Thread Drift

I prefer my penguin over raspberry, blackberry and apple. Really don't care for Dos 3.0 and all the way up to win 10. currently running win7 on this computer just too lazy to load up another penguin.

And yes there is such a thing called Raspberry Pi and Propeller (parallax propeller) and few other odd ball stuff with healthy followings. Oh, Arduino from Italy is pretty hot. These require that you are a bonafide geek and speak BASH, C++ or CPP or other giberish. Even Arduino can hack into your computer.

here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI

meh I need to go hug my penguin. How about a Hackintosh?? hmmm that's pretty dated as well. One thing I do really like is Puppy(linux) its foot print is around 100Meg. If you have a 8G memory stick its more than happy.

I'm not fond of google keeping tabs of me through android and uncle MS thought windows or uncle Bezos through that internet big box company. They all keep tabs on you. So does Facebook, Twitter and other social media. They know more about you than you!!

I like the old tag line from ATT when ATT was THE phone company. Tag line was "Reach out and crush someone". Isn't that how it went? that's the way my techie friends and I remember the tag line.

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Originally Posted by smilingcat

I'm not fond of google keeping tabs of me through android and uncle MS thought windows or uncle Bezos through that internet big box company. They all keep tabs on you. So does Facebook, Twitter and other social media. They know more about you than you!!

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Yes, I stopped using the google search engine and google maps. One reason was that they moved everything around on maps and started to use incomprehensible icons for everything. But the other reason was that Google is already far enough up into my business. I also do not use chrome for that reason.

Right now I'm using the firefox browser on my tablet. I've looked into Dolphin and Opera because they get good reviews, but when you read the details all you see is some version of "this used to be great but the latest update wrecked it." So I stay with firefox. The main problem is with facebook -- I can't type anything, and it crashes frequently.

I hate Google. I am forced to use it now for my work email and calendar, but the email address didn't change, i.e. it's not a google address, just probably cheaper for the agency to use. I almost fell off my couch laughing watching the google webinar on how to use the stuff. Like a bunch of therapists are going to be sitting around chatting and sharing stuff? The voice of the woman reminded me of the people I hear when DH is doing conference calls. I am very happy with Safari at home. There used to be some things I do I had to switch to Chrome for, but not anymore.

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Originally Posted by ny biker

Yes, I stopped using the google search engine and google maps. One reason was that they moved everything around on maps and started to use incomprehensible icons for everything. But the other reason was that Google is already far enough up into my business. I also do not use chrome for that reason.

Right now I'm using the firefox browser on my tablet. .

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NY biker, do you mean that Google is auto interconnected to your business applications and personal google?

Crankin, I suppose google calendar is used because it's cheaper or it's because of connectivity with clients?? I certainly wouldn't be comfortable using a business calendar via google calendar.

I don't mind google engine for initial searching if there's no specific database/good website with aggregate info if I believe the info. is available on the open internet.

Actually, the calendar is a moot point. It's just part of the package. I used Outlook calendar, and before that ICal, for my personal record of appointments, but we do our scheduling through an electronic medical record system that is for protected health information. So, that's the official scheduling mechanism, and I use the Google calendar as a backup and for my personal stuff. No one has access to it if we don't want them to. I only use first names when I put client names in the Google calendar.
I am one of the few therapists where I work that gives everyone my mobile phone # and tells them to text me if they need to change an appointment, or they need to talk on the phone. I don't do therapy by text, but if I depended on my office voice mail, I would not get messages in a timely manner. This makes life so much easier for me, I can respond quickly, which validates their feelings, and it's all good. In 5 years, I have never had anyone abuse this, either, even teenagers. So, I guess, this is a positive outcome of technology.

I meant that google is all up in my personal business, since I have an android phone and I know they're getting everything they can on me from that. So I try to use options like Bing on my pcs at home and work.

Some of my new teammates at work likes to call on the phone rather than email. I totally prefer email. I think I was actually left out of a meeting recently because they called my work phone when I had stepped away from my desk.

I will add another good thing about texting, Crankin. It is great for keeping in touch with relatives and friends who live thousands of miles apart. Last fall I watched the major league baseball playoffs and world series with siblings and nephews even though we were in four different cities at the time. By the time it was over we had racked up more than 500 group texts. It's also currently the only way I can communicate with a relative who is dealing with a controlling spouse.

I use a VPN for all work and related work net time and usually for personal use. It keeps work private and also stops sites especially phishing sites, spam sites and content farms from collecting data.

When google started to bring user data across its services and integrated their search, email, social and work sites I just started to not use google products much unless through the VPN.

I remember an ‘all things considered’ episode last year where the TorProject was discussed as a good way to keep your net interactions private without tracing or gathering personal, location data and it was free. Tor was originally developed for those in authoritarian/dictatorial countries to be able to use the net privately. I never looked into it because of the companies VPN.

Musings on condo living... Love never having to do any outside maintenance and having a sparkling clean pool to get into any time I want. Not a fan of living elbow to elbow with people who do not share my values and/or who seem to exist solely to create drama. Our condo is paid for and we hope to live here forever, but not 100% sure about the tradeoff of having to live in such close proximity to other people. hmmmmm

My husband was really concerned with exactly that. But, we found a place where we are in a group of 3 attached homes, in the middle. Our neighbors are perfect and we never hear anything. Plus, there are only 15 units in total. The back of our house faces woods/wetlands, and that helps, although you can see cars on the main road slightly off in one direction, if we are in our sunroom. Once leaves are on the trees, we won't see the cars at all. There's a big berm there and woods, so we don't see a lot.
The values thing would get to me more than living close to others.

pax...feel blessed you don't have Trek420's past crazy neighbor :)
I have some interesting people living in my building and have some good conversations and the occasional dinner. I just don't let negative people affect me and i have lots of other positive/productive things to do rather than socialize much in the building anyway. perhaps riding more and lesser crowds will help......and reading on the beach :)

I just ignore them now, they love going door to door to stir up trouble, complain, try to get people to join in a lawsuit, etc. But by now they've figured out to give me a wide berth. Once our friends get down here from IL (they bought the condo two doors down) it'll be better.

Since I've done my share of complaining about the things that drive me nuts about my condo, I was thinking yesterday as I was walking around the neighborhood about the positive aspects of living here, and the goods and bads of other places where I've lived. I've only ever lived in apartments except for the years growing up in my parents' house. My current condo is in a nice neighborhood, with plenty of established trees and flowers. I don't use the pools or tennis courts, but as far as I know they're kept in good shape and appreciated by many of my neighbors. We have a historic designation which helps ensure that the buildings are well cared for and can't be drastically changed by neighbors with questionable taste -- at least not on the outside where the rest of us are affected. The community rules are reasonable in my opinion. We have trash pick up 6 days a week, plus weekly recycling and large item pick up. The area is generally safe with low crime rates -- I can walk around at 10 pm without concern (though I do keep the mp3 player volume low and keep an eye on what's going on around me, just in case). It's also convenient to shopping centers and major highways. There are decent stores and restaurants within walking distance, and I can walk to the gym.

I also enjoy not having to do yard work and exterior maintenance. If I did want to do some gardening, I could use my balcony or volunteer to take care of the area around my building. The condo maintenance people usually do a good job with snow removal and ice mitigation. I would prefer to have an assigned parking space, but at least I have off-street parking and a way to deal with vehicles that are illegally parked in our lot.

There's a tree across from my living room and bedroom that has beautiful pink flowers every spring. Then the petals fall into a pink carpet around the tree. (I'm a bit worried that the freeze we expect this week will hurt those blossoms which are just starting to bloom.)

I have central air conditioning and complete control over my thermostat. Also a washer and dryer in my home and a dishwasher in my kitchen. I lived in some great pre-war apartment buildings in NYC and Chicago back in the day but did not have any of these conveniences in either of them. Being able to leave your clothes in the dryer overnight without worrying about someone taking them out and dropping them on the floor -- or stealing them -- is a simple pleasure that most suburbanites don't appreciate. I have that nice balcony that I don't take advantage of nearly enough.

I only have three closets, but two of them are big, bigger than the closets in those nice pre-war buildings.

In retrospect it was not a good financial decision to buy my condo. It was too much of a fixer-upper in a stagnant real estate market and I doubt I'll ever come close to breaking even on the investment I've made in updating it and making it a nice place to live. But I have enjoyed the process of planning and designing and learning about home renovations and for the first time as an adult I live in a place where I have chosen the wall colors. I'll probably never be able to use that knowledge again in a home of my own, but maybe I can help a niece or nephew at some point. I have enjoyed meeting some nice people along the way as I've bought cabinets and appliances and hired people to fix or renovate things.

If you gave me a pile of cash I don't know if I would move out of my neighborhood. I might just buy one of the townhouses, or buy the units above and below mine and turn them into closets and bike rooms and guest rooms. Okay actually if the pile of cash was big enough I'd buy a place on the western shore of the Chesapeake. But I'd probably still want a townhouse where I am now.

Ah, the pile of cash conundrum. ;)

I'd leave my condo in a heartbeat if the cash pile were enough to buy on the sand, then I'd sell my car, have the groceries delivered, and never have to go anywhere except by foot or bike again.

4 inches of snow today.
It's going to be freezing until Wednesday afternoon, so no outdoor riding for me until Friday, most likely.

No snow for Montreal but ohhhh soooo cold. We're breaking a cold record. brrrrr Heard snow may fall on Wed (something like 5-10cm). Come on!!! We've had enough of winter. Time for shorts and flip flops. haha