Category: ‘Clicker’

Don’t Be Dumb (2019-10)

July 12, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

In the movie, Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.”  Could this mean that an intelligent person who does stupid things is still stupid?  Everyone has heard the stories of the computer user that used their disc player as a coffee cup holder.  Did you hear about the computer user that called tech support trying to figure out why their computer wasn’t working?  It was because there was a power outage.  When you Google “stupid computer stories” you get about 59,100,000 results.  No matter how you look at it, we’re talking about a lot of stupidity.

This month, I’m not planning write about stupid computer things, just plain dumb or unsafe computing practices.  Probably one of the dumbest things some people do is neglect antivirus and anti-spyware programs.  Antivirus programs can be a royal pain in the you know what.  They are always blocking some application you want to use.  They often have to be disabled to install new software.  To be useful, they have to be updated regularly.  It seems like the subscription is always expiring and prompting you to renew it.  You can’t afford to go without virus protection.  The malicious programs that AV software detects can not only wreak havoc on your system, but can spread via your computer to the rest of your network.  Don’t be dumb!  Keep your antivirus up to date.

I think it’s dumb to just click on anything and everything.  I know how tempting it is to quickly load that solve everything program without first reading the EULA.  Be careful!  You might be agreeing to let everyone on the internet send you spam.  Even worse, you could do like one of my sisters did – agree to use your address book for a sales pitch to all your friends.  I know how hard it is to resist clicking an e‑mail hyperlink your best friend just sent you.  Be careful.  It’s so easy to download backdoor Trojans without even knowing it.  Don’t be dumb and give in to “click mania.”  Think before you click a link.  Links can also be disguised in “phishing” messages or on Web sites to take you to a different site from the ones they genuinely point to.  You can often find out the real URL by hovering over the link without clicking it.

Don’t be dumb and install/uninstall lots of programs.  It is tempting to be on the “cutting edge”; so you often install and try out new software.  Beta programs are usually free and give you a chance to test new features before other users.  There are also many freeware and shareware programs made available as Internet downloads by their authors.  I know none of our club members would never do it, but some users even install pirated software.  The more programs you install, the more likely you are to run across ones that either include harmful code or are poorly written and cause your system to crash.  Even if you install only licensed commercial software, too many installs and uninstalls can gunk up the registry.  Not all uninstall routines completely remove program remnants and at the very least, this practice can cause your system to slow down over time.  Don’t be dumb. Install only programs that you actually need.

I think that it’s dumb to plug your computer right into a cable or DSL modem and go on the Internet.  Some people don’t realize that they’re immediately putting themselves at risk from viruses and attackers.  Every Internet connected computer should be protected by a firewall.  Just having a firewall isn’t enough.  You must also make sure it’s turned on and configured correctly to protect you.

I think it’s really dumb to plug in any electronic equipment without using a surge protector.  Doing so can physically destroy your computer equipment, as well as the data it holds.  You might think your system is in danger only during an electrical storm, but anything that interrupts the electrical circuit and then restarts the current can fry your electronics.  Something as simple as turning on an appliance that’s plugged into the same circuit can cause a surge.  If you have a power outage, there could be a surge when the electricity comes back on.  Don’t be dumb.  Protect your electronics against damage from power surges by always using a surge protector.

Remember that everything in this article is my opinion. It doesn’t really matter to me if you follow my advice.  I don’t gamble very much, but there is one thing I’m willing to bet on.  It might not happen for a while, but eventually, you’re going to get caught!

Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.

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File Menu Tools (2019-09)

July 12, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

This month I’d like to tell you about one of my favorite utility programs.  I’ve got it installed on all of my computers and have been using it for more than ten years.  I first reviewed this program in July 2009.  The program has gotten even better since then.  Like many other free programs, the programmer has a donate button on his website.  I like the program so much that I hit the PayPal button a long time ago.  Maybe it is about time I gave him a few more dollars.

FileMenu Tools lets you customize the right click menu of Windows Explorer.  It also works with all of the alternate explorer programs that I’ve tried.  The program adds utilities to perform operations on files and folders and adds customized commands that let you run external applications, copy or move to a specific folder or delete specific file types.

With the built in commands you can:
• Run With Parameters – Runs a program with parameters you input in a dialog box.
• Command Line From Here – Opens a command line window.
• Copy/Move – No need to cut and paste. You can also use filters in file selection.
• Duplicate Files – Makes a copy in the same folder.
• Pack to Folder – Moves all the selected elements to new sub‑folder in the current folder.
• Copy Path/Name/Content – Copies the selected item(s) to the clipboard.
• Attributes – You can view and change them without having to open a properties dialog box.
• Find and Replace – Lets you find or replace a text for all the files in a selected folder.
• Advanced Rename – With lots of options.
• Change Icon – Changes the icon for the selected folder.
• Change Attributes – Quickly and easily change folder options.
• Advanced Delete – Lets you delete specific file types in a folder.
• Synchronize Two Folders – Lets you synchronize two folders quickly and easily.
• Shred Files – Overwrites several times so it is impossible to recover the file in the future.
• Send to Mail Recipient – Lets you send an e‑mail with selected elements as attachments.

These are less than half of the FileMenu commands you can select from.  In the configuration menu, a simple check will turn off the commands you don’t want.  If you can’t find the FileMenu function you need, then just add a customized command to run external applications, copy/move to a specific folder or delete specific file types.

FileMenu Tools lets you configure the “Send to” sub‑menu.  You can add new items, change the properties of the existing items or delete them.  You also can disable existing “Send to” items in order to hide them from the menu.

FileMenu Tools will also let you enable/disable the commands which are added to the context menu of the Windows Explorer by other programs.  This is the only function that is not one hundred percent reliable.  When it works, it works well, but it doesn’t catch all of the programs that add a right click.

FileMenu Tools is a 12.90 MB download and runs on all Windows platforms.  Open Candy is used during the installation process but can be refused with a check mark.  Did I mention the price?  This program is freeware and costs nothing.

Download FileMenu Tools and give the program a test.  I’m pretty sure that you’ll like it.  While you’re on the Lopesoft website, you can also download and test LopeEdit Lite, an excellent alternative to Windows Notepad.

Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.

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Things I Hate About Computing (2019-08)

July 12, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

This month I’m going to rant, rave, criticize and complain just a little.  About a year ago, before I moved to the Baton Rouge area, my wife and I were in one of the home improvement stores.  I thought that it would be a good time to pick up a new water filter for our refrigerator.  I went over to appliances and told them I needed a new filter for a Whirlpool.  He immediately asked me which of the nine filters I needed.  Of course, I didn’t have the filter number memorized.  So I found our refrigerator on the sales floor and told the salesman, “One to fit that model.”  I got home and found that it was the wrong size filter.  When I went back to exchange it, I found out that a different model year almost always uses a different filter.  What does all that have to do with computers and electronics?

It got me to thinking about some things I hate about technology.  I’ve probably got 10 or 20 different USB cables in the junk box in my computer room.  Every time you buy something that is USB supported, you get another cable.  Why is this?  It’s because many manufacturers have their own proprietary plug.  They have to include a cable because none of my other 20 cables will work with the darn thing.  I recently got a new cell phone.  Same manufacturer, different model.  You guessed it.  I’ve got another USB cable in my collection.  Wouldn’t it be nice if everything had a standard plug and didn’t have the cable included?  Think of the money that could be saved. Wait a minute!  Then they couldn’t sucker people into paying $20 for 3 dollars worth of wire.

Another thing that makes me mad are End User License Agreements (EULA).  I’m one of the few people who research them before installing anything on my computer.  My complaint isn’t the fact that lawyers write them.  I can use the internet to explain the legal terms.  My objection is that I have seldom found a EULA that can be read full screen.  Instead, they write them in a little window that usually covers about a tenth of my monitor.  I think this is done to discourage people from reading the agreements.  Just get them to click “I agree” and get it over with.

I can live with SPAM (I usually don’t even see it).  I don’t mind getting bombarded with internet advertisements (I can always go to other sites).  What I hate it when websites pop up a window asking for information that they will likely never use.  For instance, there is a website that I won’t name that wants to know my age, sex and country.  They then store the data in a cookie on my computer.  When I tell them that I‘m 28‑year‑old female, I get the same advertisements as the dirty old men get.  Why do they waste my time?

I also dislike software that isn’t user‑friendly.  Some programs have windows that can’t be resized.  I’m getting older and my eyesight isn’t what it used to be.  If I can’t make the window bigger and read 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 programs into “program files”.  Many times, I don’t even install them on the C drive.

I wonder if Microsoft will ever fix one little thing that has bugged me for as long as I remember.  When you use file explorer to copy, move or delete a list of files, Windows estimates how long it will take.  If you’re doing an operation on a lot of files, the estimated time will change every time you check it.  On older systems it can be even more aggravating.  Wouldn’t it be nice if the estimate was close once in a while?

Hate might be too strong of a word, but I’ve always disliked how companies will use a proprietary document format.  The perfect example is word processing.  Why must each program have a different extension?  Is it good for a business to make consumers remember “.doc”. “.odf”, “.wps”, “.docx”, “.odt”, “.txt”, “.rtf”, “.abw”, “.abi” and hundreds of others?  Almost all word processing software has a save as feature to save files to other formats.  They can’t be that much different.  Why isn’t there a standard where all programs save in a standard format?  After all, this idea seems to work pretty well for HTML internet files.

That’s enough ranting and complaining.  Next month I promise to write something useful for the newsletter.  By the way, did I mention that the two water filters had two different prices?  Does that remind you of anything else technology related?

Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.

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Free Reading Material (2019-07)

July 12, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
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 always 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 about twenty 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 two years.  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, movies and much more.

There are many internet sites where electronic books can be downloaded for no charge.  All the major booksellers offer some free books, but there are many other places where you can get a better choice.  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 of categories.  It links to other sites that list free e‑books with download information.  The lists are sorted by genre.  The title is somewhat confusing.  It is actually a list of sites that offer free books.  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 other sites that I use to download free books (in no particular order) are:
• Project Gutenberg was one of the first e‑book sites.  There are more than 59,000 titles. I t has by far the largest list of free titles for downloading and the site is easy to use.
• LibriVox is like Project Gutenberg except it is all audio books.  Volunteers read and record books and upload them.  There can be a large variance in audio quality.
• Open Library is a section of the Internet Archive.  The goal is to have a web page for every book ever published.  Most pages have links to where you can get the book.  Some of the books are readable in your web browser. You can borrow others for a period of two weeks.
• Bookbub is a site that I check almost 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 I’ve provided, you won’t have to give them an e-mail address.
• eBook Reader is a review site for all things e‑reading.  You can find information on both hardware and software.  They have an extensive section of where you can download books (both free and paid).  There are also several how‑to guides.

I hope this list of sites has piqued your interest and gets you started on e‑book reading.  This is nowhere near a complete list of download sites for e‑books.  If you’re like me and like to read, these links should get you started.

Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.

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Owning Your Own Domain (2019-06)

July 11, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

I purchased my first internet domain name on May 10, 2001.  For several years before that, I had a personal website that I hosted on the AOL free server.  Fast forward to 2018 and I’m the owner of a dozen different domain names.  I’ll admit that most of them are unused.  Someday my grandsons might want them.

I think that everyone should get their own domain for a variety of reasons.  The biggest reason is so that you can easily control your e‑mail.  If your e‑mail address is YourName@yourisp.net, you would lose it if you ever changed your Internet Service Provider to another company.  If you had your own domain, you could have the e‑mail address of YourName@yourdomain.com or .net, or .org, etc.  You would keep that e‑mail for as long as you owned the domain.  Never again would you have to change your e‑mail address.

Another advantage is that you could have many e‑mail addresses.  Most providers let you create at least a hundred separate addresses.  I usually create a new address for different sites.  If I get a lot of spam, I know who sold my e‑mail address.

Owning your domain isn’t expensive. For instance, HostGator, one of several hosting services that I’ve used, charges $12.95 a year to register a domain name.  Hosting services are $7.16 a month.  If you sign up for three years, the rate drops to $3.96.  If you do a web search you will find many companies and many different pricing plans.  For that low fee, you can get unlimited e mail addresses, disk space and bandwidth.  There are several other hosting sites that offer similar pricing.

Once you’ve purchased the service, you can easily make a website to show off your hobbies, a family photo album, or share recipes.  Other uses for personal domains and websites are to give family members their own e mail address, host private chat rooms, backup files, etc.  You can even create your own private cloud storage space.  You could also do like me: plain old fashioned BS.

Although it is helpful, there is no real reason to know HTML coding.  There are several free programs that can have your personal website up and running in just a few hours.  Most hosting companies offer easy installation of these applications.  Web searches will find you many more.  A final place to get help with a website is the Cajun Clickers Club.  There are several members that I’m sure would be more than willing to help.

All of my websites are powered by open-sourced software.  I use several free programs: RV Web Site Builder, WordPress, phpBB, Blue Griffon, to name just a few.  My point is that if you can use a word processor, you can use website software.

I sure hope I’ll be checking out some new websites in the near future.  After all, if I can create a website, anyone can.

Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.

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Cutting the Cable and Streaming (2019-05)

July 11, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

Last month at the monthly meeting, I demonstrated the Roku Ultra, one of many streaming media players that can be purchased.  A streaming media player is simply a device that is programmed to stream video, audio, pictures and other media over the internet to your TV.  A simple search on Amazon shows that there are many options for buying a device.

Most of the questions were not about the Roku, but instead about the services that you can stream.  Many attendees wanted to know “how much does streaming cost?” or “will I be able to watch a specific channel?”

Unfortunately, my answer to most of those types of questions was, “I don’t know.”

The truth is that the answer would be different for each person.  It is kind of like somebody that says they are buying a car and asks how much it will cost them to operate it.  There are many variables: the cost of gasoline, how many miles they drive, how often they take a trip, etc.

The same can be said about cutting the cable and streaming.  There are various streaming services, each with their own pricing structure.  To make things harder to choose, most of them have different pricing plans.  For instance, Netflix has three different plans, ranging from $8.99 to $15.99 a month.  Hulu has four plans from $5.99 to $50.99 a month.

With the thousands of streaming channels you can watch, how do you choose?  If you do an internet search, you will find hundreds of sites that will give you tips on how to stop cable service and stream your shows.  Most of them recommend that before you do anything, either keep a journal or make a list of what you actually watch on TV.

After you have determined what you want to watch, it is time to do some research on where you can stream shows that you want to watch.  This might be the hardest part of the process as there are so many services to choose from.  If you max out on different services, you may not end up saving any money at all.

Local channels and news can usually be watched with the use of an antenna.  You can also often stream the shows from the network’s website.  Many of the stations stream their news reports online via their website or a mobile app.  Some aggregator services such as Sling also include this programming.

I am not a big sports fan, but I can tell you that watching the various types is a whole different problem.  Usually, you will have to pay monthly fees for each sport/team.  Even then, you sometimes do not get all the games due to local blackouts.  You might have to use a Virtual Private Network to trick them.

One final thing you need to consider when streaming is your internet speed.  Most sites recommend a download speed of 15-25 megabytes per second.  Keep in mind that this is in addition to all the other internet devices you may be using.  Faster internet service almost always comes at an increased cost.

So should you quit your cable television and stream everything?  I am by no means an expert, but like a lot of other topics, I have an opinion.  My TV viewing habits are different than most. I like mostly older movies and television shows.  Most of these I can watch on free streaming channels that I watch on my ROKU streaming device.  I still subscribe to basic cable for some channels that my wife likes.  Do your research and compute your costs.  Then do what works for you.

Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.

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More EULA Services (2019-04)

July 11, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

If you read my column last month, you will remember that I reviewed one of my favorite and often used utility programs.  EULAlyzer is a program I’ve used for many years.  When you are installing new software, open the program and you will see an option to “scan new license agreement”.  A new window will pop up with an icon to drag over the EULA window.  The EULA will be imported and you can analyze it.  You do this simply by clicking the “analyze” button.  Eulalyzer then reviews the license for keywords such as tracking, advertising, third‑party, data collection, etc.

This month, I’d like to continue on the subject and tell you about a few other services that I use to help protect me from disreputable EULAs.  I’m not going to go into a long diatribe about the evil things some EULA agreements do.  You can do your own internet search and find EULAs where you agree to never sue the company, post bad reviews on social media, agree to any future changes, etc.  I’m also not going to write about some of the funny EULAs.  I’m fairly sure that Apple doesn’t actually think anyone will use iTunes to manufacture missiles.

Instead, I’m going to tell you about some other EULA services that I often use.  Like Honest Abe in this Off the Mark Presidents Day Comic and most other people, I usually don’t read all agreements before installing software or agreeing to website terms of service.  You can slap my wrist the next time you see me.

I’ve been getting e‑mails from Paranoid Paul for more years than I can remember.  Paranoid Paul is a free service that allows you to track changes made to online documents that affect your privacy or your personal information.  This includes Privacy Policies, Terms and Conditions or User Agreements.  I haven’t actually been on the website for a long time.  To use the service, you must submit an e‑mail address.  After registering, you can pick which documents you are interested in following.  Whenever there is a change, you will receive an e‑mail with a brief synopsis of what is new.  The service is free.

Although a little difficult to read, SpywareGuide License Analyzer is another useful site.  It is an online service.  You simply copy the EULA and paste into the provided box on the website.  Additionally, the site has an excellent list of definitions for EULA related terms.

There is one other link I’d like to tell you about.  In February of 2008, Annalee Newitz wrote an article for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  Even though it is almost twenty years old, it is still an excellent explanation of EULAs.  If you’re interested in this subject, I recommend you read Dangerous Terms: A User’s Guide to EULAs.

Occasionally, I find other programs or websites that claim to do the same thing, but I have found none of them to be as useful or easy to use.  Life would be so much easier if privacy policies were as clean and concise as the one on my personal website.

Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.

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EULAlyzer (2019-03)

July 11, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

Before reading this article, you must explicitly agree to abide by the following terms and conditions. If you do not agree, please either close the newsletter or immediately hit the next page key.

This review can only be perused during daylight hours except on weekends, holidays, a family birthday, or a solar eclipse.  In the event you decide to continue reading, you agree that you will not disagree with the author unless you are under the care of a state certified psychiatrist.  By continuing to read, you are granting permission to the newsletter editor to collect your personal information and sell it to other computer clubs.  The author of this article can change it any time without informing the readers.  Information in this article can be true or false without any repercussions to the author.

If you’re reading this paragraph, you probably realize that the lead in is assuredly not enforceable.  I have no idea whether or not it is.  All I know is that almost every program I install on my computer(s) make me read and agree to an End User License Agreement (EULA).  They are often full of large amounts of legal terms and big words.  Many of them are several pages long.  Most of them pop‑up in a small window that is not very large.  I’m pretty sure that most EULAs were written by lawyers.

There have been several surveys and tests that show that most end users just check the agree box and install the software.  One company even put a clause in the EULA telling customers how to claim a $1000 prize.  The money was not claimed until after more than 3000 program installs.

Do you, like most computer users, not read the EULA?  Although I often display symptoms of paranoia, I seldom ever read a EULA.  Don’t be surprised at that statement.  I let the computer do it for me.

EULAlyzer Personal is a utility that scans user agreements and analyzes them for “key words” or phrases in the EULA.  It is an easy program to use.  When the EULA shows on your monitor (usually in a small window that you can’t re‑size), simply select “scan new license agreement” and drag the cursor to the EULA.

EULAlyzer then scans the document and searches to see if the software you’re about to install displays pop‑up ads, transmits personally identifiable information, uses unique identifiers to track you and much more.  Troublesome phrases in the EULA are highlighted so you can easily review them.

Occasionally, EULAs are found on a web page or some other file.  In that case, you can copy and paste the document into EULAlyzer and analyze it as previously described for potential problems.  You can also review Terms of Service agreements by the same method.  As an added bonus, you can save the EULAs to a file on your computer and read them at your leisure.

EULAlyzer is not the ultimate program and does not offer any advice, but only suggestions.  It is a good utility that I recommend you keep in your spam fighting toolbox.  Did I mention the price?  You can download and install the program for a one time payment of $0.00.

The program is from Brightfort, the makers of SpywareBlaster.  You can download EULAlyzer from their website.

Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.

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KeePass Password Manager (2019-01)

July 11, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

Do you use a password manager, or do you do like many others and have a just a few passwords that you use over and over?  If you answered no to using a manager, I’d just like to say that you are an idiot.  I’m sorry to be so blunt, but it is true.  In the modern age of computing it is important that you use hard to decipher, unique passwords for all the sites where you have an account.  It is trivial for hackers to try stolen user names and passwords on several sites.

I thought I’d take a few minutes and tell you about the Password Program that I use every day when I’m computing.  I did a Google Search for “free password manager” and got 114,000,000 results.  I’ve carefully researched all of them except for the last four million or so.

I use a lot of passwords in my daily computing.  As of this writing, I’ve got 68 e‑mail addresses.  I frequent 7 different forums, each with separate password.  Then there are my gaming site passwords.  Five right now.  Did I forget to mention my military, government and medical passwords?  Twelve of them.  Then there are on line shopping passwords, miscellaneous social networks and many more.  I’ve got more than 50 passwords that I use fairly frequently.

The first week of every month, I change the passwords for websites that keep important data.  It seems that some company or government office is always being compromised and losing important data.  For most web sites, I use hard to break passwords.  Want to see one of my sample passwords? qyF+,CMqaF+@x!,SdqyF+,CMqaF;+@x!,Sd is a password that used to open one of my web sites for editing.

The program I use to manage all of those passwords is KeePass Password Safe.  It is a really easy to use utility that helps you to keep track of all your passwords while keeping them safe.  It lets you store all of your passwords in a lightweight, simple to use database that is encrypted so that only you can access it.

KeePass Password Safe stores all of your passwords in groups.  That makes it extremely easy to quickly find the one you want.  The program does more than just store the passwords; it also lets you easily copy them onto a Web page or an application.  You can drag and drop them, copy them to the clipboard, or copy them using a hot key.

One of the best features of KeePass is the random password generator which creates passwords with characteristics that you specify.  That way you can tailor your passwords as needed.  For example, some websites won’t let you create a password with underlines while others might require a specific password length.  KeePass makes it easy to create any password.

The program also includes support for TAN (Transactional Access Numbers) passwords and allows you to create TAN lists which automatically expire a password once it has been used.  Other features include auto-lock, database search, import/export.  There are many more features.

Of Course, KeePass also fits in with one of my most demanding prerequisites.  The cost is Zero!  KeePass is open source, which means that there have been a lot of plug-ins developed.  You can download the source code and modify it to meet your needs.  Keepass is a Windows program that has been ported to many other Operating Systems, including Android, iPhone/iPad, Blackberry, JavaScript for browsers and many Linux distributions.

You can read more about the program on the KeePass Password Safe Home Page.  Give it a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Thanks for reading.

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Bah! Humbug! (2018-12)

July 11, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

Bah! Humbug!
It’s that time of the year again. The retailers want us to spend all of our hard earned nickels on lots of things that we don’t really need. My daughter always tells me that it is hard to buy me a Christmas present because I don’t need anything. I tell her that makes it easier. Don’t buy me anything. It never works that way though, but it’s alright. I can always use socks and t‑shirts (if they’ve got a pocket. Did you know that you can actually give someone a Gift of Nothing?

Bah! Humbug!
About the only difference in the holiday season every year is that it usually seems to start earlier and earlier. This year, I saw my first Christmas display on labor day. All of the major online sales sites started advertising Black Friday deals sometime during the first part of November. Black Friday has almost become Black Thursday. You’d at least think they would change it to Fifty Shades of Grey Thursday. I’m expecting the 2019 season to start around the Fourth of July.

Bah! Humbug!
Every year, I’ve got to listen to some novelty song about five zillion times. I’m just happy that Grandma doesn’t get run over by a reindeer as often as she used to. I’d rather just listen to some Christmas music on YouTube.

Bah! Humbug!
It’s that time of year when we get to watch all of those TV specials and rerun movies that are better off forgotten. It was a Wonderful Life when it was a movie, but 9000 times as a TV special leaves something to be desired. The only good thing you can say is that during the holidays, we don’t have to watch the regular lousy television programming. Don’t even get me started on Christmas commercials.

Oh well. I guess it’s time for me to stop bah humbugging and write something about technology. On the other hand, it is the holidays. I’ll just give everyone a link to one of the best sites on the internet to find free software. Tech Support Alert is a community site for reviewing and rating free programs. If you’ve never visited them, it is definitely worth a click.

By the way, I’m not really a Bah! Hum‑bugger. Merry Christmas!

Bah! Humbug! My wife just told me to put my shoes on because she wants me to go along and help pick out the daughters’ Christmas present. I know what she really means is that I’ll be carrying a whole bunch of bags.
Thanks for reading.

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