Heartbleed and (not totally related but) The demise of Windows XP

I have listed the following link about Heartbleed at the top due to it having a need to be disseminated as wide as possible.

http://blog.malwarebytes.org/online-security/2014/04/be-still-my-bleeding-heart-qa-on-the-heartbleed-bug/

Windows XP has been around for a loooong time and its interactive functionality will be missed.

I still have computers running older operating systems version (Windows 98 and Windows 2000 Pro) however those were not meant for the same audience as XP.

XP became the most widely used operating system for access to the Internet. It was in service for 14 years - pretty much the length of time that most people using the internet have actually used the internet. Sure Window 98 and others had ways to use the internet, but those were tacked on and used additional software that was not packed into the operating system from the get go.

The 2 major variants of XP were Home and PRO. The major usable difference being that the PRO version could be accessed remotely with a static / public IP address directly without additional software. In other words you did not have to use software applications as: GoToMeeting, GoToMyPC, LogMeIn or TeamViewer to name a few to be able to access the computer running PRO remotely.

XP would also run on PC's configured very minimally as far as processor power and memory storage especially when compared to what can be had on the open market these days.

If your PC is capable of upgrading to one of the later Windows version (Vista/7/8) then that would be the more painless route. HOWEVER do realize that if Microsoft can drop support of XP then eventually they will drop support of sub-sequent versions of the Windows Operating System as well.(Vista/7/8/9/10/11 etc... ) And by the way for those running Apple Products Mac - Apple also dropped support of their version that is only 5 years old - and did not generate any fanfare to inform users it was going to happen unlike Microsoft who has been pushing information out for the past year that XP was to have a drop dead date of support on 8 April 2014.

Do not fret-- unless you have proprietary software that needs an actual Windows (XP/Vista/7/8) Operating System there is a low cost alternative out there that can do almost all of what XP did and will extend the usable life of that old XP PC. Of course the main proprietary software is Microsoft Office so you would also need a substitute Office Suite (Libre office is included in Linux Mint).

Linux... do not cringe...

Linux has been around for awhile. There are many versions of Linux out there on the market. There are some that are more supported so they have service capabilities and a way to charge for support on their proprietary version. And there are others that are voluntarily (even though they will always accept donations) supported. One of the most favored is Linux Mint http://www.linuxmint.com/ . I have installed this on a few PC's and found that there are 4 basic Desktop variations to the latest iteration (16 - PETRA) there versions are Cinnamon, Mate, KDE, and XCFE. http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php . I personally have found XCFE to be more to what I have become accustomed to in similarity to XP.

With the installation of a couple pieces of software on the Server side and one on the Client side, Linux can be controlled remotely by other  Linux PC's as well as other Windows PC's in a seamless arrangement. The only problem occurs when the Linux server machine is used where a Windows Proprietary Operating System is needed to be used (IE: talking to another computer type device that has a special program built that runs on Windows and will not run on Linux).

I will leave you with this and will come back to discuss more in a later blog.

For those of the TL DR (Too Long Didn't Read) crowd:

XP is dead but can be replaced by newer or by Linux. Office will not work on Linux, but there is a replacement included with Linux Mint. Remote Desktop can be worked with Linux.

Enjoy!!!

Words...

The story starts out that when I was a young lad (not quite as far back as the dinosaur time...) if it had not been for the Montgomery Wards and Sears & Roebucks catalogs (which I perused endlessly and not for the girl underwear photos... well ok ... not for them at the time of my life...) I might not have learned how to read.

Even with my father being a journalist and a college level English instructor I still had not totally grasped the passion I have now for words...

My punctuation may be erratic, and my sentence structure may take a life all its own. However this is my own style of writing ( similar to my original style of typing using the Columbus System - Discover it and land on it...) that tends to flow more like my mind does... until I get the chell-specker involved...

So to get back on topic.... Words...

When I was engrossed in those catalogs a word kept popping out at me AUTOMATIC... there were AUTOMATIC Washers, AUTOMATIC Toasters etc... (oh yes: etc... is correct and is short for etcetera NOT EKCETERA as some people have a tendency to corrupt it... continuing on ) while being a young lad in the 50's and 60's it was the ATOMIC era... so I was doing my best to read the word AUTOMATIC as ATOMIC... my mind wanted it to be ATOMIC Washers, ATOMIC Toasters etc... but it just would not want to sound out correctly like that way too many letters...

Words would continue to pile up that had interesting meanings and those that were spelled the same that meant different things WIND, READ to name a couple... and of course those that can be spelled differently but pronounced the same TO, TOO, TWO, TU, II,  and 2.

Of course we must touch upon those that are just plain corrupted by many... JEWLERY for JEWELRY, AKS for ASK, NUKULER for NUCLEAR (which in itself has the word CLEAR in it)some are made light of by knowing people on purpose while others are just plain old either not caring due to how they learned it and not wanting to learn it correctly... as in ATOMIC / AUTOMATIC.

One comes to mind this morning CALVARY and CAVALRY. Calvary - where Jesus was crucified and Cavalry (looking back I noticed that I had myself written Calvary here instead of Cavalry) - Horse Soldiers as in 'Here comes the Cavalry' (Now knowing the difference can you imagine for a moment 'Here comes the Calvary' ?)

One of my daughters when learning to read was sounding out words as she read them and began to snicker. She informed me that I was the stinky one - not for what you might be thinking... but because my formal first name as THEODORE she sounded out and read as THE ODOR e... therefore The Odor has now become one of my nicknames (not well known maybe until now). I am glad that was NOT discovered while I was young. imagine the humiliation that could have been encountered...

You the readers (followers and all) may at times find your own words that keep you elated and or enlightened and with that I leave you this time with a snippet from my grandfather (and after it one that one of my daughters found and passed on to me... with a simple one from my mother in between)

My grandfather brought to my attention a different way to spell FISH as in GHOTI...
The GH was derived from tough, the O from the word women and the TI from the word action thereby when combined spell GHOTI or FISH...

My mothers simple one was using the letters MT on a box signifying that it was EMPTY...

And last, but of course not least, from Randi we have: ghoughpteighbteau or more commonly spelled Potato... look it up.... I can pretty much assure you it is not in the Montgomery Wards or Sears & Roebucks catalogs...

Ball in a Cup

There we were.

 

My lovely wife and I at the Salt Lake Bees home game against Las Vegas (the font on the Las Vegas uniforms is the one used for Star Trek (The Original Series)).

 

We were seated in the lower deck on the 3rd base side when Bees Right Fielder Matt Heim steps up to bat. He swings and misses and lets go by a couple balls. Then he whacks one real good... a foul ball into the upper deck on the 3rd base side.

 

We watch as it sails over our heads and way up in the upper deck out of sight beyond where we were sitting. Then all of a sudden here it comes flying crashing down almost right between Colleen and I landing right smack dab in the middle of her large cup of diet coke that was placed in the cup holder directly in front of her.

 

She had not understood what had happened ... however if she had moved any bit forward in her seat she would have been beaned directly.

 

The photo is of course a re-enactment as I had removed the ball almost immediately to force the claiming issue that it was captured and hers. Just one of those one in a million chances... maybe we need to go to Idaho and get lottery tickets or to Nevada and hit the slots...

 

Ted...

Thank you...

OK... It has been a while.... but that is about to end...

Many of you know that over the last 12 months (July 2012 thru July 2013) there have been many "trials and tribulations"  in my life... It seemed to start with my fathers passing and continuing on thru the end of an era with my mother closing up shop in Colorado and moving to Missouri where she will be closer to other siblings of mine if'n she needs some assistance. Of course I had my own interlude back in January 2013 which is suspected of having its genesis at thanksgiving time in 2012. This tuition brought me to understand a bit more about the gift of life and what it is to have support from those around you.

My lovely wife stood beside me in a way I hadn't yet experienced. She was there when I was out of it, and was there when I was recovering. She evidently had her own "come to Jesus" moments during this time where she relied on her minimal trust in faith. Her children and my children were even more assimilated into our children as they all assisted in keeping her sane. They all were there for her and for me. Their children prayed for me and my recovery. Their friends supported them and her as I was down and out for a couple of weeks. All this, I was unaware of but am greatfully thankful of, was going on whilst I was (with the assistance of my wonderful healthcare providers) recovering from the incident.

So, with all this having been said... I wish to extend a very exuberant  thank you to all of you who were there for me. I am extremely humbled by you for what you have done and continue to do for me.

Thank you...

Television...

Television (or better known as TV) has been a big part of the US culture for well over 60 years...

We have just passed the 60 year anniversary of the I Love Lucy show...

Shows before that may fade into memory...

I, believe it or not, was too young for the Howdy Doody show... However I do remember such shows as Sky King (already discussed), Beanie and Cecil (a kid with a propeller hat and a dragon type sidekick) along with The Thunderbirds (and other marionette variants)...

However the most dramatic change in my personal TV viewing came late one evening as my mother was watching a new show that was coming in on a UHF translator channel on our main black and white TV... It was snowy and had an interesting story happening where a creature was on the show unmoving yet fading in and out (even more so than the snowy UHF fringe signal we has) which gave it its own transcending and eerie-ness that caused the Sci-Fi in me to get hooked and want ever more... The show was Star Trek...

Of course this was all on the UHF translator channels (the ones number 14 thru 83) with the only television station in the town of Durango, Colorado being KREZ part of the XYZ television network... (An interesting side note how some names were assigned vanity letterings by the FCC... KREX - for Rex Howell in Grand Junction, with KREY Montrose and KREZ - Durango...) which had programming at the stations choices from all three major competing networks ABC, CBS and NBC... This caused time shifting and changes to when shows that competed were moved to other times that did not have much programming...

Then came along CABLE TV...

Oh what changes this caused... of course we had moved to New Mexico by then... and my dad had a different job and a company car... so he decided to splurge on Cable TV... with channels from Los Angeles, California... and to go along with this we even ended up with a Color TV... wow... the Olympics in 1972 were amazing in color compared to black and white... of course the snow was still white...

Then came PAY Channels on Cable TV... HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and The Movie Channel... along with good commercial free channels with older movies American Movie Classis (which evolved into AMC and then has commercials all thru the movie) and Turner Classic movies ... which are still commercial free...

And of course MTV - Music on Television... wow... the first Video was one called Video Killed the Radio Star... of course now MTV rarely plays Music Videos and Sirius Satellite Radio has come back strong with the same Jockeys that started out with MTV now being on Sirius channel 8 for Big 80's... but lets get back on track to TV...

Satellite TV... the big dish era... 6, 8 10, and even 12 foot dishes for Home Reception of TV off of satellite... originally for the distribution of the signal to the cable Company head end (main reception and distribution point for the cable TV companies) locations these were non-encrypted and capable of being received by anyone who wanted to put up a dish and point it at the various satellites to being in the same programming that the Cable Company wanted to charge for... it was determined (and fought for in court) that anything that came into your backyard (that you did not have to decrypt) was free for your watching... the few systems that were initially sold had no bearing on the market until the more complex however easier to use systems came about... Since the satellites were in "Geostationary Orbits" as predicted and written about by Aurthur C. Clarke (famous Sci-Fi writer) this meant that they would be in the same position rotating in orbit around the earth at the same speed as the earth rotated. This allowed them to be able to be found in the sky to allow reception and with the Polar Mount for the ground based dish, the dish would be able to move thru the arc where all of the satellites were located without getting out of alignment... All one had to do then was to correctly align the dish with the arc and when it moved from east to west it would be able to receive signals from each and every satellite in the arc... One satellite in particular (the name fails me now and is not listed as it would have been replaced years ago) had on transponder 1 (transponder is the word for channel on the satellite) had a religious program with a gentleman with a "pork-pie" hat on close-up view reading from the bible directly into the camera. This I used to find the initial alignment for the dishes that I installed... and from there  I was able to tweak in the arc...

Then came Videocypher... an encryption program where IF you purchased the de-cryption box and paid on a per channel basis you could receive the channels that now were encrypted (the HBO and Showtime Channels etc...) that not only slowed the growing home market but was aimed to stem the entrepreneurial types that were gathering the channels for free and starting their own mini- CATV (cable TV) or MATV (master antenna TV) systems and charging the end user for services that they had not paid for themselves... This system was based somewhat on honesty and reported counts of subscribers which still might have not been as accurate as it could have been... of course like anything computer related that has since changed and is corrected...

There was a scam (and I am sure there are others) where you could purchase a unlocked VideoCypher box that would give you all of the channels that you wanted... It of course worked... curiously it also died after the 3 month warranty ran out... It was later discovered that the box that was sold (from out of the USA) was a box that was activated or "turned on" for 3 months and sold to the consumer at a premium of more that the combined price of the activations and the original cost of the box itself... Caveat emptor (buyer beware...)...

Then we come to DBS - Direct Broadcast Satellite... Dish Network and Direct TV (the two main versions left after all the swallowing up of smaller ones) which I shall continue in the next installment...

i.. um..

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

LOA's - Not to be confused with LOL etc...

LOA - List Of Acronyms

LOA - Letter Of Agency (for the telco to allow someone or comapny to represent the customer)

LOA - Leave Of Absence

LOL - Laugh Out Loud

LOL - Lots Of love (for the older than me generation...)

LMFAO - Music Group whose first release is "Party Rock Anthem"

LMFAO - Laugh My F#@<|"& A$$ Off ( in original relation to the internet and TextSpeak)

ROTFLMFAOWPMP - Well .. that one you need to figure out yourselves... I remember seeing it when a good joke was told...


More to come as this post is in its ultimate infancy... This is noteven the tip of the iceberg...

After this post gets a few more lines written (at least a week from now) when 8 October 2011 arrives then additions will be accepted...