Android.  Since then, all of my mobile devices have had Android Operating Systems.  It looks like I was ahead of the times.  Today, Windows Mobile is around four percent and sliding lower.  Do you suppose this might be the result of many users like myself?  Customers get tired of waiting and move on.  The problem is that they often don’t move back.

I think the same thing is starting to happen with the Windows desktop/laptop Operating Systems.  A slow slide into oblivion.  Although there are no real accurate statistics, it isn’t hard to guess that Linux, Chrome OS and others are increasing in use.  Could this be happening because of Microsoft’s “strong arm” tactics to get everyone to use Windows 10?  Only time will tell, but I’d bet that many people are like me, using Linux more and more.

I will probably never know whether I am right or wrong, but I am starting to believe that in twenty years or so tech writers will only be writing about the history of Microsoft.  It’s not anything new in the technology world.  Just think of Commodore, Gateway, Lotus 123, Netscape, IBM, WordPerfect, AOL, Yahoo!, Motorola, Blackberry, Polaroid and many others.  Will Microsoft one day be just a footnote in the history books?

Thanks for reading.

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Over Datified – Originally Published May 2016

May 8, 2016 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Tell the truth now!  How many pictures do you have on your disk drive?  When was the last time you actually looked at most of them?  How many files do you have in your documents (and other) folders that you haven’t opened in the last year?  How many USB Flash Drives do you have filled with stuff you don’t ever use?

In this short article, I’m not going to tell you how to clean up those messes.  I’m just going to tell you why I think we are getting “over‑datafied”.  No you won’t find “over-datified” in the dictionary.  I made it up, but maybe it should be!

In this modern day and age, we are constantly being tracked.  Information about our habits are being stored on web servers everywhere.  Law enforcement agencies, business and many other organizations keep track of where we are, what we do and what we buy.  We hear almost daily about the potential harm that may befall us because of all the data mining.  For the most part, I don’t think that really happens very much.

What does happen is the data is often used to better our lives.  Isn’t it nice to just say, “OK Google” and almost immediately find out anything you might want to know.  I personally like it when my pocket computer beeps and tells me that it is time to leave if I don’t want to be late for a club meeting.  I like the fact that the library program suggests books that I might enjoy to reading.  In fact, that is how data mining is supposed to work.  We share information about ourselves and that information is used to make our lives better.

The problem is that I think we are getting to the point where there is just too much data.  There are thousands of apps you can download to your phone that access many data bases.  Do we really need to know where all the bathrooms within fifty miles are?  Is it necessary to keep track of how much coffee is left in the pot?

You can search the WWW and find a database for anything and everything.  We’re definitely “over‑datafied” when we can find out that women blink more than men, that Americans eat more than 100 acres of pizza every day, Vermont has more cows than people or that ingrown toenails are hereditary.

You can’t get through the day without being inundated with useless data.  Just listen to the nightly news.  Twenty-eight percent of the stories have a percentage fact in the story.  Oh well!  I guess there is nothing we can do about being “over‑datafied”.  Now you’ll have to excuse me while I edit the data charts for next months newsletter.

Thanks for reading.

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Scribus Desktop Publishing – Originally Published April 2016

April 24, 2016 Posted by Tiny

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (län’yəp, län-yäp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

Do you send out an annual Christmas letter to all of your relatives?  Do you like to make personalized greeting cards and party invitations?  Are you writing the next great novel?  Would you like to make your own personal calendar?  Would you like to edit the Computer Club Newsletter?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, you probably need some good desktop publishing software.  There are many programs you could buy: Microsoft Publisher, PrintMaster, The Print Shop and PagePlus, to name a few of the well known ones.  These programs will set you back anywhere from forty to two hundred dollars or more.

Or, if you’re thrifty like me, you could download and use an open source program that does everything the paid programs do and more.  I’ve been using Scribus Open Source Desktop Publishing to edit and publish the club newsletter for four months now.   I’ve come to think of the program as a word processor on steroids.

With Scribus you can create single or multi-page documents which can be single or doubles sided.  You can also create three or four fold documents for making brochures.  After your document is created, you simply have to insert text or image frames.  All the frames can be re‑sized, dragged and dropped or copy and pasted, etc.  You can also enter your data directly on the page, but it is much easier to create a frame.

Although I haven’t used all of the features, you can also insert render tables, frames, tables, shapes, etc.  There is also an insert barcode option.  I might research that feature in the future.  Wouldn’t it be cool to be reading a newsletter article and scan a barcode to get more information?

A search of the internet will yield several sites where you can find templates for everything from creating a comic book or magazine to printing your own newspaper.  You can also create and save your own templates.  I’ve done that for the newsletter.  Every month, the first page is nearly the same.  I just load the template, change the dates, volume number, meeting information and insert the President’s message.  Then it is just a matter of inserting articles, pictures, web site charts, etc.  My template is twelve pages, but it is a simple mouse click on the menu to add or delete pages as needed.

There are a few other things about Scribus you should know.  If you want to use the print preview, you have to install the interpreter Ghostscript.  Ghostscript is a non-harmful open source program, but it is more software on your computer.

Scribus has a medium difficulty learning curve.  Most items are intuitive and work much like any word processor.  Others are not.  For instance, to insert a hyperlink, you have to highlight the text and then select “Insert PDF Text Field”.  Then the inserted field has to be edited and the hyperlink inserted.  It was a pain at first, but after about the twentieth time, it became second nature.  For everything I have had difficulty with, it has been easy to find help and solutions in either the Scribus Wiki or an internet search.

Scribus is open source with versions for Windows, Mac and Linux.  There is also a portable version for Windows 32 Bit.  You can download the software at Get Scribus.  If you have a need for desktop publishing software, give it a try.  The cost is zero dollars, plus tax.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

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Reading For Cheap – Originally Published March 2016

March 13, 2016 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Ever since I learned how, I’ve always been an avid reader.  My parents didn’t have a television until I was about ten years old.  That never bothered me.  The library had a lot of entertainment.  In later life, when I was in the Navy, I seldom watched the ship’s movie.  I was busy finishing reading one more chapter before lights out.  These days, I still read at least a dozen magazines each month.  I am usually reading four or five books at a time.  I’ve got my bedside book, bathroom book, digital book and an audio book for my morning walk.

I could not even estimate how many thousands of dollars I’ve spent buying reading material of one form or another.  In the past three or four years, my reading has all become either digital or audio.  I haven’t been in a bookstore or looked at a magazine display rack in at least a year and a half.  For me, it’s all been for the better.  In this article, I’m going to tell you how you can do the same.

I’ve saved a lot of money with e-books and audio books.  One of the reasons is because it is so easy to check the material out from the Parish library.  From my easy chair I can check out a vast number of books (both digital and audio), magazines, comic books and movies.  I’ve written many times about using the library to download material.  We have had several demonstrations at club meetings and there is a lot of information on our website.  I won’t bore you by repeating the details again.

There are many internet sites where electronic books can be downloaded for no charge.  All of the major booksellers offer some free books, but there are many other places you can get a better selection.  A good place to start your search is at Tech Support Alert’s Free eBooks And Audiobooks To Read Online Or Download.  This is the launch page for other pages that list site with free books.  The lists are broken down by genre.  There is also an alphabetical list at their Best Free eBooks Online.  At the time of this writing there are 913 sites listed.  These pages also have links to sites for downloading comic books, textbooks and online courses.  Bonus tip: if you read the user comments, you will find many other sites.

Some of the sites that I regularly use (in no particular order) are:

  • Project Gutenberg – was one of the first ebook sites.  There are more than 50,000 titles. It has by far the largest list of free titles for downloading and the site is easy to use.
  • LibriVox – is similar to Project Gutenberg except it is all audio books.  Volunteers read and record books and upload them.
  • Open Library – although not technically a download site, the goal is to have a web page for every book ever published.  There are links on these pages where you can get the book.  You can borrow others for a two week period.
  • Bookbub – is a site that I check daily.  It isn’t a download site but lists the latest deals on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Google and Kobo.  Many of the books are for sale (usually $0.99 or $1.99) but it also lists many free books.  Use the link in this article and you won’t have to give them an e-mail address.

I hope this list of sites has piqued your interest and gets you started on ebook reading.  This is nowhere near a complete list of download sites for ebooks.  If you’re like me and like to read, these links should get you started.  If you know of any good book sites, I’d like to know.  Post on our club website or send me an e-mail.

Thanks for reading.

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Too Much Security? – Originally Published February 2016

February 10, 2016 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Lately I’ve been wondering if it is possible to have too much on line security.  Everyone that knows me will probably tell you that I’m sometimes a little paranoid when it comes to my computing.  I often talk about using a password manager, a virtual private network and encrypting important data on my hard drives.  Although I’ve contacted a few viruses and other malwares, I can honestly say that they haven’t gotten past my defenses and did not do any damage to my computers.

I’ve been reconsidering a little bit.  For the past week, I’ve been aboard a cruise ship.  I’ve been on several cruises, but this one has a major difference for me.  I purchased the satellite internet plan.  They’ve finally lowered the prices to where I can afford it.  It’s not nearly as fast as what I’m used to, but that’s a story for another article.

What led to the idea for this article is the fact that I’m pretty security conscious.  I use a password manager and generate strong passwords, usually 30 characters or more.  I almost always use a Virtual Private Network when I’m online.  All my important data files are encrypted.  (I’ve even got a couple of files where I encrypted the already encrypted file.)

I also use two-factor authentication on sites that allow it.  This caused a few not nice words to escape my lips when I logged into different sites and get the “we have sent a text to your phone, please enter the code in this box.”  This proved to be rather hard to do because there wasn’t a cell phone tower in the middle of the ocean.

That got me to thinking.  Do I really care if my Facebook account gets compromised?  They don’t have any of my credit card information or hardly any other personal data.  Many of my accounts that worry me don’t offer two-factor.  My bank comes immediately to mind.

Could it be that security doesn’t matter any more?  No matter how locked down your data is, there always seem to be companies like Sony, Target, Adobe and Home Depot being compromised releasing our information to the world.  Even many of our governmental agencies contribute to our identities being placed at risk.

If you follow any sites like Krebs on Security, you soon find there is a security breech about every second or third day.  There are also many others that never get reported.  When we do find out, it is often months after the fact.

The simple fact is that if you go online in the modern world, you should assume that your personal data has been compromised.  I guess I was incorrect in my opening paragraph.  You can’t have too much security.

That’s all for this month. Thanks for reading.

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Finding Free Software – Originally Published November 2015

November 22, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I was looking back through some of the old newsletters when I saw an article about the annual club software disk.  Tom used to work hard at making all club members a CD with several freeware/shareware programs that were always useful.  Being a frugal computer user, I often got a gem or two from the annual Christmas gift.

I don’t think we should return to the days of an annual disk, but I thought I’d share my methods of obtaining free software.  Keep in mind that nothing is free.  We’ve all heard the saying “when something is free, you are the product.”  Although not necessarily always true, often you pay a price for “free” software by giving up personal data, looking at advertisements, getting fewer features, etc.

No, I’m not making a plea to turn back the clock.  Instead I thought I’d write about where to find useful software for zero or little charge.  Although I’m not going to recommend any software as being “better”, I will mention that I’m writing this article with LibreOffice Writer, a module of the LibreOffice suite.  You can download it for free at LibreOffice – the document foundation.

When looking for free software, a good idea is to load your favorite internet search engine and include the words free or freeware in your search terms.  Refine your results as necessary.  For instance, when I became the newsletter editor, I searched for “best freeware newsletter software”.  Search engine suggestions (usually found near the bottom) soon made me realize that I was really looking for desktop publishing software.  It wasn’t long before I found several programs that I plan to test.

There are many sites that offer lists and reviews of different categories of software.  Almost all of them have a search function.  Those that don’t have menu buttons to easily find what you are looking for.

My favorite is one that I have often talked about.  Gizmo’s Freeware is a community site with several members that curate lists of freeware in different categories.  Recently, they have also added reviews for free to try and paid programs.  I have found this to be one of the best software resources on the internet.

Major Geeks goal is to provide the top one percent of editor tested freeware downloads.  They’ve been on the internet since 2001, so they must be doing something right.  There is also an active user forum.

FileHippo is another site where you can find many popular freeware programs for downloading.  A unique feature of the website is the FileHippo App Manager.  This is a small utility that scans your installed software and notifies you of programs that have an available update.  The app only works for programs that are hosted on the site.

The Giveaway of the Day website offers one free license software title each day.  The programs are available for only twenty four hours.  Software companies do this with the hope that you will like the program enough to purchase it.  Many days the free program isn’t the best, but there is the occasional gem.

A fellow by the name of Nir Sofer has written more than a hundred utilities.  They are mostly small, stand alone programs that are easy to use and solve a specific problem.  Best of all, they are all free.  You can check them out at Nirsoft.

There are many other places to find free software.  Some are good and some are not so reliable.  Watch out for sites that hide their download links.  They may try to fool you by having you click on a big download button for software you don’t want while putting the correct link at the bottom of the page where it is easy to miss.  Before installing unknown software, do an internet search of the program name.  If you use a keyword such as problems, you might find something to change your mind.  The more reviews you read, the better informed you will be.  You will soon get a “feel” whether or not the program is worth trying.

Thanks for reading.

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Things I’ve Unlearned – Originally Published October 2015

October 11, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Recently, I was reading an article in “Astronomy Magazine” about the Pluto New Horizons mission.  There was a section on why it was downgraded from planetary status.  Now I’ve got to unlearn some things about the place.  Like so many other things, that got me to thinking about how I’ve had to forget or change my thinking on many other subjects.

For years I’ve saved all my files with an eight character file name.  Back in the DOS and early Windows days, file names were limited to eight characters and three more for the extension.  You had to be creative in naming files so you could remember what they were.  Over the years, most file systems have allowed us to use up to 256 characters.  I finally unlearned using non-descriptive file names.  I still haven’t unlearned that it’s not okay to use a space in a file name.

I’ve had to unlearn a lot of terms over the years.  Sometimes, I still find myself saying, “dial the phone”, even though my pocket computer doesn’t have a dial on it.  Unlike my wife, I’ve finally quit saying “tape a TV show.”  There isn’t any tape in the VCR.  Oops!  I meant DVR.  Many others like myself still, “film a movie”, “roll down the car window”, “blow off steam” and make a “carbon copy.”  People that haven’t unlearned this stuff should “hold their horses” before they start sounding like a “broken record”.

There is a lot of things I haven’t minded unlearning.  It is so much easier to double click an icon to start a program on my computer.  Long gone are the days of having to type “load program name,8,1”.  There were many times I sat and waited for a program to load.  I would finally realize that I had forgotten to hit the return key.

I also don’t mind having to remember to make sure there is enough room on the VHS cassette tape before recording the latest Star Trek program.  The same goes for setting the clock on the machine.

I’ve also have many non-technological things to unlearn.  Before I pour a glass of milk, I still shake the container even though there isn’t any cream to mix in.  I still let the water run before filling my glass.  I don’t want to get a spider in my glass.

About the only thing I’ve found worse than having to unlearn something is the things I’ve had to relearn.  I’ve been teaching the grandson how to code a web page.  Unfortunately, I’ve had to look up some commands that I used to write without even thinking.  One of the problems with programming languages is there are so many of them.

Isn’t technology great? I wonder what I’ll have to unlearn in the future.
Thanks for reading.

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KB3035583 – Originally Published August 2015

August 8, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

KB3035583 was recently resurrected on my Windows update list as an important update.  It has been making me think a lot about Microsoft and Windows 10.  In fact, I’m having second thoughts about whether I want Windows 10 an any of my primary computers.

This patch first appeared back in March as an optional update.  It was described as an update that enables additional capabilities for Windows Update notifications when new updates are available for the user.  About a week later, the patch was re-released with a change from optional to recommended.

WOW!  This must really be an important update.  Like so many things in life, it depends on your point of view.  At first, I liked the update. Since then, my viewpoint has changed.

When the update is installed, a new icon appears in the Windows taskbar.  Mousing over the icon reveals the message “Get Windows 10”.  Clicking opens a multi‑page advertisement to reserve your Windows 10 free upgrade.  So far, so good.

After I reserved my free upgrade, the Get Windows 10 icon remained in my taskbar.  No problem at all.  I opened the Control Panel to customize notification area icons.  I changed the GWX (Get Windows Ten) icon to hide icon and notifications.  Problem solved.

A few days later, when I rebooted my computer, I noticed that the GWX icon had returned.  Microsoft changed my customized notifications settings.  Since I’m kind of fussy about unnecessary programs, tasks and services that run on my computers, I uninstalled KB3035583.  Of course, I opened Windows Update and hid the patch.

Since then, the update has shown up two or three times as either an important or recommended update.  It’s like Skype. You can hide it, but not permanently.

Thanks for reading.

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More Things I Hate About Computing – Originally Published July 2015

August 6, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Way back in 2009, I wrote an article for the newsletter where I ranted on things I hate about computing.  About the only thing that has changed is that I hardly ever get any forwarded e-mails any more.  Of course, it’s probably because hardly anyone uses e-mail these days.  People have found that it’s easier to just hit a “share” button.

Maybe hate is too strong a word, but there are still a lot of things that I really dislike about electronics, computing and the internet. For instance, “click baiting” seems to be getting worse every day. Simply put, click baiting is where an advertiser pays a web site to put in an article with an interesting headline that just turns out to be advertising. If you want to see a lot of click baits, get a Facebook account. Just make sure you hit the share button to pass it on to your friends.
After giving some thought to the subject, I’ve discovered that there are a lot of other things I hate about computers, the internet and electronics in general.  For instance, I really dislike all of the haters.  Microsoft fan boys are always running down Apple while the Apple fans do the same to Microsoft.  Of course, the Linux users are different.  They hate all the other operating systems.  It goes even further.  If you go to a camera forum, you will find Sony, Canon, Olympus, etc. users at each others throats.  Don’t you miss the old days of “FORD: Fix or repair daily”?  Personally, I’d rather fix a Ford than drive a Chevy.

I really dislike software that isn’t user friendly.  Some programs have windows that can’t be re-sized.  I’m getting older and my eyesight isn’t what it used to be.  If I can’t make the window bigger and re-size the font, I likely won’t use the software.  Then there is software that won’t let you choose where to install it.  I don’t install all of my programs into “program files”.  Lots of times, I don’t even install them on the C drive.  I’m not even going to talk about End User Licensing Agreements or unwanted offers.  One of the worst things is a question similar to: “Click this box if you like this article”.  Then you see a yes box with no alternatives.  You can’t continue if you don’t check the box.

I wonder if Microsoft will ever fix one little thing that has bugged me for as long as I remember.  Whenever you use file explorer to copy, move or delete a list of files, Windows makes an estimate of how long it will take.  Wouldn’t it be nice if the estimate was close once in a while.

Isn’t it amazing how many download sites have succumbed to evil ways?  In times past, CNETs download.com was the premier site to get software.  In recent years, the site has become riddled with malware, drive-by downloads, and other unwanted junk.  Source Forge has joined them.  Some days you can’t keep up with the bad stuff.

Since another thing I hate is long winded diatribes from complainers, I’ll just say, “Thanks for reading.”

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Facebook – The Modern Tabloid – Originally Published June 2015

June 5, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

You may think that using Facebook is free, but it isn’t.  Facebook is a business, and in business to do just one thing – make money.  You pay by giving personal information which you agreed to when you created an account.  The only way to not do this is to close your account. All your previous postings will remain forever.

You’ve just read one of my many “copy and paste’ responses that I sometimes post on Facebook.  My Facebook usage is usually about ten to twenty minutes each morning.  My friends list is mostly relatives and a few long time Yankee friends.  Some of them spend hours everyday re-posting many rumors on their time line.  I’d guess that at least sixty percent of my posts are links to Snopes articles that tell the truth.

It seems to me that Facebook has replaced some of our previous institutions.  You hear something about Facebook nearly every day.  When was the last time you heard about the “National Enquirer”, “Weekly World News”, “The Weekly Gazette”, “Star Magazine” or any of the other tabloid magazines.

On your weekly grocery shopping trip, you could find out where Elvis was.  If you didn’t believe that Elvis was still alive, you could always read about the latest sighting of an alien.

Facebook has become the tabloid of the new millennium.  Now I can read the latest news about how our president isn’t a citizen.  Although I haven’t noticed any Elvis sightings on the service, there have been a lot of reports of celebrities that were killed by a crazed gunman, died of an obscure disease or were obliterated in a highway wreck.

You don’t need to read your weekly tabloid anymore if you want to get rich by filling envelopes or answering calls for various companies.  Facebook has made it even easier for you.

There are so many people like Bill Gates that are giving away millions of dollars that I think they may put Nigerian princes out of business.  Apple has found so many warehouses full of unsold tablets to give away that I find it hard to believe they even sell any.  One of these days, I know I’ll get lucky and be one of the first hundred people to like the post that is giving away a free car.

Luckily, I can do the same thing on Facebook that I do with the tabloid magazines.  I just read the headlines and ignore the articles.

Thanks for reading.

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