Category: Compgeeky

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Just One Browser? Nah.

I have to use five different browsers (and occasionally a couple more) to do the web surfing I do. Oh, I don’t _have_ to, but different sites just work differently in different browsers, even if they use the same rendering engine. And some browsers just have features that work well for certain things. Example: If I want to do some searches on topics that are just none of anyone’s business to track (say, procedures and methods for NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS *heh*), I use a TOR-enabled browser in addition to a good VPN, etc. But if I’m just comparing some items at a shopping site I use regularly, I don’t use that one because my fav TOR-enabled browser has lousy tab stacking, so I use one that can auto-stack tabs from the same host. Just different capabilities. If there are a lot of videos on my download list for the day, I use an entirely different browser that is the one I have found to be able to do that task most easily.

And sometimes I use one that offers really nice video backgrounds on its speed dial page, just ‘cos they’re “purtier” than what’s offered on any of the other browsers I use. So?

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Password Management

Is It Worth Paying for a Password Manager?

Maybe. Read what Dave Hatter has to say about it.

I have used Lastpass for quite some time, now, although I also keep an encrypted backup of my passwords (regularly updated with changes, as needed, including the password to my Lastpass account) on a flash drive stored in my safe. The pass phrase for THAT is derived from a 17th Century French art song (so, easy for me to recall), but is, of course, obfuscated/changed from the original lyrics. A separate encrypted file contains just that password, with no reference detailing what it is for, embedded in another text file and available to one person who owns that device but does not have access to the safe w/o a trusted third party.

If I am gone or merely “vegetized,” someone will be able to access my data, close out accounts, etc.

And no, that doesn’t make my data secure, just slightly less accessible.

N.B. You might want to also consider encrypting all your removable devices (flash drives, USB-attached drives, NASes, SIMMs in phones, etc.). Sure, it can be a very small hassle entering pass phrases and decrypting/re-encrypting drives, etc., whenever new sessions are initiated, but do you really want all your data to be “in the clear”? Heck, consider something like Proton email and encouraging family and friends to do likewise so all your email is also encrypted and thus LESS accessible to others. Privacy is your right, but YOU need to at least attempt to enforce it. Assess what you want to keep to yourself and take appropriate steps.

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Sometimes (Actually, Quite Often) Problems Can Be Interesting

*headache* An “old” (more than a decade) Windows Vista computer ended up on my to-do list yesterday (NOT mine *heh* I’ve never had a computer with Vista installed.) It needed to be upgraded to Windows 10. Yeh, sure it could have just had a modern ‘nix OS installed, but the user wanted to see if he could use it once again for gaming (still quite a powerful machine with great graphics), so Win10 it was. But a direct upgrade path to Win10 from Vista just doesn’t work all that well, so. . .

Oh, wait. he couldn’t recall his password, either. Fixed that first.

So, as I was saying, burned a DVD with his desired data. Then. . . no, despite having it as an option in the BIOS, the USB image of Windows 10 for which I had a valid product key would not boot, so. . .

Burned a bootable image of the USB drive to a DVD R(DL)–the last one I had on hand (‘cos I just don’t use those much anymore *shrugs*). Got to 36% of files copied on the installation and. . . borked. Retried and. . . borked.

So, what now? Easy-peasy. Looked up an installation disk for Windows 7 Ultimate in my archives, copied down a valid license key and installed that. (I still have a few legitimate ones for Win7 and quite a few other M$ OSes and products, from “back in the day”)

As soon as it booted, I inserted the USB drive with a purchased copy of Win10 (with legit license) and Bob’s your uncle.

Coulda been a PITA, but was. . . doable. Now to use my bandwidth and data allowance to configure a desired software suite, make Win10 usable, disable all the “phone home” crap, and. . . will have a happy camper.

Fun.

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Finally Caved In

Admittedly, our diverse and “integrated: home network involves devices using (at least, by last count) six different OSes, though most are just different versions of Windows, Linux (and another ‘nix OS), and Android, but of the Windows boxes, only one was still using my fav, to date, Windows version, Win7Pro. Oh, well, no more. One hour into the upgrade, and the installation process notes 12% installed (though it lies; it’ll take quite some time to get it really installed, locked down, and configured). Amusing thing is that although I really only needed a valid license key, the least expensive license key from a genuine M$-authorized retailer was only available by purchasing a USB drive with the installation files. It was a little over $1 cheaper than purchasing a license key “with download.” Didn’t need the flash drive (have the latest installation files; I download them monthly just in case someone needs repairs that Win10 borks on–it’s happened more than once), but bought the flash drive/license key combo, ‘cos, well a lil over $1 cheaper and included a flash drive I could repurpose.

I only, finally, caved, because recent iterations of Win10 work pretty well with a music transcription software I consider an essential program (and no, it does NOT work well on a Linux box, no matter how much I have tweaked WINE–THE reason I kept that particular Windows box at Win7: poor Linux execution of Windows calls on that software and slightly hinky operation in earlier Win10 operation). Oh, and Me$$y$oft is making their noises about end of support for Win7. Still not real happy with some parts of Win10 (and utterly despise some others *cough* Cortana among those *cough*), but it’s good enough for some uses.

After that computer is set up right, time for monthly checks on the ‘nix boxes.

Just maintenance stuff.

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The Search is Still On

Although I almost exclusively used the Opera Browser on my computers from the time I discovered it in 1995, I have always used more than one browser, even Me$$y$oft’s Internet Exploder, from time to time. That changed several years ago, when Opera stopped producing what I, at that time, found to be the best browser out there, and began using a Chrome-based rendering engine while dropping many of the features I had come to rely on and adding other “features” that I found unuseful. So, in 2013, the search was on to discover a browser that worked well for me.

Avant Browser has some interesting features (especially native downloading of video files and switching between rendering engines) but lacks many features I r=prefer. I still keep it updated and use it from time to time.

Chrome? Dislike.

Firefox? Dislike. (But was for a long time the only option for TOR browsing, so had to have it *sigh*)

IE and Edge? @gagamaggot

Vivaldi? *meh* Mixed feelings and experiences. Took ’em FAR too long to get anything like fully functional bookmarking, and even now bookmarks and some other features are lacking, IMO.

Yandex Browser: Russian offering based on several different browser technologies (as is the current Opera Browser. . . sorta). Sure, some Russian hacker is probably following me around, though Yandex says they don’t do that, but the thing works really well and has most of the features Opera 12.X had, including robust bookmark management that works well for me, including syncing between my various installs fo the browser in different OSes.

Brave Browser is relatively new and has some very interesting and useful features, but needs a few extensions installed to come up to the Yandex Browser’s functionality. I do like the simple-to-use TOR functionality that is built into the browser. Three basic modes: Normal Browsing, Private Browsing, Private Browsing with TOR. While the latter disables the extensions that I prefer for different functions, it’s still quite useful. Although I surf behind a decent VPN, adding a TOR browser session when following some links where I KNOW I’ll be tracked just makes me smile, slightly.

So, for now, my primary browsers are Yandex and Brave, with occasional uses of Avant Browser, but things remain in flux.

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Nature Abhors a Vacuum, #3,827.348

And sometimes vacuum just sucks. *heh*

Hmm, lil “casual use lappy” running hot n slow. So, usual software maintenance, then upgrade memory. Strange hardware config. Upgrading memory requires removing keyboard. mmmK. Lappy FILLED with cat hair. Well, that goes a long way toward explaining the heat.

Cleaned out cat hair. Installed memory. Much better, now.

Looks like that may be a regular maintenance “call back” for “cat hair removal.” *heh*

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Pet Win10 Peeve

There was once a time when Windows 10 was not as bad at managing local network connections. Sure, it was a couple of orders of magnitude slower than Windows 7 in doing so, but at least, once sharing & etc. were “turned on” things were fairly easily (if, again, slowly) “seeable,” but as the inevitable and very nearly unavoidable “update” cycles have progressed, access to local network resources has regressed.

If saving a file from the internet, for example, it doesn’t matter what browser I use, whether a VPN is engaged or whatever, if I want to save it to anything BUT my local machine, I have to type in the IP address of the resource I want to save it to. Then, it I only have to just twiddle my thumbs waiting on Win10’s execrably slow access of LAN resources.

Similarly, if attempting to access other LAN resources (computers, NASes, etc.) via “Windows Explorer” file management. . . no network resources available, no matter WHAT I have set up in “Network and Internet Settings.” In fact, every now and then, at apparently random times, the stupid “Network Discovery is Turned off” error pops up. I check, and no, it is turned on. Turn off/back on anyway. Semi-fixed: no error popping up, but still have to either use manually-created shortcuts placed on desktop, on toolbar, etc., or type in the resource address. (Yes, as a result of Win10’s stupidity, I have finally given ALL LAN resources fixed IP addresses).

Oh, and yes, I have made sure all the dependent services, etc., are set to start automatically and are running, and that–again–network sharing is set properly for a “private” network, etc., etc. Me$$y$oft’s Win10 still screws it up, usually sooner than later.

It’s as though Me$$y$oft engineers have sat and thought, and thought, and thought, and said (collectively), “Here’s something that will REALLY screw with users. Let’s do it!”

#feh

Why couldn’t Me$$y$oft at least be like Linux developers and fix something and then move on to creating more problems.

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Diogenes–No, Not THAT One

Seriously cool software:

Diogenes

Of course, it is designed to be used with the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae which is available only on paid subscription, and so, absent that, use of Diogenes is pretty well limited to dictionary searches without that, but it’s real useful for quick lookups as opposed to dead tree copies of Strong’s and Liddell-Scott (and seems to have a much broader base than the Strong’s Greek Lexicon).

A handy-dandy lil resource when vocab fails crop up in reading. besides, who doesn’t need more dictionary resources?

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Sometimes, I’m a Bit Slow. . .

All this time. *sigh* I just had the bright idea of saving some of my Open Document files that I want access to–just for the info I’ve stored–w/o having to open them in an office app in a different format (for quick reference). . . as html files. Bookmark the location on a NAS and I can make the info VERY quickly accessible.

Works on my LAN only, though, because I do NOT make local docs available over a WAN, no matter what security I can use. All my browsers, in all devices, are synced (yeh, cross-browser, cross OS), though, so it is very LAN-handy. Perhaps this sort of use is idiosyncratic, but it works for me, and it’s just an extra couple of keystrokes saving the doc in another format, then bookmarking it once. To access, open bookmarks, type in search term, bang!

Maybe it’s just me, as I implied above, but *shrugs* it does suit me.

Of course, I could save the odt (and other Open Document format) files as pdfs or plain text files (even Epub or other) for viewing in a web browser, but html works.

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Cheap Fixes

I finally got tired of using a THIRD broken keyboard on this lil lappy. Fortunately, the problem with this one was only that the cheap lil plastic retainer clips on the lower left hand side/corner were. . . ineffective (cos they broke within a week of installation) which meant the stupid thing flared up on that corner, making typing a “left hand mush” experience.

Fix? Contact cement. That’s all. Seriously. Done. (yeh, I checked what I was gluing before I did to make sure it would not interfere with any electronic or mechanical function)

It’s probably a better fix than buying yet another replacement keyboard, given the number of keyboards I’ve had fail on this thing.

Toshiba used to make better devices.