- Nine smartphone apps to help with emergencies.
- I post this solely to commemorate the day when Piers Morgan actually said something that made sense.
- And while we’re on that track, this may be the first time the SPLC has done something other than raise money by lying. Of course, they are just one of 100 groups signing on to what is a blessedly good idea: getting cops out of schools.
- While news from the kingdoms of Google and F*c*b**k remains bad, the Opera browser, bless its heart, brings good news in the form of an easy VPN. (H/Ts due here!)
- How bad off is Venezuela? One of the most oil-rich nations on the planet has been reduced to buying oil from the U.S.
- Um … well, yeah. That’s one way to hide gold.
- The Alaska R-party forces out officials because they want to support an actual Republican (running on the LP ticket) rather than the Democrat (running on the R-party ticket — are you following this?) the party wants to stick them with. Interesting times.
- Multiple-choice questions are a silly way to gage real-world knowledge. I’m not sure this would be an improvement, but it’s a start.
- To have and to hold … puppies!
Opera sounds like a good deal. I’m getting tired of interference from Firefox, it seems to want to tell me what I should be visiting, reading, or watching, or makes it difficult to get to my choices.
And I wonder why they can’t write mini-software for computers? All the apps are for smartphones, and I only use a flip-top cell phone. Knowing nothing about programming, it still seems like a good business for Linux, without all the frills, bells and whistles. I’d love to have some simple “apps” for my Linux Mint that could be put on a small laptop — similar to the earlier scheduling software that computers used to have. Is it not feasible?
“FEMA’s app can keep you up-to-date on developments during a disaster situation and allow you to access maps and directions to shelters and disaster recovery centers. You can create and share custom lists, such as the items you’ve saved in your emergency kit and family meet-up locations. “
Yep, in a major emergency, I definitely want to tell FEMA what supplies I have “horded” and where.
Well, yes, HWFIW. That was a mainstream article from an insurance company. I expect any recommendation on smartphone apps (of any sort) to be taken with at least one grain of salt, if not a whole shaker full, and ditto with preparedness advice. Caveat emptor and all that.
That does not, however, invalidate any otherwise useful advice in the article.
I’ve used Opera as a backup browser over the years and have not been impressed with it, primarily because it seemed to have few available privacy features.
I just downloaded the new version with the VPN. Haven’t yet set up the VPN or even found the place to do it. But I was impressed that the very first thing that came up when I opened the browser was an offer to block ads. Then I checked out their extensions, finding many familiar and new privacy and security add-ons:
https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/category/privacy-security/
This is quite different than the old Opera of just two or three year ago, on which finding any privacy add-ons was a challenge.
Another plus: Quite often, downloads for Linux systems can be tricky, for instance DL sites for various products offering only tar.gz bundles that might or might not work with a particular Linux flavor or might require hair-tearing geekery to satisfy unmet dependencies. Opera offered both RPM and DEB downloads (the most common types of no-brainer Linux packages). It recognized my system as requiring the DEB package, and my gdebi package installer automatically handled the installation. It was a breeze. VERY impressed.
Now off to look for that VPN.
I tried twice to put it on and each time it gets halfway through, then says thee’s an error and it can’t be installed. No clue where the error is. I’ll keep looking and trying.
Found the VPN. Easy-peasy. Menu –> Settings –> Privacy & Security –> VPN. Click.
The only thing I don’t like so far in this new Opera is that while they allow you to change the search engine used in the combined URL/search bar at the top of the browser, if you utilize their pre-set startup page, you cannot change the default browser there. It’s — ugh — Google forever far as I can tell. You can remove the search bar from that page, but you cannot change the search engine. Minor detail, though. Just don’t use that function. Or don’t use the startup page at all, though it does have useful navigation features.
I’m surprised that phone app article didn’t mention Cell 411 (https://getcell411.com/)
Of course, I have a dinophone that doesn’t do apps, so none of that would help me.
“The Alaska R-party forces out officials because they want to support an actual Republican (running on the LP ticket) rather than the Democrat (running on the R-party ticket — are you following this?) the party wants to stick them with. Interesting times.”
Methinks those that run the R party today; nationally & in some/many states are driven not by the principles of small limited government but by the principle of maintaining their power and income.
Kent — Perhaps because of this: “Police brutality, illegal searches and other government abuses can be broadcast out to your local cell”
Hm. Doesn’t go well with letting FEMA know the contents of your bug-out bag …
“You can remove the search bar from that page, but you cannot change the search engine. ”
I put Start Page on the Speed Dial, so it shows up as soon as the browser page is opened. One extra click on SP opens their search engine page. Same could work with DuckDuckGo.
P.S: Where did “Jane Doe” come from; it hasn’t been there before. That was a shock — I thought I was someone else! 🙂
Claire, now that I have another browser, the forum doesn’t let me in — it says another person has logged in from the old browser. I need to have the forum recognize me as the same person. (And this is probably why I got a “Jane Doe” here.)
Pat, have you tried going back to your original browser and logging out? Then going to the new browser and loggin in?
I don’t think it’s a problem of you not being recognized. Sounds as if you’re actually still logged in at the forum.
As to getting a “jane doe” here, I don’t believe that’s connected to what’s happening at the Cabal. Just a natural effect of you switching browsers.
“I put Start Page on the Speed Dial, so it shows up as soon as the browser page is opened. One extra click on SP opens their search engine page. Same could work with DuckDuckGo.”
Good point. Still irritating that their native search box is Google-only. Of course, they do that for m-o-n-e-y. But you’re right; there are other ways to use startpage.com and duckduckgo.com instead.
“Pat, have you tried going back to your original browser and logging out? Then going to the new browser and loggin in?”
Just did that and it still doesn’t allow me back in to the forum via Opera, but works fine on Firefox.
P.S: I didn’t stop to tell the forum that, though. Got something to do right now, but when I go back in (on Firefox), I’ll mention the problem to them.
Note that most, if not all the emergency apps seem to require the phone’s GPS location to work.
Schools should employee peacekeepers, restorative justice coordinators or intervention workers instead of SROs, according to DSC guidance.
Love to see those job descriptions.
No mention of teacher carry solving the mass-killing equation.
Thanks for the info and link to the Opera Browser. It is working great on my 27 inch iMac running both MacOs Sierra and Windows 10 Pro. I am using it on the Windows side. I enabled the VPN, the ad blocker, and added the Privacy Badger extension from EFF. I imported all my bookmarks from Google Chrome and so far everything is working OK. The ad blocker says it is blocking 1 ad from your Living Freedom Blog Claire. I think using the VPN and the ad blocker cuts way down on the sites that Privacy Badger says are tracking you. I have noticed a big difference in download times with the ad blocker enabled.
All in all you new blog and Claire’s Cabal are just great. I plan to be around a long, long time.
So. thanks a million for for everything, and all the hard work you have put into your new projects. Much appreciated!
Thank you very much, Mac the Knife! I’m glad to be useful and it’s wonderful to hear that you’re liking all the new beyond-the-blog stuff. While the blog itself made a fairly easy transition, I’m frankly terrified about the rest of the new ventures. Much work ahead; both friendly support and straightforward criticism help (but I admit the friendly support makes my days happier).
But … there’s an ad here? An ad? I know there’s one script here, and that enabling it makes for a better visual experience. But … an ad? My version of Opera’s ad blocker says zero ads blocked here, and that should be right.
On both new sites, one of my big aims to to avoid ads if at all possible. My hope is that clairewolfe.com will be supported mainly by Amazon links (following the summer’s Last Fundraiser) and clairescabal.com by memberships.