Manly Hanley Podcast: Recent Episodes
Manly Hanley Podcast
Starting another Podcast
I'm a professional when it comes to anxiety.
Professional sufferer.
I deal with it in ways that allow me to function.
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Keeping busy
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Working hard
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Drums
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Talking to someone or out loud
Anxiety happens in the past or future. It's not always rational.
Conclusion - I feel that talking about the biggest problem in my life could help others, and maybe even myself.
Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro
Hello everyone and welcome to the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover. This is Season 6, Episode 1
I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax.
This Episode was recorded on Monday, February 19th, 2024
Amazon's standards just seem lower
Repetitive overpromise and underdelivering
I order Amazon all over the country for different people, and myself included, so this is not limited to one region in the USA.
The pattern goes a bit like this. The item shows that it'll arrive next morning if you pay the $35 minimum. Most things I buy on Amazon will be above that amount. If I really need the item, and my total isn't $35 or more, I'll often add something to my cart that I'll be ordering very soon, anyway.
More times than not, the next day, I'll get the "Running Late" shipping status on that item, which eventually changes into "Tomorrow by 8 pm" or something along those lines. This is not okay. This is a company I'm also paying a subscription to every year.
I now find myself finding anyway I can to order items through other companies that will deliver, even without a yearly fee. One that comes to mind, strangely, is Walmart. And their delivery times have never overpromised and underdelivered for me. I don't want to order from Walmart, but here I am doing so.
Amazon Plans to Charge for Alexa? Good luck with that. It'll probably work, if people fall for it, as I'm not surprised if they do.
As most of us have been conditioned into having our money siphoned away to a subscription or Software as a service, Amazon would like to take advantage of that condition by manipulating us into paying for Alexa.
Do you honestly want that overpriced oven timer in your kitchen, if it now wants to siphon a recurring monthly fee out of your account?
What is Amazon's excuse for the potential cost they'll be passing onto users?
Amazon's Senior VP of Devices - Dave Limp - (Great name) - Believes a paid service is inevitable until Alexa becomes "superhuman" enough to justify a monthly fee.
No. Just be a fucking oven timer, or you're outta here. I do have more faith in people that I give the general public sometime. I will guess that many people are getting sick of subscription services leaching off their every pore.
Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments.
This is an update as to what's going on with my life and why I have not been posting. It's good news!
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven't already done so: https://youtube.com/randyhanley
Also be sure to follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/randrums
Lastly, be sure to subscribe to https://RandyHanley.com for some awesome reviews and updates regarding cool technology.
Since the beginning of this Podcast, I had been searching for the perfect note-taking app.
I've tried dozens, starting with OneNote, Obsidian, a billion Linux-specific apps, Notepad, Notepad++, etc.
The one I've used the longest has been Trilium.
Many of the platforms were just great, but didn't hit every want I had with the process of creating a post. They required too much configuration time than I had available.
As for my "Content Management System"
I did land on “HUGO” as my favorite static site generator, but I wanted something that allowed me to manage the mess of content files that I'd eventually encounter when creating the documents. The absolute best I could find was the Front Matter extension for Visual Studio code. Is it perfect? Nope, but I've settled on it being the best possible application for my needs at this time.
It allows me to scan folders in Visual Studio Code and set them as content directories, and then fill in the tedious meta data with no effort. That's a time saver! I like saving time - and this Extension brings content-creating functionality to an app that did not have it.
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I was excited to have received an email from the YouTube Team, congratulating me on 500 subscriber. Also, what is next for the Manly Hanley Podcast?
Great reasons why Decluttr is the best option to sell your sell phone on sellcell.com. Also, ways to not get ripped off.
Site: https://sellcell.com - Lets you compare the amount of $ different companies will pay you for your cell phone trade-in.
My preferred vendor from that site: Sell My Stuff | Sell Stuff Online | Decluttr
Why I purchased this when I have less free time than ever before.
I bought a Streamer X.
It's simple
Does what I need.
It takes the work out of having to tweak computer settings.
Spending $400 on this thing will pay for itself in the amount of time I save.
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Trilium is My Reliable Note-Taking App
It has not failed me once. This is in reference to backups.
It has never crashed on me.
I have it open for about 12 hours every single day.
Open Source for the win.
All of the other wins for this app are listed on their GitHub Page.
I don't ever plan on ditching Obsidian.md as another note-taking app. That community is growing so quickly.
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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I still use other note-taking apps.
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Clicking on suspicious links or pop-ups that can lead to malware or phishing scams.
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Not using strong passwords or reusing the same password across multiple accounts, which can make it easier for hackers to gain access.
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Failing to keep their software and antivirus programs up-to-date, leaving them vulnerable to security breaches.
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Sharing too much personal information on social media platforms, which can be used for identity theft or cyberbullying.
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Falling for fake news or misinformation, which can spread quickly on social media and other online platforms.
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Not using two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of security to online accounts.
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Downloading software or files from untrusted sources, which can contain viruses or other harmful malware.
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Using public Wi-Fi networks without a VPN, which can leave personal information vulnerable to hackers.
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Not checking the privacy policies of websites and apps, which can collect and sell personal data.
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Not using ad-blockers or other tools to limit online tracking, which can be used for targeted advertising or other invasive purposes.
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Check out https://randyhanley.com
Plans for the Manly Hanley Podcast in 2023
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The Podcast will continue!
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I had a busy 2022, and this year is even busier - having 2 children enter this world. Twins are a lot of work, but also fun.
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I will do more episodes than last year. I did a whopping 14 episodes last year, and 28 episodes in Season 3. I'd like to see myself do at least 28 episodes this year, therefore doubling last year.
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I will continue with my episodes leaning toward free software, privacy, and talking smack about (some) subscription services. :-D
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Staying true to my word and using more open-source software for producing my content (Less Adobe Spark/Creative Cloud Express, and more). Lately, it's been Krita (a digital painting application), but may also be from GIMP, which I also love.
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This is a hobby, and I'm excited to make more content for anyone that can benefit from it.
Some Other Topics I Likely Will Cover
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Even though I tend to focus on entry level Linux topics, Open Source Software, and talking smack about greedy (in my opinion) subscription services, I may also touch on:
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Chat GPT and other Creepy AI that will be replacing us
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Interesting News Headlines / Primarily tech-related.
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Odd facts that you didn't know. I promise, not too Clickbait-ish!
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Health and diet.
Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
Follow our Podcast
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If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments.
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Follow Randrums on twitter
IntroRandy Talks about Twitter, other tech news, and tech hype.
FBI was paying off Twitter.* It likely happened. The guy that owns it is presenting the data. Look up Michael Shellenberger on Twitter.
It was brought up that Apple was originally thinking about removing Twitter from the App store. Elon Must was even talking about Apple potentially removing Twitter. That got squashed really quickly - it came out that Twitter never ever considered removing Twitter. It just feels like yet more toxic information spread by the corrupt news media.
* People announcing they're leaving Twitter. An example would be the St. Louis Mayor, Tishaura Jones. November 24th was her last Tweet. The media is running with this story that
* Wikipedia called the suspension of some Twitter journalists' accounts "The Thursday Night Massacre"
* "As Elon Musk Logs on as the New Boss of Twitter, Thousands Are Logging Off For Good." - I be the writer of that article really thought they hit a home run with that one...Similar to me making a dad joke.
Google Chrome Getting Memory and Energy Saver Modes* Not sure if this feature is going to help free up memory when Google tries to prevent you from blocking ads that you don't want to see. Google doesn't care about your internet experience and are using you.Here is the TechCrunch article that talks about only the good parts of Google's shady practices.
Apple Maps is Better Than Google MapsApple Maps has come a really long way. It used to be the worst. Now, I think it's the best, since Apple doesn't bank on selling every piece of information about you like Google does. Does it annoy me that Apple Maps is locked to only Apple devices? Yes, that's the main thing that I can't stand about Apple - Their overpriced App Store (for shoppers and authors), and their walled garden concept.
I do think that, in the long run, the company that survives by selling it's users, will lose.
Closing RemarksI'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
Follow our Podcast
- If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments.
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Why guarantee an income to some company that is taking advantage of you, and will cut you off, with no measure of loyalty?
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Subscription services are not just getting out of hand, they had already gone too far, many years ago.
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These companies know you're programmed to rent things from them, and they're abusing this power. Ever since the pandemic, those services are being purchased more than ever. Remember that, unlike with media that you used to purchase, when you stop paying, you have nothing to show for what you've been paying for years.
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YouTube Premium, for years, was $18/month for a family plan, but is going up to $23/month next month. They said this price increase will "help them to develop more premium features". Source for this BS.
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Supporting Data/Reference
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Case Stud/Example/Anecdote
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Conclusion
Cancel this garbage and stop wasting money
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Start small, and maybe cancel one or two things a month.
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Every month, look at your credit card statement, and find another recurring cost for something that you don't get to actually keep. Maybe it's Amazon Prime, Adobe Creative Cloud, Netflix, Paramount +, Disney, HBO, or billion other ones I won't waste your time mentioning.
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Try experimenting with signing up for a trial with different credit cards, email addresses, only when you're in the situation of needing that service. A good example would be watching TV Series, or Movie on YouTube TV. You could sign up for their 2-week free trial at the point, watch the series, cancel service, and not owe a penny. They don't deserve your money when you're not using it.
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We are used to paying for services that are actually necessary, such as "water, gas, electricity, and other utilities. Why on earth do we contribute to these monthly expenses with entertainment?" Source: DataDrivenInvestor
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The writer in the DataDrivenInvestor article mentions that, for the price of 3 months of the full Adobe Bundle, you can buy Affinity's full collection of software with lifetime updates. Affinity makes great photo and vector-editing software.
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If it really adds that much value to your life, buy it. You do you.
Intro
Hello everyone and welcome to the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover.
I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax.
This Episode was recorded on Sunday, November 13th, 2022
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Tools or Servers I Run to Avoid Big Tech Tracking and Selling my Data
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A Pixel Smartphone running GrapheneOS.
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Android and iOS track the hell out of you - out of the box.
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Apple tracks you a bit less out of the box than Android does.
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GrapheneOS allows you to avoid a lot of Google tracking on Google's own phones.
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GrapheneOS is a custom ROM/OS that you can flash to most Google Pixel smartphones. It allows you to avoid using Google Play Services/Framework/Store. You can use multiple user profiles to (for example) setup your work apps where you might want to use Google services, and then perhaps a personal account where you block everything related to Google. It's brilliant.
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I've not seen an easier-to-install Android ROM than GrapheneOS. Their installer works right in the web browser, and it's solid: Worked on the first try for me when plugging in my phone and following their guide! I was blown away; Flew right out of my chair.
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There are some downsides that you might know about until you try it out, such as not being able to use Android Auto. If you want something to be highly-secure, you're going to have sacrifices. If someone tells you otherwise, they're lying.
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An Open Source "Read it Later". It extracts only the article's content and places it into a nice view. It even lets you highlight areas of the content that you're extracting and add notes!
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They mention that they don't store data on US servers. They write:
"Because your data belongs to you, we don't want to store them on US servers. That's why we only chose European partners, like Online (french web hoster), MailJet (french emailing service) or PayPlug (french payment solution)."
- It's important to note that, this solution is still great in that you can host it on your own US server, since it's open source. I do what I want with my server. The coolest thing is that you can export your data from Wallabag and reimport it into your own instance. This would be great if you wanted to sign up for their service as a trial, end the trial, and move the data to your own server. Amazing!
Announcements
I'm back!
I'm excited!
Subscribe and follow for more to come!
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If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments.
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Intro Randy shares some updates regarding this show's scheduling and what's to come!
Why there are less episodes, and what is to come. * Work is busy
But I do take my opportunity at work to learn anything new I can and scavenge through any of that new information to feed into show content. I've been working crazy hours, visiting with family and enjoying every-day life. I've still released a few Linux videos here and there on my YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/randyhanley - Please check that out and subscribe there. I'm much more active there than on Twitter.
One of my recent Linux videos regarding Pop!_OS has just under 6,000 views as of this episode. * I hope to cover more Podcast episodes regarding open-source software, because I really see things moving in a darker direction with companies such as Microsoft releasing Windows 11 and trying their hardest to force everything to the cloud in an attempt to track you in every way possible. Let me make this clearer - They don't give a fuck about you or your privacy.
Intro
Randy has landed back on Linux Mint and discusses why you should try it out.
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Linux Mint is so polished and stable
- The desktop decoration is not over-the-top but looks darn good somehow.
- I really have not much more explanation of it. It comes with some simple wall papers and a basic theme and it looks great. It's easy on the eyes for all types of websites, dark or light.
- Just try it. Trust me. Home - Linux Mint
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If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments.
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Intro
Randy gives some reasons why we need to use Linux
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Announcements - I've moved the entire studio back into the basement; This is not just my desk and recording gear, but drums, drum mics, PA System and mini blue couch.
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Why we should use Linux
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It survives while being free.
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The source code is accessible. Windows and MacOS will not Open Source their code. I speak of Linux openly because I'm referring to both the Desktop and the Server versions.
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There are constant issues with Windows and MacOS breaking things during their upgrade cycles.
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A few years ago, MacOS dropped 32-bit application support during the Catalina upgrade and broke tons of shit. MacOS Monterrey broke a lot of users' file paths in apps such as Dropbox and OneDrive.
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Microsoft often breaks stuff with Windows update, sometimes it might be an activation issue (greed).
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You can trust software that is free.
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If you listened to my last episode I gave some reasons on why you can't trust Adobe and their greed. Do you think their software is open source. Heck no.
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There is so much software to try, almost anything you think of, so you won't go broke when trying/scrapping different installs.
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Package management is superior in Linux.
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The fake "Windows Virus Detected" messages that pop up in the browser don't even apply to you.
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No drivers to install (for the most part), aside from NVIDIA.
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Linux is easier to install than Windows, and much easier to than MacOS.
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You can "TRY" Linux. In 2022, we still don't have a Live USB environment for both MacOS and Windows.
Here are my recommendation to get started on trying multiple distributions
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Get a USB Stick, perhaps 32GB in size or larger. They're extremely affordable as of this writing.
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Go to the Ventoy site at: Ventoy
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Ventoy makes it very easy to make a bootable USB disk that you can put tons of ISO (Disk Images) on and select them from a menu during boot time. Follow their guide and try it out, I highly recommend it.
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Now that you have a Multi-Boot USB, start adding your ISO (Linux distribution downloads to it. (The Ventoy site shows you how to place them on the Disk..just drag and drop or copy/paste))
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Download all the LInux distros you'd like - go crazy, it's free!
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Once you boot up your Ventoy USB drive, you can then select from the menu any of the distributions you've downloaded.
Intro Hello everyone and welcome to the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover.
I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax.
This Episode was recorded on Easter Sunday, April 17th, 2022
I witness Adobe products crashing (Dozens of Instances) on a weekly basis. * Their software policing (greed) hinders the software's stability.Shit-tons of services/processes running even with just an Acrobat DC Standard install.
2 weeks ago, EposVox (The Stream Professor/Young man that knows a hell of a lot and makes some amazing master classes) announced he was leaving Adobe Premiere.(131) I never thought I'd leave Premiere... but I did. - YouTube * Their cloud-based installers suck. I find my self (often) having to download the full/offline installer in order to get a base package to install. Then, of course, it needs to update to the latest version that isn't in the offline installer because, why in the hell would they want to keep that up-to-date? That would make too much sense.
The Solution? Stop Feeding Adobe * Make them starveUse Open Source, alternative products that are transparent, and don't take advantage of their users. Donate to those open source projects that you're benefiting from, if you feel like it.
Check out some crowd-sourced/recommended alternatives to Adobe's software at: AlternativeTo - Crowdsourced software recommendations
Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro
Are skilled trades dying?
Skilled Labor Shortage
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No notes for today, just commented on this source: https://esub.com/blog/impact-skilled-labor-shortage-construction/
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Also, this source: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210318005265/en/U.S.-Skilled-Trades-Labor-Shortage-Heightens-as-In-Demand-Jobs-Remain-Unfilled-the-Longest
Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
Follow our Podcast
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If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments.
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Randy discusses whether or not distro-hopping can be a problem for Linux users.
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What is Distro Hopping?
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Not settling with any particular Linux distribution.
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Novice Linux users are likely the ones that do this the most.
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Do you actually learn or grow when hopping.
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There are articles on how to stop distro-hopping, and find one that you can stick with for decades
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On particular article is from MakeUseOf.com that mentioning how there are so many distros out there that it may seem like a nearly-impossible task of finding the best one.
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Source: How to Stop Distro-Hopping and Find the Perfect Linux Distro for Yourself (makeuseof.com)
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It talks about distro hopping like it's almost a drug addiction. Maybe it is. I've been using Linux to close to 15 years and still would consider myself a novice user.
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Think about why I distro-hop in the first place.
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Looking for a stable system?
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Best eye candy?
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Rolling release distro that is always cutting-edge?
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What are the major issues that I run into with a distro - and is is really a deal breaker that causes me to hop to another?
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The solution may just be listing your needs and preferences, according to MakeUseOf.
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Here are some that I can think of for myself to look out for to start:
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Absolutely necessary applications that can replace what I did in Windows or MacOS.
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Best package manager for me.
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Fast, snappy desktop operations.
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Awesome U.I.
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Since there are so many distros out there, take that list that you made and see what aligns with closely with the next distro that you want to hop to. Maybe this could be my last hop.
Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
Follow our Podcast
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If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments.
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Follow Randrums on twitter
Reasons to switch to Linux
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Linux developers patch security holes faster than Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
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Linux security holes are patched in an average of 25 days.
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Apple 69 days
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Microsoft 83 days
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Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-project-zero-finds-linux-developers-patch-security-holes-faster-than-anyone-else/
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You can still use a lot of the tools that you use in Windows - or there is a comparable alternative.
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Microsoft Edge even runs in Linux. It's actually one of my favorite browser for using in the corporate world. You can sync your bookmarks/passwords, etc to your corporate account. You also sync them to a free Microsoft Outlook or Hotmail account, for example.
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It's free - and doesn't have ridiculous licensing enforcement/greed that MS/Apple have.
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You can run the "latest" version of Linux on just about any computer
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Microsoft is about to enforce some terrible restrictions on even their "Pro" version of Windows 11 - and that's that they will not allow account creation without have a Microsoft account. This is pretty tyrannical. You realize that you own your computer, right? This is bullshit and nobody should put up with this. This means that in order to use your computer, Microsoft has to know about it first or else you can't use Windows 11.
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Source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/02/new-preview-build-adds-microsoft-account-requirement-to-windows-11-pro/
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You have a package manager.
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Go ahead on your Windows computer. Think of a piece of software you'd like to install. Go to the website, find the download area, save it to your computer. Run the installer, complete the install, delete the installer file
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By the time you thought of the piece of software you wanted to install, a Linux user was already able to install it, no cleanup needed.
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Linux distributions, since I can remember over the last 15 years, have always had this, sort of, App Store. The difference with this "store" is that everything in this repository of software is free.
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Your downloads folder won't be full of bloated installers that you forgot to delete like on your Windows machine. Sure MacOS reminds me to delete installers, often. Package installing is still easier in Linux distributions that have a repository, which is most of them.
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Useful apps are already preinstalled.
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In Windows and MacOS, you don't typically start out with a fully-functional Office Suite installed. In Linux distributions, you do.
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Every Linux distribution and every spin or flavor of those distributions have their own software selections that their creators chose.
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You can Run most Linux distributions off of a USB stick (Try before you buy).
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This is how I started using Linux in 2005. It was on a CD Rom, though. But, since i couldn't write to that CD Rom, I couldn't save data to it. It was enough to play around with Linux to then decide if i wanted to install it to my hard drive. On the CD Rom, there is an Install launcher that made it so simple!
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If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments.
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Learn if livestreaming is for you, as well as what is needed to get started today!
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Announcements
Randy is a YouTube streamer/gamer - Minus the Red Bull.
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Why would you want to Livestream?
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I feel like it makes the creator or business more vulnerable or approachable to their audience.
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When you see some big names do a Livestream, or even a planned Zoom session, it makes them feel more down-to-earth.
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In these types of sessions you can learn from each other. It's almost like a team-learning environment such as cheerleaders, a sports team, or even a band; You may have one person (the presenter, i.e. the coach) that gives the information, and the attendees or team can process that information, correct themselves personally and amongst one another to gain that knowledge.
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They're not limited in capacity like an in-person event would be.
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Feedback can be logged and that can only help you improve your business.
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You can Livestream just about anything. Video gamers have been doing this for quite some time.
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I actually just got into game streaming and it really is a lot of fun, no matter what age you are. There are games for every age. If your Video game system has an HDMI port (all modern ones do), there is an easy way to stream it.
What do you need to get started?
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A computer or smartphone.
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It's hard to find a computer without a webcam and mic built in. The same goes for smartphones.
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A computer's built-in webcam usually has garbage quality, but is still good enough to start doing a livestream. A smartphone's camera (as long as the lighting is good in your surroundings) is usually many times better than the camera on most laptops and even desktop (external) webcams.
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If you see that livestreaming is going somewhere, you can then invest in studio-grade equipment. Try to buy things that you can use in and outside of your streaming setup.
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A high-quality microphone. If you listen to the older episodes of my podcast, you'll almost think that I'm against USB microphones. When compared to XLR microphones, they're still mostly inferior - sort of like how your iPhone Pro Max cannot compete with something such as a Black Magic cinema 6k camera. Not even close.
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However, USB microphones are only going to get better, due to their convenience of being so easy to just plug and play, and will avoid you needing a separate mixer or audio interface outside of your computer.
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Bandwidth
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If you're planning on using just your smartphone to livestream, if you have a generous data plan and good cellular coverage (4G or 5G), you're probably already set to stream.
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If your home internet connection is garbage, you should consider upgrading with your ISP.
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Don't use WIFI. Use Ethernet.
Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
Follow our Podcast
- If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments.
I'm not the only older gamer * According to Statista, gaming is not only enjoyed by the younger crowd like it once was.The distribution of gamers in the United States by age shows: 38% of gamers are in the 18 to 34 year age range, 14% in the 35 to 44 year old, 12% in the 45 to 54 age. For the younger gamers, under 18, they only make up 20%
Statista source link: https://www.statista.com/statistics/189582/age-of-us-video-game-players/ * Some similar year stats, but for the UK: https://ukiepedia.ukie.org.uk/index.php/Player_Diversity_%26_Demographics * $68.7B is what Microsoft paid to acquire Activision. In short, they own almost everything. Deals like this one show just how big the video game industry really is. * More insight on the Microsoft/Activision deal: https://www.polygon.com/22890012/microsoft-buys-activision-owns-franchises-ips-call-of-duty-blizzard * Sony and Microsoft currently make the most-powerful consoles, both capable of 4k gaming, and also Ray Tracing technology. They both also support game streaming and cloud gaming. * It doesn't necessarily matter how powerful and modern your gaming console is, though. For instance, Nintendo entered this new decade still sell the same platform they have been since early 2017
Do you want the most powerful system? * Nintendo Switch's graphics would be what I'd called "Diet HD"The Nintendo Switch does 720p graphics. Your phone likely has a much higher resolution than that. 720p is 1280 x 720 resolution.
The Sony Playstation and the Xbox Series X can do Ultra HD Resolutions. 3840 x 2160 (4k) is the resolution you're dealing with here. Additionally, the PlayStation and Xbox can often do 120Hz refresh rate. This means that you'll notice a drastically smoother motion in your gaming.
I've you seen 120Hz in motion on your screen, you'll notice that it's silky smooth. https://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-one-120hz
Today, these screens are totally affordable too. you can get 65" Sony 4k, 120Hz television for $800 (The Sony X85j) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WJMSS8H/ref=twister_B095C5FPKM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 * If you're not in a hurry to buy a system, but really want a great console, such as the PlayStation 5, I recommend you sign up for their waiting list. You basically create a free PlayStation account and then get in line. https://www.playstation.com/en-us/ps5/register-to-buy/ * If you're impatient like me and don't mind paying a little bit more, you can look online on places such as Craigslist, and can buy it from someone there. They'll usually be hiking the price up around $100 bucks, but keep in mind they they're going to charge you sales tax that you'd pay from a retailer - $499 + tax. We have 6% sales tax in Michigan, so you'd add another $30 on top of that price.If you're buying from someone that can provide proof of purchase, and hand you a sealed product, maybe it's worth your while to buy if.
In this first episode of 2022, Randy gives you 10 reasons to start your podcast
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Freedom of Speech
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Many platforms will nuke your content if it goes against their guidelines, or even just their ideology. One example would be YouTube nuking episodes of the Joe Rogan Podcast, where he interviewed a co-inventor of mRNA technology, Robert Malone - (https://nypost.com/2022/01/04/youtube-scraps-joe-rogan-podcast-episode-over-nazi-comparison/)
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So much easier than editing/rendering video.
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Maybe it's because I'm a permanent noob when it comes to editing video. I just don't like it or really ever do it; And that's just HD 1080p video. Now that everything is moving to 4k and even 8k, you'll want to close your eyes when you realize how much computing power and time it takes to edit such big files. Editing audio, is still the same in 2022, as I remember it 20 years ago. A WAV or FLAC audio file will sounds totally adequate with the highest-quality video file.
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Much less expensive than video equipment.
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I'd like to buy a 4k video camcorder, or a least a good 4k mirrorless Camera. When you start to get into the "good" ones (prosumer or higher), they easily jump over 2 grand, with lots of sellers on Amazon gouging on the price, by adding crappy gizmos as a bundle, then jacking the price of the camera up. I'm not exaggerating at all. It's not as bad as buying an NVIDIA card on Amazon though. Just . . . buyer beware.
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Audio Equipment is much less expensive. You could even start with just your phone if you'd wish, although it's much more worth you and your listeners' while to have a quality, tried and true mic, such as the Shure SM7b, and a simple recording interface. Just buy it, and be done with it: iPhone and USB Microphone quality cannot compare. Think of it as comparing an iPhone camera to a professional mirrorless camera - We're getting close, but not there yet.
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The computer you already own is "good enough".
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You can add video anytime. Audio, alone, is a good way to test the water.
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Uploads take much-less time with audio than video.
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Interviews = Less setup for the person you're interviewing.
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Monetize when you're ready.
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You don't have to wait for YouTube's ridiculous requirements for the ability to monetize your "video" channel. You need at least 1,000 subscribers, and 4,000 watch hours in the last 12 months. With your podcast, as soon as you feel like your show is getting some traction and has some listeners, you can start reaching out to potential sponsors.
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It's easy to cross-post your episodes with podcasting.
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Backups are a breeze.
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro Randy mentions 5 Open-Source Applications that you need to check out right now.
Open Source Alternatives to Paid Software * Dark Table is free alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
Site: features | darktableOn their website, they describe it as a "virtual light table and darkroom for photographers". It allows for non-destructive editing throughout its complete workflow, and also has GPU-accelerated imaged processing. It runs fast as heck in my demoing of the software. It runs on MacOS/Linux/Windows. I have no experience with photography touch-ups. I grabbed a photo off the internet and used Dark Table to tweak the brightness and a bunch of other settings and ended up making the photo look better than the original. This software made it very easy! * Audacity is an open source cross-platform audio software.
Site: Audacity ® | Free, open source, cross-platform audio software for multi-track recording and editing. (audacityteam.org)In a recent update to Audacity, they improved project loading time, making it 50x's faster! What can you do in Audacity? You can record audio through a microphone that you have plugged into your computer. You can import, export, and edit audio. Audacity even supports plugins such as VST, which could introduce pro-level effects if you purchased them and them enable them in Audacity. When you edit audio in Audacity, you have a unlimited sequential "undo" and "redo". This program is a beast and is worth installing on any computer. * Blender 3.0 is a free and open source 3D creation suite that supports the modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering compositing, motion-tracking, video editing and game creation portions of the 3D pipeline; Everything, as far as I understand. Like the other software I've listed above, it runs on MacOS/Windows/LinuxI understand nothing about 3D animation or modeling ,etc. However, if I were to want to learn about it, I could look up some of the many YouTube tutorials and try it at least find out if the passion for this was truly in my soul. I wouldn't feel like a fool that's out of $100s of dollars after buying an expensive software, to later learn that I'm not into it.
They have some cool show off videos on their YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=92&v=QRqY_20ti9A&feature=emb_title * Krita is a free/open source application that allows users to create digital art files from scratch.
Site: Krita | Digital Painting. Creative Freedom. Krita runs on MacOS, Windows, and Linux. Some notable features are that it allows you to import videos and GIFs as Krita animations. It's a really nice-looking application in my opinion, and sometimes has a Photoshop vibe in my opinion. It even has a built-in recorder to create video clips out of your painting progress. * Obsidian is a free knowledge base on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files.
Site: Obsidian
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Randy talks about some the rip-offs that are seemingly becoming the norm, and also why your mobile phone is never as secure as you may think.
YouTube TV Cuts Price this time, only ecause they have to.
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YouTube failed to reach a deal with Disney (ABC News Live, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, SEC Network, and ACC Network.) This according to Ars Technica's write-up. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/12/youtube-tv-loses-espn-abc-and-all-other-disney-owned-channels/
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Long story short: Google wants networks to treat YouTube TV like a bigger network and give them good price.
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One user, Sterlingdax, commented something interesting regarding the price change:
Not a subscriber, but if one can get Disney for $14, but YouTube is knocking $15 off current bills, doesn’t it make sense to subscribe direct, or am I missing something?
- SolomonRex wrote:
This is why I’ve stuck with sling. $30 with ESPN, hgtv, food network, TNT, etc, and I have an antenna for ABC, etc. works great for me.
Toyota making users pay $8/month for an unconnected service (remote start) if they want to continue using it.
- Even Toyota wants a piece of that subscription service pie, even without really providing a service. Absolute bullshit. Hopefully, people think and speak with their wallets and don't encourase this bad business practice. This makes me think of the idea of the "Great Reset" that has been floating around and muttered but the World Economic Forum: "You will own nothing and you will be happy". No, that's incorrect and that sounds like some sort of neo Feudalism. I don't rent. I own. People need to stop empowering tyrants.
Ars Technical source article: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/12/toyota-owners-have-to-pay-8-mo-to-keep-using-their-key-fob-for-remote-start/?comments=1
Stop supporting "Fill-in-the-blank-As-A-Service"
### # Reuters reveals U.S. State Department phones hacked with Israeli company spyware
From Reuters
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"NSO software is capable of not only capturing encrypted messages, photos and other sensitive information from infected phones, but also turning them into recording devices to monitor surroundings, based on product manuals reviewed by Reuters.""
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There was a graphics processing vulnerability that Apple fixed in September. But, before that, people's smartphones could easily be infected. Since prior to February iPhone were able to be taken over by receiving a deceptive iMessage request to the device (it was invisible!). That mean the user had no chance to accept or deny anything. The NSO surveillance software, known as Pegasus, could be installed.
I'm glad that Apple at least sued them.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-us-state-department-phones-hacked-with-israeli-company-spyware-sources-2021-12-03/?utm_campaign=Reuters%20Best%20Weekly_NWSLTR_NEW_GLOB_B2B_2112&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&utm_content=B2B%20211209%20NEWS%20GLOB%20REUTERS%20BEST%20AWARE%20NWSLTR%20WEEKLY
Randy talks about a Google Pixel repair nightmare and also about the negatives of Amazon's continuing world domination.
This News Edition Episode was recorded on Sunday, December 5th, 2021
Meta, The train wreck formerly known as Facebook isn't happy about having to undo a deal and sell off the $400 million dollar Giphy that they paid for, 19 months later. Meta’s failed Giphy deal could end Big Tech’s spending spree | Ars Technica
$400 Million is a massive amount of money, but compare that to the $19 Billion they paid for WhatsApp, $2Billion for Oculus VR, and $ 715Million for Instagram.
When people send GIFS, it's likely they're either using Giphy, or Tenor (a platform owned by another monopoly, Google - Is Google a Monopoly? (marketrealist.com). )
How was the purchase stopped?
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) rules the they must sell all the GIFS, according to ARS Technica. Usually these big purchases don't get fully-stopped like this, and they're asked to just pay some fine and asked to be good, etc.
My opinion? I think it's great to bring any attention to big tech trying to grow even larger than the cancer it has already become.
- Amazon is avoiding the supply chain mess by using their own ships and long-haul planes. Amazon has been investing into these private ships and planes, behind the scenes, for a few years nowEven with their shipping powers, Amazon has encountered a 14% rise in items that are out of stock, with 25% average price increase.
In 2020, amazon spent $61 Billion on shipping, compared to $38 Billion in 2019. Source: How Amazon beats supply chain chaos with ships and long-haul planes (cnbc.com) * Google Pixel repairs have allegedly started a privacy nightmare.
A video game designer sent in her Pixel 5a to be repaired by Google at a facility in Texas, only to find out that someone allegedly hacked her device.
Google told her they never received the phone, where she was then charged for a replacement device. The woman mentioned having FedEx tracking information showing it arrived, and she received the refund.Here's where things got weird, though. Somehow, it seems someone began to clear her two-factor authentication checks (which could only be done from the old phone), and logged into her Dropbox, Gmail, and more. Photos were stored in those accounts of her in bathing suits, dresses, and having stitches after surgery.
If you've used Google accounts, you'll know that when you log into a device on a different machine, you'll get a security alert to your Gmail. Well, the person using her email deleted those. If this is all true, it's alarming and disgusting. Google Pixel repairs resulted in leaked pics and a privacy nightmare - The Verge
Closing Remarks
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Randy's first "News" Episode discussing Italian guy with the fake vaccine arm
Man wearing fake arm for the wrong reason.
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A man in Italy put on a fake arm and got the vaccine. I mean, religious exemption bro? That's taking it a bit far, wouldn't you say?
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He paid 100's of euros for the silicone prosthetic.
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The person giving the shot said, "initially the arm looked similar to skin"
But after taking a closer look, they asked him to remove his shirt, in which the man then tried to "persuade the health worker to turn a blind eye"
He did comment that it was well-made.
- Source article for above: Italian man tries to dodge Covid vaccine wearing fake arm | Italy | The Guardian
Megadeth Launches Crypto Coin
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It's trading at 53 cents as of Friday and it's traded as $MEGA
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Megadeth's plan for the cryptocurrency is that fans will have premium benefits when using it, such as unlocking exclusive content, special tour access, Q&A's, hangouts with the band, and special items.
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Source is on their website! Megadeth Megadeth Coin Is Here
Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro
When it comes to the internet, Randy describes areas of security and privacy that you need to know about.
- Privacy and Security on the Internet - What's the Difference?
- Security - Think of it as keeping your data safe.
In IT, there are many different areas of security such as Newtwork/Endpoint/Application/Computer security. I have a rather short and simple opinion on security. You don't need paid antivirus software anymore. You just need a brain.
- If you're regularly downloading malicious files online, needing a virus message alert preventing a potentially harmful piece of software from executing on your computer - you probably could just benefit from a few intro videos to internet security / cyber saftey. It really makes a world of difference. I am fortunate to have worked for companies and IT departments that ONLY survive on saftey and ensuring customer and internal data is locked up tight. You lose that data, you lose the confidence of the people you're contracted under, people you work with internally, and maybe even in your own abilities. "You Should be Ashamed!"
Privacy, Think of it of kind of an on of off thing. Your ability to reveal only the data that you want. If more data about you is revealed than you would like, then that means you don't have as much privacy as you probably should have.
- Maybe you don't want full transparency to strangers, anyone outside your family. Maybe you don't have to be on social media that makes all of it's money selling your data.
- Source: Difference between Security and Privacy - javatpoint
Ring doorbell? This has been coming up as the tech gift question every year. Terrible It's feeding the mesh network of Amazon spy devices. I won't get into the details on this episode, as I talked about Amazon sidewalk a ways back. Short answer, don't buy the damn thing and opt out.. Opt out from not buying it in the first place.
- Nextdoor.com? Delete your account. It's not worth it. I tried it a few years back when it was fresh. To me, it just seems like a honeypot for more accurately-targeted marketing.
- In their Privacy and Safety policy section within the "Privacy and safety on Nextdoor", they state that "don't tolerate violations of privacy or threats to someone's physical safety" You know who else doesn't? The police. You dont' need a next door account. Sign up if you're bored and need more things to look at though. (sarcasm)
Last week I sort of covered a good way to clean up some lingering data, and improve your online privacy. [[E23-Things-Will-Not-Get-Betta-with-Meta#^ef9bd0]]
Facebook will fail. You Meta belive it
- Facebook has an absolutely pathetic past with respect to data and privacy.Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal - Wikipedia
Facebook apologises for psychological experiments on users | Facebook | The Guardian * I keep seeing things online about the "Meta-Verse" and "Seeing your world in the meta-verse". I can't see myself ever "seeing my world through" a company that regularly censors facts.
Examples? You can basically do a wildcard Google search and find endless cases that have been either archived or screenshot to show where Facebook prevents the search of topics they find "dangerous" or some bullshit they'll use to defend their censorship.What do I think about Censorship? Sure there are bat-shit crazy people out there and they're probably wrong. But, let people decide on their own to not listen to them, that's what I want, anyway. I think the real danger is a company like Facebook, aka Instagram, aka Messenger, aka WhatsApp, aka Meta. * There is an interesting site you can check out that can give you a good idea of your digital footprint. It's called Mine - The Future of Data Ownership (saymine.com)
I plugged in my gmail address that I used as my primary email address for about 15 years and found (according to their search) that 468 companies are holding some sort of data on me.You can then have the results drill down a b it and list all of those sites that "have your data" and display the date in which you joined their service. Even my MySpace account was on there.
Next, you can drill a bit deeper and then request they remove your personal data - very cool!
I recommend you going through all of the results and then only removing the ones you haven't used in a long time and don't plan on using. There are obviously going to be ones on there that you will want to keep. For instance, USPS shows up on there, because that's a site I intentionally registered for with that email address, years ago.
MINE works by scanning your email's subject lines to find companies of which they've previously studied the privacy policy of. Yes, it's companies you signed up for. So almost all of the companies that have your data are just the ones you signed up for with your email.
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Intro
Randy talks about how he is dropping his life-long habit of inhaling abnormal amounts of caffeine.
Why I drink so much caffeine:
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It's a stimulant and feels very good to help focus while in front of a computer, for often 12 hours a day. The problem with the caffeine amount that I drink is that coffee is often 3 x's the amount found in a soda. For example: an 8-ouce cup of coffee has between 95-200mg of caffeine.
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For comparison, a 12 ounce can of soda has 34-45mg
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8-ounce energy drink: 70-100mg
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8-ounce cup of tea: 14-60mg
Why I'm cutting Caffeine
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Increases blood pressure
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Increases release of acid in your stomach
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It may interfere with the absorption of calcium in the body
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Apparently there is synthetic caffeine that's added to some medicines, foods, and drinks. I did not know this. I probably just assumed that those companies were just finding the natural caffeine and then extracting it and adding it to different things.
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Source for all of that above information - Caffeine: MedlinePlus
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The side effects kind of concern me. There are the obvious side effects like staying awake, but there are others such as anxiety, dehydration, and rapid or abnormal heart rhythm.
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When looking on Mayo Clinic's site, they write a "TLDR" version that says you may want to cut back if you're drinking more than 4 cups of caffeinated coffee a day and have side effects such as headache, insomnia, nervousness, irritability, fast heartbeat, muscle tremors. Don't take it with Ephedrine (commonly found in decongestants), may increase risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, or seizure.
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If you drink caffeinated tea, you can cut down on the brew time to lessen the caffeine content.
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Mayo Clinic source for above info: Caffeine: How much is too much? - Mayo Clinic
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Intro
Randy recommends software that doesn't lock you in.
Software That you can install and feel that you somewhat have control over. not babysitting you. If you've listened to this podcast for the last year or so, you'll probably know by now that I'm not a fan of software with a shut-off switch: e.g., All Adobe Software, Windows (yeah, you can enter your product key, but it always wants to speak to the manager on the internet.) Here are a few that I recommend.
- 7zip - can extract so many different types of compressed archives, and does it much faster than the built-in Windows zip compression.
- GIMP - (GNU Image Manipulation Program). This program has been around for 25 years, is powerful, and completely free. It doesn't need a resource-hogging update service in the background like Adobe uses to make sure you're paying the Adobe recurring monthly tax.
- Syncthing - It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time.
- Greenshot or ksnip - Both receive regular updates and are open source. I personally like the annotation features of ksnip much better, especially how fast the blur tool works where you can blur out sensitive information in a screenshot. Greenshot is by far more popular, but ksnip is solid and I think I may like it better.
- Obsidian - I should have mentioned this as my episode announcement because it was a big move for me that I finally accomplished. I was able to trash OneNote at last. Paired with Syncthing, I've never had as good of a syncing experience as I have with my Obsidian notes. I can open and instantly sync my notes on Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS. This already beats OneNote for syncing capabilities.
For people that are big into graphing things, thoughts, ideas, Obsidian has an amazing ability to graph out the thoughts and knowledge. You can easily find out how one subject relates to another. Picture these Atom-looking nodes on your screen, where you can highlight over any node to see it's connections. Something that the Obsidian team mentions on their website that really caught my attention was sort of hidden at the bottom. They mention something that I've sort of felt all along regarding proprietary data, and how it compares to data that has the freedom inherited from being open and or open sourced. They mention "In our age when cloud services can shut down, get bought, or change privacy policy any day, the last thing you want is proprietary format and data lock-in." * mRemoteNG - Multi-Remote Next Generation. I love this tool. If you have machines that you remote in to regularly, you should give mRemoteNG a try. Think of it as a remote desktop tool all within one window, sort of like modern, tabbed web browsers, except each tab is a different remote connection within mRemoteNG. The protocols that mRemoteNG supports are RDP, VNC, SSH, Telnet, HTTP, rlogin, Raw socket connections, and PowerShell remoting. It's open source and you can trust it. I've been using for nearly 10 years. * Free software make me feel like my computer is much less dirty and further from being corrupted from greedy software vendors.
Randy explains why your smartphone is not smart
Think of what your smartphone can do when you remove it's connection to the internet.
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Not much. Were made to rely on cloud services. This puts the real power in big businesses' hands. I believe a smartphone could be renamed to something like "Only-as-smart as the internet Phone".
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When's the last time you remember downloading your actual music file to your phone or music player storage? You probably don't. You most-likely use a music "SERVICE" to basically rent a listen from your overlords. If their server goes down, you don't have much, or even nothing at all. Your smartphone is just a tote controller to whatever subscription you currently have.
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Most smartphones do not come with an SD card slot, just like laptops no longer include a DVD writer or Blu Ray drive. You will own nothing, bit if you want to, you can try to find a store that will still sell you physical goods or a downloadable file. Respect to the services out there that still let you download music file. I'm not sure If it's the minimalist or environmental mindset that seems to push this trend. Hispters still like records, so who knows.
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People always seem to worry about mainly "how good the camera is". Get a real camera and snap some pictures. It won't be long before you realize a dedicated camera can slaughter the one in you smartphone.
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On Reddit, some users argue that phones are are not worthless at all: "Having a device that works as a camera, phone, calculator, crappy flashlight, mp3 player, alarm clock, compass, along with access to the internet and various apps that fits in your pocket is incredibly useful."...Ok, fair point, but "smart"phones have accomplished all of these items for almost 2 decades - Couldn't I just argue that one could carry around an iPod touch instead?
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If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com
Intro
Randy weighs the options of starting your own social network, vs joining a paid operation that guarantees your privacy.
The main Social Media Sites (Facebook, Twitter, TikTok) are garbage - Dumpster fires for Privacy. My solution that has worked well is to not use them, while experimenting with my own!
- You don't necessarily have to have a home server setup like I do
- Find a super-affordable web host (I've done that for this week) because I've tried about half a dozen.
A2 Hosting is my now favorite, killer choice.
I know a lot of techies out there would probably recommend against shared hosting, but it doesn't hurt to try it out. It's the best shared hosting I've seen. They office Softaculous auto installer for your websites that you host with A2. It works amazingly-well and saves you from all the steps that you'd do when hosting from your home network. Plus, you don't have to worry about network security as much as you would if you were hosting from your basement like I do. The installer has some social Media apps, notably HumHub, which is flat-out awesome. * Or you don't have to host your own site at all. You could sign up for an account with something such as Zion, which is a social network built on Bitcoin. Another one is MeWe. Both Zion and MeWe have something that Facebook-Instagram, Twitter, Google, TikTok, etc ,etc don't: The ability to guarantee that your data isn't being sold. * My conclusion is going to be that, while those privacy-centric networks I've mentioned are awesome and worth trying, the person that you likely trust the most is yourself. It's just a matter of whether or not you'd like to get your hands dirty with this kind of work. In my opinion, privacy with a side of learning is worth it!
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Hello everyone and welcome to the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover.
I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax.
This Episode was recorded on Monday, September 6th, 2021
Reasons you need to ditch Google Chrome now.
- It is a privacy nightmare.
"52 companies in the world have access to up to 91% of the average user's web traffic. That's an absolutely sickening figure and it's entirely unacceptable. And FLoC was poised to make it even worse!"Source: (11) Chrome is a privacy NIGHTMARE. - YouTube * FLoC is going sell to you as Interest-based advertising. No matter how they pitch this to you, it's going to equal a corporation obtaining more information about you. * Google has already admitted to tracking. Why You Should Delete Google Chrome After New Tracking Admission (forbes.com) * Chrome has 2.6 Billion users. Another reason Google has more data on people than any company, government, medical entity. * Bottom line is: Google Chrome does not prevent cross-site tracking and could easily do it if they really gave a shit about your privacy. Google is a greedy, terribly company.
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Intro
Randy talks about how one video game forever changed his computing journey.
This Episode was recorded on Sunday, August 22nd, 2021.
Why I named this episode around Quake
- It's an important video game to me. It's really one of main reason I started learning about computers.
- A team of 4 people started a Software company called id Software - John Romero is a designer and and created development tools/editors for id Software. He is even credited for coining the term "Deathmatch".
- Something freakishly-amazing about John Romero, from Wikipedia: "In his keynote speech at WeAreDevelopers Conference 2017, Romero named this period Turbo Mode, in which he emphasizes having created 28 games, in 5.5 years with a team consisting of fewer than 10 developers".[
- John Carmack is the lead programmer. At 25, he programmed this miracle of a game, Quake. He wrote other games before that - successful ones.
- There is a huge sale going on at Steam, where I recommend you buy Quake. As of Sunday, the 22nd of August, 2021, some games are up to 80% off. I paid $10 for quake. Sure, I know I could get it cheaper, for like $3 or $4, and then Steam would possibly upgrade it to the 2021 improved version, but I just wanted to buy it and support the hard work of the devs.
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Intro
Randy discusses proprietary things that he will be cutting out of his life in order to save a few extra bucks.
I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax.
This Episode was recorded on Sunday, August 8th, 2021
Cord-Cutting Anything Proprietary That I Can
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Adobe
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Credit Cards
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Operating System
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Try Linux!
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Be Your Own Cloud
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Don't throw away CD's
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I feel so foolish for getting rid of 100's of CD's. It was only after I reflected back on the times where I remember learning an album, reading the lyrics, feeling like I could learn a bit about the band.
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If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com
Intro
Randy mentions how it feels like 2006 all over again in the tech world, when it comes to Linux.
Is it 2006 all over again?
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I’ve been hearing this for close to 15 years
- My first time diving into Linux was probably around 2006 when I witnessed how terribly Microsoft handled Windows Vista. It felt like a bloated carcass on top of most computer hardware. It has so many hardware incompatibilities. It sucked!
- There are already a ton of videos up ahead of the Windows 11 launch talking about upgrading to Linux instead of Windows 11.
- For as big of a company as Microsoft is, you’d think they could handle things better. It’s kind of embarrassing - Mentioning that it’s a repeat of the “Windows 8 Disaster”. I think of it as more of the Vista disaster. I don’t think 8 was all that terrible.
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What Linux distributions do I recommend?
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After running Linux Mint solid https://linuxmint.com/ for a few years, I cannot pass up recommending it.
- Pop!_OS by System76 - Rock solid, supports systems with NVIDIA chips if needed, but will run find on most systems. It’s a lighter install, and allows you to browse their shop to determine the extras you want to install.
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Randy shares some of his most-favorite tech Vloggers / content creators!
Tech Vloggers I follow
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Naomi Brockwell
- She is a machine of putting useful information on blast. I check into her channel every couple of weeks, and I’m always learning something new, particularly her coverage on Bitcoin. I am not a person to give any recommendations on cryptocurrency, but I would say that she’s highly qualified.
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Mental Outlaw
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Brilliant tech personality that knows his stuff, and is very blunt about what’s happening with security on the internet. Also talks about Crypto.
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BitHead 1000
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I would not consider him a tech content creator, but a multi-talented one. From sawing out an amazing Nintendo chassis, to giving some crazy life advice to his listeners, his channel is entertaining.
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Chris Titus Tech
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His channel is described as covering “Linux/Servers/Storage”, but I think it’s so much more. He has great how-to videos, and really is able to relate things to being a former Windows users.
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DistroTube
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Even though he won’t really call himself a Linux expert, Derek is a Linux expert that shares his knowledge with the world. He releases very informative videos so often, I’m not sure if the guy ever rests. His audio setup is premium, he speaks clearly, and is easy to follow one some of the most technical computer tutorials.
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Flossy Carter
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I love this guy’s no BS approach to doing mobile and general technology reviews. You can tell he' has reviewed so many devices and he will get you the answer to what you’re looking for, quickly, when on the fence on a tech gadget purchase.
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Techno Tim
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Friendly, awesome, and informative tech personality that I would credit for my entry into my home lab/NAS setup. If you’re thinking about getting into setting up a home lab, but don’t know where to start, watch a few of his videos, and it will help you come up with great ideas! He’s super-responsive in the comments and one of the most helpful people I’ve chat with in a comment section!
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Lawrence Systems
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A guy from the Detroit area like myself, but has extremely valuable knowledge of networks, security, administration, and shares it with the world. He’s timely in releasing videos and commentary on fresh exploits that have been discovered in networks and systems. You will learn something from listening to him within a few minutes, guaranteed.
- Hak5
Like a cool TV Station (YouTube channel) that covers so many tech topics. You'll find something interesting very quickly here if you'd like to learn about security.
Intro
We discuss the importance of off-site backups.doIntro
Privacy segment- Awesome Extension for Chromium-based browsers and Firefox called “Watch on Odysee”. If you’re on YouTube, it looks to see if that YouTube has uploaded the same video to Odysee. This is much better for your privacy, and can help support the creator on a site that is much more respectful of its users than Google is.
Backups are critical
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This isn’t just for your computer, but for your NAS or any data storage devices in your possession that have important data.
- You don’t have to go with Amazon, although their affordability is extremely tempting. I just don’t feel good about trusting them with data like do from a smaller company, such as BackBlaze.
Is the 3-2-1 Backup Rule Necessary for Personal Use?
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It doesn’t hurt, if you have that luxury.
- It’s very likely that the cost or pain of losing all of your data is greater than the cost of a reliable backup solution, such as BackBlaze.
- You can never get those memories back when they’re gone, but you can get the 2 or 3 dollars per month back as you work to pay your bills - this is a necessary expense and is still cheaper than Google Photos, Dropbox, etc.
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Intro
A few privacy-focused news articles, some opinions on censorship, and celebrities opening their mouths.
Surveillance has been spreading since the coronavirus pandemic
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Apple and Google contact tracing
- Since April 2020
- Pointed out by Fee.org: Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution - right to “be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”.
- Australia wants vaccine-hesitant FB posts sent to the police.
- Apparently there is a clip online of Zuckerberg -
Celebrities never mattered
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Unless you’re looking for a career in acting and aspire to be the same, there really is no point to listening to celebrities.
- During the pandemic, it’s like their egos shined bright and amplified who they really are https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/03/celebrities-have-never-been-less-entertaining-coronavirus/608452/: attention-seeking, uninteresting people. Maybe they were just interesting, post lens, from how the editing studio had you portray them.
- I’ll admit I’m biased toward musicians and think that it’s great that many perform live concerts, because that’s what they love doing - it feels good to perform and their fans will feel the same.
- Of course, everything I’ve said is just a complaint, and one can simply chose to not follow those people.
- Most people probably haven’t been to the movies in over a year and, somehow, survived. I feel the same about Social Media - I haven’t been on Facebook for a while and I’ve survived - no withdrawals.
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Intro
Here are some things that Randy has learned over the last couple of years since starting his podcast. Learn from these experiences to save yourself time and money.
What are some things people may look over when starting their podcast?
- Use tools that are easily transferable .
- Record in WAV or any uncompressed audio format in general. This will serve as your source file that you’ll archive and backup. Think of this as the studio master of your album - how the record industry stores musical art.
- Backup your show notes and each episode’s cover art.
- These backups don’t have to be tricky at all - I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned how I back up my episodes, but the episode are mainly like a Word document style (Rich Text Format), they consist of one Square cover art image relevant to the current episode, and then the audio file that was recorded. Those are placed into a folder, then I ZIP/Compress that folder and name it S:X:EX and I put them in a folder of the Season name, back it up to my NAS and then in One Drive.
This way, if i change hosts or for some reason stop podcasting, I don’t have to think twice if my host will delete me for inactivity, because I can always just resurrect any episode at a later date and re-upload a fresh copy.
What audio gear do I use and have my recommendations changed? * Better products are coming out all of the time, so I have a couple more audio recommendations that I can throw out there to produce your podcast in the most efficient way possible. * I am still using my solid PreSonus Series III mixer - this thing is a beast and has never let me down.
USB microphones are still great and I can highly recommend the PreSonus Revelator USB-C Microphone. This thing has a built-in mixer and voice effects that don’t actually sound like crap. To be completely honest, I probably would’ve purchased this first before going all-out on a mixer when starting this podcast, had the Revelator existed them. This thing is outstanding for the money - $150
There are similar competitors, such as the Shure MV7, ($250) and this mic sounds great as well. However, for the price, and hearing a side-by-side comparison, I think the Revelator wins. This is coming from Shure fan, meets a PreSonus fan - I use Shure mics on all of my drums. I still think the Revelator is the better of the two. * Luckily for PreSonus Revelator users, it includes my all-time favorite DAW, StudioOne 5 Artist (which retails for $99), from which you can produce your podcast episodes, as well as music if you wanted. * Do you need the host with the most? * On average, I’ve changed hosts each year. I’m on my third host, and it’s one of the big dogs - Spotify’s Anchor.fm platform. It’s free, but does it give me the most? * In my situation, yes I believe it does - it’s free and I use it in the exact manner I used my previous, paid-hosts. * Follow our Podcast * If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com.
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Intro
Throughout my IT career, I’ve seen many thousands of technology challenges. I would estimate that most of those challenges are more common than not. Today we’ll talk about some of those challenges.
Announcements
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers.
Tech challenges that trick smart people
- Allowing a browser notification that ended up being from an untrustworthy site, later getting virus notifications (from their browser).
- Plugging in a monitor and not knowing that HDMI often tries to take over as your audio device.
- If they’re on the corporate network, corporate computers are ready to lock you out.
- Not setting up an expiration for their out of the office message - not remembering to turn it off after returning to the office.
- Working on an unplugged laptop, not realizing that power-saving settings often decrease performance, such as WiFi or USB suspending and much more.
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Intro
Hello everyone and welcome to the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover.
I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax.
This Episode was recorded on Sunday, April 25th, 2021
Announcements
Things I returned to using because they work
Beer. Fine, this one doesn’t count. But, beer.
- Tiny Tiny RSS. (Went to Fresh RSS, but I realized I don’t have to host EVERYTHING on my NAS, even though I still prefer to)
- This is just one tool that I did NOT have to host on my NAS because my web hosting provider happens to have a TTRSS install script that sets it up for me on a server that’s easily made public, so it’s one less thing I have to open my server up to the internet for.
MeWe
Linux (I feel like this happens twice a year, like every Ubuntu Release).
In particular, I really like The Linux Experiment YouTube channel, which I will link.
Desktop Computer - I worry that they’re going to get “dumber” one day or cloud-centric, just like everything in technology seemingly is. Companies want to loan you something so that they have more control. Call me crazy, or think about it for a bit.
The things that bring me hope for this paranoid thought I often have is the gamers and people that love to build powerhouse PCs - It’s really cool.
These new iMacs are beautiful and everything, but please, you’re not going to limit my RAM. Don’t turn my computer into a mobile phone so you can blur the lines between your smartphones and laptops/iMacs. To be fair, Apple is gearing this computer toward student / basic home usehttps://www.cnet.com/news/apple-new-imac-proves-its-an-m1-world-and-we-just-live-in-it/.
Rob Braxman’s channel on Odysee. He’s all about privacy and, even tech-savvy users will learn things they didn’t know from him. He tends to cover mobile phones often, but what’s cool is that he doesn’t hold back on exposing the crappy things companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook do.
Stupid reaction videos. To me, those videos are about as useful as an unboxing video.
I don’t go into a movie theater and look to each side to see how the people around me are enjoying it. I either like it or I don’t. But…I’m guilty. I watch quite a few Drum reaction videos. I can’t help it. It’s a habit. I want to stop doing what dislike about others. I’m projecting!
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Intro
Randy discusses how you can host up to 100 websites under one account, easily and affordably!
This is a test post to try it with no Post-production compression. No theme song this time.
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Intro
Randy discusses how things can be so much easier when down-sizing.
Announcements
Moved everything back over to one desk. This is mostly the setup from Season 1, and worked the best for the show. Switching to mounted arms for the monitors. Desk is big enough to now hold the mixer, which is great for having guests and quick control over audio levels.
Different computer - purchased a Xeon workstation - Lenovo P500.
Throw away, sell, or donate what is not needed
- Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist
- Post high - room to chop off the price - take lower offers - it’s worth your time to get rid of things.
Owning a lot of tech was a good way for me to realize what I didn’t need.
If you’re having trouble getting rid of things, think about what things that you currently own that are future proof and what will lose value in the near future. Those are things that are worth your time and energy to sell.
Fine-tune what you have!
- Once you’ve narrowed things down to what you really need and what is going to hold it’s value - it’s time to master those things.
- The are where I’ve completely failed this area is my PreSonus mixer. This is an amazing piece of audio gear and I haven’t set aside a day, even a few hours, to master it. This is the heart of the audio for this show and allows me to produce this great-sounding recording. It could be better - and I could even work harder on learning how to make music for the show in the program so I can get rid of this outdated theme song! :-D
Now that you likely have more room to work (and probably breathe), you can potentially feel less anxious about having all of those “things” staring you in the face. You can focus. Maybe you don’t have trouble focusing if there is a lot of junk around you, but I do and I’ve really learned that it helps to feel focused. Sure, there are “time-out” apps that allow you to freeze you browser, background active tabs, have a message that tells you to stand up. That stuff doesn’t work for me. Physically moving things around and making space available does.
I hope this episode helped to inspire you in any minuscule way - or ,even better, in a big way. I like to share anything I that helps someone else do something easier or more-efficiently; This is why I mainly started this show. I love hearing from some that said they tried something and it really helped them do something to increase their productivity.
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Randy talks about why RSS is one of his necessities. RSS Can Mean More Freedom from Google and Facebook Stop getting your news from Google and Facebook. The hate you and they hate themselves while trying take over the world. RSS App / Server Combination Fluent Reader If you’re downloading it for Windows, be sure to get it from their GitHub page and not from the Windows Store, as they charge $4.99 there. Then you can just donate to them directly if you wanted to by contacting them outside of the Microsoft Store. Why does Microsoft deserve some of their cut when they made the app Free/Open Source? Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter! Follow Randrums on twitter
Intro Randy will tell you why you need to get a NAS right now! Reasons you need to buy a NAS right now one Very easy to setup. I’m definitely biased toward Synology NAS’s, but there other great brands out there such as Qnap and ASUSTOR. Supporting Data/Reference Case Study/Example/ Anecdote Conclusion Someone else isn’t holding all of your personal data. You are.
Back up your computers and smartphones at home, locally. Synology has an app called Moments that can do useful things, such as group your photos together automatically, based on face similarities, by location and more, using AI technology. For your computers, you can often use the backup program of your choice and dump that backup data directly onto the NAS. Lately, I’ve been using Rescuezilla and I’ve been loving it. Local media streaming. Your NAS can serve as the center of your multimedia universe from within your home. Take the keys back to your media collection, and get out of the habit of renting from some company that owns the data and can shut you off at any time. Take the power back for once. You could even go further and buy a TV tuner to connect to the NAS, and turn the NAS into a DVR for live TV. You have so much endless control over your data, and that’s so cool! Home security system storage At this point, it is probably almost starting to sound too good to be true, but I can assure you it’s not. NAS solutions like Synology have built-in, private security solution available. As far as finding compatible IP Cameras for your NAS, companies like Synology will provide you a list of ones that work with your setup. Host some websites off your NAS I’m doing 3 as we speak, including the RandyHanley.com domain where I post the link to every Podcast episode! Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter! Follow Randrums on twitter
8 Reasons to Drop Windows or MacOS for Linux Linux was created “to create a new free operating system kernel. The resulting Linux kernel has been marked by constant growth throughout its history.” - Wiki link. It doesn’t cost anything. Being that it’s open source, if you wanted to do the work, you could find out how all of the mechanics of it work, down to the kernel. Think of the kernel as the center of everything that controls the operating system. Or if you’re obsessed with food like me: A popcorn kernel is where the popcorn begins before your pop it and eat it. There are users who are skilled enough to have learned all the inner workings of Linux to contribute to the Linux community to improve the operating system. Package management Think of something like the App Store or Google Play Store on your smartphone. How often do you find yourself updating individual apps on your smartphone? Not often, likely, because they get updated as a whole. Most Linux distributions have this out of the box. The big thing about Linux, is that you can try different package managers on different distributions - there are so many choices that you don’t typically have on Windows and MacOS. I’m sure some will disagree with me, but the MacOS App store sucks and the Microsoft store sucks just as bad, maybe even more. You probably don’t have to buy a “supported” machine to start using Linux. This isn’t something I can say about most operating systems. Windows is pretty good about installing on different hardware. Chances are, Linux will run on more machines though. If you have a PC at home that you are planning on either erasing or factory restoring soon, Linux will almost certainly run on it. Dual Boot If you’re just planning on using MacOS or Windows because it “comes with your computer”, maybe you could consider buying a used PC to install Linux on. Additionally, you can still keep Windows and Dual Boot (that means to install Linux alongside Windows). This way you can keep Windows for compatibility purposes and PC gaming if you’re a gamer - PC still wins in this category over MacOS and Linux (for when you absolutely can’t avoid using Windows). And then you can just use Linux most of the time. This is actually my preferred setup. Linux takes the best from both worlds. When I was MacOS user for a few months, I immediately began to miss things that were present in Windows, such as Window snapping/tiling. in MacOS, you can install programs to add that functionality, but Linux distributions, such as Linux Mint Cinnamon or Pop!_OS, have their own window snapping or tiling capabilities out of the box and it works amazingly well. Distro Hopping. USB Stick - Multiple ISOs. Ventoy. The thing I love about Ventoy is that you can make a little Swiss army knife of operating systems and choose to boot from however many ISOs your USB drive can hold. For example, my Ventoy USB has Windows, many different LInux distributions, and Rescuezilla. Rescuezilla itself is a very valuable tool in my arsenal. It’s based on Linux that includes a browser, tool to recover deleted images and, most importantly, backup and recovery abilities - do local storage, or a server. This tool is nothing short of amazing. Not locked into stupid limitations set by greedy companies. For example, It’s 2021 and the latest models of the Macbook Pro/Air max out at 16GB of RAM. That’s enough RAM for most people. But I thought these are supposed to be creative powerhouse machines. I could grab an older Intel PC and slap in more RAM and Linux will work with it just fine. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter! Follow @randrums on Twitter!
Intro
Randy talks about a balance of open source vs paid software Announcements - Website has been migrated. I fired Bluehost. How much of your tech capabilities do you own? Do you rent or own? Examples of renting vs owning would be having a server in your basement, running Ubuntu, hosting your own web server, or something along those lines - that is owning. Renting would be having a web host such as Bluehost, HostGator. Both renting and owning are very similar for the most part. The difference comes if you stop paying the company you’re renting from, things will stop working. Unfortunately, the same goes for renting when it comes to desktop software. Think of the subscription model. You own nothing. You can use Photoshop all you want on your computer, until you stop paying. That’s when the software will “phone home” and let their money machine know that you’re no long a good customer, and that software that is on your machine will not work - because that software is not yours. Is there an easy solution? Open source. Check out some sites that point out some well-known open source alternatives to paid software. OpenSource.com has a list of popular ones. Alternative To has some great crowd sourced recommendations My recommendation is to try to use Open Source software whenever possible, and then use the paid software if you absolutely must. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter!
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With Randy's interest in privacy from Big Tech growing lately, in this episode he provides a more-detailed list on the tools he's landed on; Non-Evil hosting solutions, basically.
The Self-hosted Tools Synology NAS (Hear of the Operation)https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/feature/drive
Synology Drive with Synology Office enabled. Synology Moments, soon to be Photos. https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/feature/moments
Synology Note Station and the Synology Web Clipper https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/feature/note_station
FreshRSS - Great Google Reader alternative. https://freshrss.org/
Ghost - Website / Publication. They are pretty awesome, with public company metrics. https://ghost.org/ They are very transparent! https://ghost.org/about/
Open Source CCTC Solution (Anything other than Ring, Nest, etc). Shinobi is one that I’ve been casually reading about. https://shinobi.video/
Apparently, Dahua cameras are superior as far as the camera sensors go. https://us.dahuasecurity.com/
For best value for the price, I seemingly can’t avoid recommending Ubiquity/UniFi products. They offer UniFi Protect, and that’s likely what I’ll be going with, but I’ll probably start light to see how one camera performs on my porch. Bottom line, I need to get away from Ring. https://unifi-network.ui.com/ https://unifi-network.ui.com/camera-security
Intro
Hello everyone and welcome to Season 3, Episode 1 of the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover.
I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax.
This Episode was recorded on Sunday, January 10th, 2021
Announcements
Nuttin!
How will I deliver the podcast this year?
Believe it or not, I'm simplifying my setup. Two tools, saving back to one device. Anything that I can do locally, I will For the first time, I will be creating the templates with HTML (Tool 1 will be an open source, cross-platform application called TagSpaces. Avoiding any vendor lock-in, if you will. It saves my notes to HTML. Yes, I've explored with Markdown, which is also great, but HTML in, HTML out wins. That is tool 1 Tool 2 would just be my sync client, which is Synology Drive Client. It's nearly identical to Dropbox/OneDrive, but it saves locally, and i can decide what to do with my data, locally, before it's handed off to the cloud. From there, the HTML can simply be pasted into my blog, images URLs and all.
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Intro Randy continues on the De-Googling Journey, and mentions other ways to free yourself from big tech.
I hope you had a Merry Christmas or a Happy Holiday season in general thus far.
Buy a Domain • Namecheap.com ○ Turn on the privacy option that conceals your identity/address from the domain info. ○ Sign up for Cloudflare account, then they will walk you through using their nameservers on your Domain panel to give you some powerful features for free
Dump Google, buy a NAS, self host with Nginx Proxy Manager (Reverse Proxy) and Docker
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
Follow our Podcast ● If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter! ● Follow Randrums on twitter ● Like the Manley Hanley Podcast Facebook page.
Intro
How's it working out for Randy, de-Googling himself?
The hardest part • Realizing how much of my data they hold ○ And then planning to "take out" my data and place it somewhere as reliable. ○ Not likely as reliable, being that Google has 100's of thousands of dollars. • I feel like Google has weaponized Linux to fuel their surveillance machine.
De-Googling is much harder than I had realized • There have been articles for a long time, regarding getting rid of Google from your life, long before I found this something I wanted to achieve. ○ I want to make clear that I think Google no longer a good company, who allegedly spies on their employees, discouraging worker organization - before firing them. I won't get into politics on unions or any of that stuff because I don't feel I'm the most educated person on that subject manner. The part about Google that bothers me is lack of privacy, knowing everything about a person by crawling for our data in order to survive. ○ There is a good write-up on How-To-Geek's site from Harry Guinness that touches on how removing Google from your life is nearly impossible. ○ Ads served to you are often from Google and it's hard to avoid - What I did about this is: § Pi-Hole. I think this is a good start for anyone that wants to shoo away Google a little bit, as a start.
• Google also loves some good censoring on things they don't like, such as crushing negative stories about themselves, penalizing anti-Google articles. But, I thought that they would get me the information about things I really want to know - which should be everything, because we use google to search for everything, right? Not me anymore. I've removed all traces of Chrome browser. ○ There are countless demonstrations of Google censorship, and it doesn't matter which political party you're are part of - If Google doesn't like it, it may just magically, not exist. Top 10 Ways Google Does Evil - Listverse
Free styling some ideas
Off the top of my head, I'll share a couple things that I planning on doing in order to gradually taper off "the Google". Trying to not buy their products (more difficult than it sounds, since Alphabet buys out so many companies). Google is just one of the 13 subsidiaries of Alphabet Inc!. Before Google was under Alphabet, you may recall all of the mergers and acquisitions that happened. They own a lot, and these acquisitions will fuel their data collection domination.
The change to Linux is not necessarily possible for everyone.
This is mainly because of corporate environments using Windows so heavily in the world of desktops.
Commercial products are tempting and habit-forming.
Linux alternatives are not always "free" (that is if you want support).
Gaming on Linux is just not quite there, unless you want to do a little bit of research.
System 76 machines, are pretty great at running a custom version of Linux that focuses on including stable NVIDIA drivers – but I'm still going to recommend Windows for gaming over both Linux and Mac, especially users who already have their collection purchased for the PC. Yes, there are compatibility layers that you can install in Steam for Linux, but it's just not the same – at least on a few machines I've tried it on.
Office and productivity on Linux are pretty great – as far as Libre Office goes. In the end, we're still going to compare it to Microsoft Office and if it's "as good". As far as not having OneNote, that is kind of a bummer. But I really do wonder if the team in charge or Libre Office (The Document Foundation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibreOffice)- would ever consider trying to make an open source OneNote alternative. That would be amazing.
What Can You Do If You Feel "Stuck" With Windows?
Start with a fresh install of Windows 10.
Download Windows 10 Debloater script and run that sucker. https://github.com/Sycnex/Windows10Debloater
If you go to the link that I'll include in the description, I recommend that you download the "Windows10DebloaterGUI.ps1" file to your computer
Since you'd likely be running that script on a new install of Windows, you'll want to run Powershell as admin, then type in set-executionpolicy remotesigned in the prompt, press Enter, A, then Enter. Then you can just run the powershell script that you've downloaded by typing ./scriptname.ps1 and press enter. You can then disable much of the spyware that Microsoft has pre-installed on your machine. I also recommend disabling Cortana, because who knows if Microsoft is keeping her around forever, anyway.
Next, I'd recommend you head over to https://Ninite.com - begin checking the boxes of some software you'd like and run their installer, which will batch install them for you, faster than any human could do it manually. If you don't know which apps you'd like on a fresh install of Windows, I'd recommend, Notepad ++, Firefox, VLC, thunderbird, 7zip, Greenshot, irfanview, and LibreOffice (if you don't already have a purchased Microsoft Office subscription or license), and maybe Foxit Reader if you don't plan on downloading Adobe Reader (I recommend downloading a PDF reader, unless you're comfortable with the Microsoft Edge browser trying to display PDFs properly. Why did I mention 7zip? Because the built-in zip tool for Windows is slow. 7zip is something like 30% faster and it's free/open source. I always wondered why I could extract zip files in Linux SO much faster than Windows, so downloading this tool for your Windows machine will help you catch up 😊
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Randy discusses his ongoing journey to find an open source Linux replacement for OneNote.
Do I think it's possible to go all open source? • Yes • There is a challenge to it ○ For example, I'm a very big fan of OneNote. I can't see myself giving it up yet. There are Open Source alternatives out there that would probably be good enough for most people. § https://alternativeto.net/software/joplin/ - Joplin - https://joplinapp.org/ □ It's a very solid app with a great interface and is easy to read. § CherryTree - although, I'd say it has a little bit of a learning curve, it's still great because the documentation is excellent. https://giuspen.com/cherrytreemanual/ Segue: Coming up on the Manly Hanley Podcast . . .
Current Setup and Why I'm doing it this way • 2 computers – 3 Operating Systems • Old desktop computer running Linux Mint. I'm using this as my "main system" as far as surfing the internet goes and I like to think of it as my learning/growing machine - Sort of forcing myself to dive in a bit. • My the computer is that iMac that I've been talking about for the last few months. Now that I've used MacOS as my main driver for the last two months - I feel I can confidently say that I think Windows 10 and Linux desktops are better. Yes, there are Mac-specific apps that are indisputably good, but this goes for every operating system. I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Randy didn't know what to talk about today, so he hit record anyway. He's calling this one, "Untitled Document".
Intro I am the cloud!
Randy shares a few reasons of why he's going to give it a go, beginning to create his own cloud in his home. He also provides a good reason of why today is the best day to get started in creating your own cloud.
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Intro Randy covers some back-to-school computer options that you may not realize you already have.
Announcements • I'm putting a slow-down on the Microsoft 365 trainings, and will do them on an as-requested basis.
Here's why you may already own a "back-to-school" computer. • Linux ○ It's free and will likely more than do the job of paying for a "Chromebook" in the store. § I can't stress this enough - a Chromebook is a chrome browser. Turn an old PC into a Linux machine. It's so easy, I could walk you through it over the phone. § Install Elementary OS - The install is extremely easy and there are more than enough guides that walk you through the simple steps. I will help you with any questions you may have about installing it. It has a MacOS looking Dock bar at the bottom. § Linux Mint - This is my personal choice for a Linux distribution. I think it is perfect for beginners, but also very-easy access to the tools for more advanced Linux users.
Intro Randy talks about which computer may best suit your back-to-school student.
• Before reading any of my tips, you could start of simply by looking on YouTube for used computer performance (something like "Surface Pro 3 in 2020"…"Late 2012 iMac in 2020") and just watch people using them before you dish out the money. These videos are great, quick measure.
• Older Imacs - 2011, 27" iMac - A lot of these, can go up to 16GB RAM - Such as this Mac I'm using. You'll have less trouble in the long run if you just get a 2012 or newer, because they'll typically run MacOS Catalina just fine. ○ 500GB SSD For Probably $100 - 16GB RAM for probably less than $100 DDR3 - I'm not going to reference any particular video because there are tons out there. Just beware of people overpricing the machines on either Facebook Market place or Craigslist. A good place to get an idea on a fair price is eBay. § What I do on Ebay, is I search for the machine, I then check the "Buy it now" box in the left navigation area, then I sort from Lowest to highest. • Lenovo Desktops, particularly the M73/M700's from 4+ years ago, are tanks. The reason I know this is because we've used them in customer care cents for 5 years, running and they have NEVER failed. Buy one of these used offline, replace the HDD with an SSD, add some RAM and it'll run like a brand new machine - Plenty fast enough for school work. I just plugged in a search on eBay and can see you can snag an M700 for $250. Comparing the speed to a Mac for that price, the PC will SMOKE it. • Chromebook - This is something you could actually "make" on your own. You can buy a Windows 10 PC (which I highly-recommend) and then just install something like CloudReady over top of windows 10. are plenty of videos on YouTube that show you how to accomplish this. ○ The reason I suggest just buying a Windows 10 machine because you'll have your Windows 10 license on that computer, so when you realize that Chromebooks are more limited than a full-fledged OS like Windows or MacOs, you can always good back and forth. Chromebooks are great for what they're made for though, doing things in the browser, which is plenty for most people. § Something to look for if you already have a Chromebook, is to see if it's already "managed". If you're on a Chromebook, click the time at the bottom right, and look for a "managed device" icon…if it's there, this means that the Chromebook is likely controlled by an organization or school/workplace, which simply allows them to restrict you from using certain apps or features and monitor what you are doing. Maybe check if this is something required by your school district. If you're using your own computer, browser, you're likely the only person "managing" it. § This "management" doesn't necessarily apply only the Chromebooks, but company PCs as well. For example, if you're on a PC that is managed by your work place, you could even look within the Chrome browser itself, and click the "3 dots" at the top to open the Chrome menu. At the very bottom of that menu, you can see if your Organization is managing chrome on your computer. Again, if this is a computer that's managed/purchased by yourself, it's not likely someone else is managing it. Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro Randy talks about four "useful" things that he really knows ####-all about.
Five Useful Things I've Never Used • MeWe - "MeWe is inspired by trust, control, and love for social media users" https://mewe.com/ • Calmer by Flare Audio Ltd. - Claims to help with Tinnitus. That's the part that caught my attention https://www.flareaudio.com/products/calmer • Microsoft Surface Go 2 - Ok, I've just about every surface except this one. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-go-2/8pt3s2vjmdr6?activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab • TouchPad Customizable USB Keypad - memorizing all those shortcuts can get confusing, not to mention all the finger acrobatics can be straining on your fingers. The TouchPad offers an alternative. https://www.coolthings.com/touchpad-customizable-usb-keypad/ • Check out Kevin Eckert's YouTube channel, where he builds amazing mechanical keyboards! https://youtu.be/dWC_8BOArzc
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro Randy gives you his best methods to come up with online topics.
Things I use to come up with podcast (or blog) topics:
• Aside from a lightbulb going off in my head, here are a few tools that I recommend assisting in coming up with blog post or podcast ideas. ○ Portent's Content Idea Generator - I feel like this is an oldie but a goodie, which I could potentially see being a decent tool for students wanting to come up with essay topics. The site has a clean interface with no distracting ads either! - https://www.portent.com/tools/title-maker ○ Google Trends - As much as I try to wean myself off Google, the trends tool is still amazing to find out what people are searching for. When something is trending on Google, if you're big about wanting to get some visits on a topic, it's a good idea to chime in on a trending topic. I personally haven't been big on investing in this area for myself, but If I'm working with a client that is looking for results, I will Definitely push them toward this. - https://trends.google.com/ ○ Answer the Public - This tool find questions that people ask about the keyword you may be interesting. Do not miss out on trying this site. It's helpful regardless of if you're trying to get visitors or if you're trying to come up with ideas. I think this is a good power combo tool alongside Portent's Content Idea Generator, mentioned above. - https://answerthepublic.com ○ Pod Pros channel on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFnQ4xF1089NWFMmAe8brZg A Podcasting Consultant named Ashley has some wonderful videos on YouTube, and one video she covers 7 Podcast Segment Ideas. I think this video breaks it down quickly and will give you great ideas. She puts out 3 videos a week, and I've found these videos to be helpful to recommend to users in my podcasting groups. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d_KWs7Hiek ○ Become a member of blogging or podcast groups and see what they're posting. Check their results, collaborate with them. Something I don't necessarily practice, as I'm preaching it. It is helpful though.
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Intro Randy discusses how he researches a desktop application and decides it if may be worth trying out and, most importantly, is safe to install on your computer.
Announcements • One of the awesome software tools I had mentioned a while back, Keywordtool.io, will offer Manly Hanley Podcast listeners an amazing discount of $20 USD per month off a Keyboard Tool Pro Subscription! If you'd decide you'd like to sign up, just email them after signing up and mention the Podcast for this discount. What I look for in an Application and how I decide If I'm going to actually install it. • I'll look for some functionality that perhaps is missing from the stock setup of an Operation System. ○ A first example would be something like the File Explorer in Windows § There is a "File Explorer replacement", called Multi Commander that I've heard of. Just because there is an app out there that everyone is talking about, doesn't mean it's safe to install. http://multicommander.com/ □ Virus Total. Upload the installer file and it does a checksum and confirms if there is any reporting of malicious behavior. ○ This application is a stretch, because I find the default Windows 10 photo viewer to be lightweight and really good. FastStone Image viewer is still more powerful and worth a shot, since it's free. https://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm ○ Google Earth (Pro). The desktop version Is now the pro version that I think was originally $300 or $400. https://www.google.com/earth/ ○ VLC Media Player. https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ ○ OneNote. - This is one I've done an entire episode on. If you scroll through your podcast app and search for Episode 4 in our first season, you'll see that I talk about OneNote quite a bit. OneNote - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onenote/digital-note-taking-app?ms.url=onenotecom&rtc=1 S1:E4 - https://www.randyhanley.com/2019/04/06/manly-hanley-podcast-s1e4-productivity-tips-plus-50-amazon-gift-card-giveaway/ ○ Notepad ++ - If you have Windows operating system, this is a must. Even though it's GPL license, the developer allegedly state he'll only program this app for Windows. So of, naturally, there are clones on other operating systems that try to mimic its greatness. https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ ○ Ultimate Windows Tweaker - I think it's a great app, that while not having a pretty website/presentation, it's a great app once you try it out. https://news.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-4-5-released-for-windows-10-v1809-93754/
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Intro Randy discusses what he believes to be the best way to get your product or service up and running over the internet.
Announcements • Relating to this episode, I have launched my own products and services on my own. • The Video stream portion of the podcast, as you may have noticed, is not every week. Think of it as more of a treat - where you don't see my face every moment! I don't want to see my face that much.
It starts with WordPress - Sort of. • First really just need your domain name and webhosting (and of course an eMail host such as Microsoft 365 that I've now mentioned on quite a few episodes of the Manly Hanley Podcast). ○ I recommend to go with a host such as GoDaddy, Bluehost or HostGator ○ All of these hosts will offer some sort of C Panel that makes it super simple to install WordPress on your webserver. § The reason I mention creating your own domain with your WordPress install is because it gives you more control □ For instance, you could sign up directly through WordPress.com, and have them host it for you. But if you decide later that you don't like WordPress, it's not going to be as easy to switch to another platform since you're hosting by them ® The beauty of the WordPress platform is that they allow you to install it on your own web server They describe it in detail on their site, but I've copied and pasted into my notes here so I can just read it for you. However, the link is in the show notes. - https://wordpress.org/about/ - They call it their "WordPress Bill of Rights". I love it. Totally optional Step! - Setup a Ticketing System • Why use a ticketing system when I can just use my email? Because email sucks for efficiency in my opinion. Think of a ticketing system as a great way to centralize the your solutions to peoples' issues that you're hired to solve. Sure, you can search your email box and pull up the email thread, but it's way slower and less-efficient than a ticketing system that's designed to support users, report their issues/metrics, and automate common problems. A ticketing system offers a transparent view of what's happening (like a big picture) for your company, to see where the ball is being dropped, and what you can do as that company to improve things. • I've used numerous ticketing systems and I find Freshdesk to be the best one, as far as customization and reporting.
Start Adding (needed) Plugins to Your WordPress Site • Now that you've figured out how you're going to support your users, you can plug those components into your WordPress setup. ○ WordPress is so popular, that it's very-likely that plugin exists for the software that you're wanting to use to support your customers. ○ For instance, I mentioned Freshdesk official widget that you can find in the plugins section of your WordPress site. The plugin is so easy to configure, it'll probably just take you a couple of minutes. Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/freshdesk-support/ § Once I had the plugin installed and filled out the info, a floating widget appeared on my website, that will all me to provide instant support to a user that requests it. WooCommerce is probably the easiest way to build a customizable payment system (on your own site) that I've ever seen. WooCommerce brands itself as "an eCommerce toolkit that helps you sell anything. Beautifully.". Their description makes them sound a little Apple like. I can make any product and call it beautiful. The way I played that drum beat before the chorus, it was beautifully-executed. This iPhone is a beautiful rectangle. No. .. Flowers are beautiful, don't push it.
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
Intro Randy is your Podcast consultant and discusses reasons why you may want to podcast.
Announcements • This is the weekend of the Second Sunday of the month, and my promise is to do a Microsoft 365 how-to video. If you're interested in learning more about Microsoft 365, I highly-recommend you check out this month's video that will be posted and shared via RandyHanley.com. Those videos are typically released live for Facebook and then later shared to YouTube.
I can't help but podcast about podcasting • Podcasts are so popular that, as a tech guy, I'm often asked questions about podcasts ○ I've consulted just a few people, in-person regarding a Podcast (and this was mainly local in the Oakland county area of Michigan). With the internet, and my podcast, I'm opening that up.
Why may one want to start a podcast?
It's a simple as having something to share with the world • The same answer could be used for "Why may one may want to start a website", so those both can go hand-in-hand. • No pressure. You can pick your release cycle, and just stick to your own standards. Many podcasts release weekly episodes. You can do it with only your smartphone if you wanted. ○ There are free ways to do it, such as Anchor.fm ( https://anchor.fm/ ) - 100% free - At this time, there really are not any noticeable drawbacks to Anchor. The only reason, I've gone with a paid solution is just wanting 100% control of my content. Anchor does give you control too. I've heard really good things about them. I would still recommend it to friends and family, due to some pretty nifty bonus features Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Fourth of July special, hosted by Christa and Sophia from the cottage. Sophia shares her story of the fun times with family at the cottage. We hope you enjoy this episode and that you have a happy 4th of July 2020!
Intro Randy is way too excited about his new bed that he purchased online!
Sleeping on a Toxic Bed? • There have been lawsuits against Tempur-Pedic, due to them containing VOC's ○ The mattresses always have a chemical smell when you first get them. § The companies even tell you that you can let them sit for a day or so to off-gas. • The VOCs found in mattresses, you're already breathing in. ○ According to the CDC, "VOCs are found in paint, organic solvents, furniture, foams, and degreasing agents. Formaldehyde is one of the well-known VOCs, and it's concentration is easier to measure than many of the others". § Source: Mattress Journal - http://www.mattressjournal.com/tempur-pedic-sued-over-vocs-memory-foam-safety/
• I felt like I needed a Tempur-Pedic. I owned one years ago - forget the fact that it has an extreme chemical smell when you first buy it. I couldn't forget it this time. The pros were not outweighing the cons: Going into a store, and trying out mattresses that other people are laying on, with their head in the same spot, just gives me a bad feeling. ○ I decided to give the online mattress market a try.
Online Shopping for Mattresses • For the last few years, I'd occasionally hear one of my favorite tech podcasters, Leo Laporte, mention an online mattress brand called Casper. I didn't go with them first, it got me to thinking, maybe I could just Bing search for Natural Organic mattresses. Among my search results each time was a YouTube channel called "The Slumber Yard". ○ Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvCrsxCVVm0TM5kfE0BRG7A ○ Riz knows - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAf9vHS_4I9lSu-7gYhkzaw § It's not obvious in the videos, as it first appears as just a guy reviewing mattresses. Digging into the YouTube channel, and going to their about page, you will find the RizKnows website, which sort of reminds me of a "SlickDeals" type site. On their About-Us page, is Riz himself, aka. Jeff Rizzo. □ I love this guy's site and team. It really gives me a good feeling that all of the reviews are completely unbiased. Yes, they need to get paid to do this, and it's open and clear about it on their website and even their YouTube channel, where it mentions referral links. That's extremely common and I'm glad that their site is not littered with Ads! □ The Riz Knows teams does other reviews on things such as Wearable Tech, Audio, Apparel and Footwear, Cameras and Drones, sports and outdoors, and smart home items. Um, SUBSCRIBED! ® They're kind of like a mini-CNET without all the commercial crap/ads, as they're owned by CBS Interactive, within the CBS Corporation. • After watching a bunch of mattress review videos, Christa and I were able to narrow things down to our favorite candidate mattress. We went with a brand called Awara: https://www.awarasleep.com/ ○ After watching the review video, we learned the mattress they sell had all of our favorite characteristics and the most insanely-cool warranty in the business.
Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
Follow our Podcast ● If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter! - https://randyhanley.com/ ● Follow Randrums on twitter - https://twitter.com/randrums ● Like the Manley Hanley Podcast Facebook page. - https://www.facebook.com/manlyhanleypodcast
Intro
Randy's recommended ways to learn online.
Is learning online as good as in-person? • In my personal experience, it depends on the area of study ○ I taught drums for about 11 years, and it's pretty hard to top one-on-one lessons. § Compare that to why private schooling may cost more = smaller class sizes. § It's harder to "drift-off" when you're sitting next to a person that can easily detect that you're wandering off. There is a TED Talk from a few years back from Niema Moshiri breaks it down about how important it is to make the content interactive. This is when comparing online learning vs traditional learning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JKgUoY9pTg § A second TED Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOssYTimQwM from Scott Hebert § Khan Academy - Offers tons of free courses - https://www.khanacademy.org/ § CBT Nuggets - https://www.cbtnuggets.com/ - Keith Barker, etc. has free YouTube videos such setting up a Cisco Lab in your home and he's Super Smart. § Lynda.com aka "LinkedIn Learning" - Subscription-based and they offer a free moth, you really can't lose.
Things to try the online version of The gym: • Virtual Workout classes I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro
Randy helps you decide if you really need those apps that are taking up space on your smartphone.
Announcements • Just over a month ago, I mentioned a new offering, which I'm going to touch on.
There's an App for That ○ There are thousands of apps that tend to focus on One Thing. ○ I can't even begin to think how many times a friend or family member recommends an app for something. "Did you try that new house party app?" "Waze is my favorite GPS app". § House party, unless you have an absolute need to play games over the phone all of the time, Facebook messenger will just continue to dominate, and it's likely you don't have to both your friends, asking them to download yet another app - because facebook has over 1.6 Billion Daily Active Users (2.5 Billion Monthly Active Users) - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/facebook-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2019-results-300995616.html § Apps like Houseparty/Zoom, etc, really tended to peak during the lockdown. I think many of them will naturally drop, as I've already deleted my app. If there comes a moment where someone needs me to join a houseparty game, I can just re-download it and join. The odds are, you'll have better battery life the less apps you have running services on your phone, checking for updates, sending you notifications - or calling back home as some people may call it.
• More free space on your phone, less likely to be inclined to pay Apple for storage overage (because they give you a measly 5GB for iCloud backup.
How to downsize on iOS vs Android • Think about how many apps you actually use daily ○ Android users may have more apps, naturally, since Android is so customizable, there are apps one could use for customization. So I tend to skip those and don't consider them a waste. Even though Android is a customization beast, I tend to keep things simple, just installing a Custom Launcher (that allows tons of customization within itself). That launcher is Nova Launcher and it's been the best Android launcher out there for years.
○ iOS is a bit more locked-down as far as customization, so users may be less likely to get lost in customizing. § Ask yourself some simple questions: "What functionality does the app offer that the mobile website does not offer?"..It will probably be something relate to the camera and scanning things into the app. "How often am I going to use the mobile app?"
○ Assess which technology services (ones that use apps) that you need. § Examples would be: "I have an HBO Max Subscription - It has an app so that I can stream services to my TV"…I could either pull out the laptop computer every time I want to stream a show, or I could install the app on my phone, which would likely make sense. § Companies that insist you install their app to "manage your account/pay bills", I think are a waste. I only ever log into those type of apps if, for some reason, they jack up my bill or something unexpected - which, I'm usually calling them for those type of issues anyway. Those apps are a waste of space. § Phone dialer - built into your phone - allows your phone to, surprise, make calls. You don't need any "spam-blocking"/"Caller ID" apps, in my opinion, as mobile phone operating systems are getting better at having those features backed in. A great example would be the Google Pixel Line (phone screening), and the iPhone spam block - it works fairly well, and has done that for years. You likely don't need any calling assistant apps. I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro
Randy gives you Ten reason on why he has fully-switched to the Edge browser and away from Google Chrome.
10 Reasons I've Switched to Edge, Full Time • 1.) Google is an advertising company. Repeat that in your mind.
• 2.) It's harmful to web standards, in my opinion, as most developers are developing their sites for chrome, who also want to be indexed on Google's website. • 3.) Updates itself in the background, without most people even knowing that. ○ At least Firefox installs an "updater" utility under control panel to actually give you a hint. Chrome just magically does it. You can think of this as a good thing or bad thing, obviously, but at least prompt the user so maybe they'll feel inclined to look at the changelog. • 4.) Google is always striving to track you. Even if you open a new Incognito Tab. https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2020/06/03/google-chrome-privacy-lawsuit-could-you-get-a-5000-payout-incognito-mode-class-action/#6f51bc001485
• 5.) While the code/core of Edge is based on C/C++ just like Chrome, Microsoft is already working on improving the C/C++ Code within Edge. This is where Microsoft is considering looking at a more modern language called Rust, that Firefox already uses!
• 6.) Edge can run Chrome extensions. Being that edge has so many features out of the box, I find myself not needing many extensions anyway.
• 7.) Even though Edge has gone through some drastic layout changes over the past few years, Microsoft has always been proud to display how it uses less RAM than other browsers. I find that it "backgrounds" or hibernates tabs very efficiently. I can't speak for everyone's computer setup, as different people may be using different extensions for their browser, so try it out for yourself and see if Edge eats up as much RAM as Chrome or Firefox.
• 8.) Edge has very easy Privacy settings - If you've setup a Windows 10 machine for the first time, you may know what I'm talk about - it has a bunch of Sliders, that explains each aspect of the privacy setting that you're enabling or disabling. ○ The settings are "Basic"/"Balanced"/"Strict". • 9.) Tab Groups and Collections. You can organize tabs into groups because managing a ton of open tabs can VERY MUCH get messy. For instance, I can right click on any of my Edge tabs and "add to collection". This is an integration that Microsoft has with Pinterest. Additionally, that collections features is getting the ability to send to Word, Excel, or One Note. This is a great way to make an outline in based on the collections you've created. Right off the top of my head, this would be great for something like recipes. https://www.liventerprise.com/compare/Google_Chrome_vs_Microsoft_Edge/ • 10.) Built-in Tracking Prevention. This is also in the same area that I've mentioned for Privacy settings in #8. There is a "Blocked Trackers" area that allows you to view the sites that they've blocked from tracking you. I was VERY surprised at how many sites appeared in that list! As of this podcast episode, the current trackers blocked by Edge in my browser so far are: 13,093. https://www.howtogeek.com/659857/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-microsoft-edge-browser/
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Five Cool, New Gadgets I'd Consider Trying • Fuse Reel - Side Kick: Collapsible Laptop Charger Winder ○ It's on Kickstarter ○ Looks like It may work with a modern Dell laptop charger. For sure works with Macbook chargers ○ Link: The Side Kick by Fuse: Collapsible Laptop Charger Winder ○ It's on amazon now - https://www.amazon.com/Fuse-Collapsible-Organizer-Compatible-management/dp/B07VBBLJDZ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=sidekick+fuse&qid=1590962824&sr=8-1
• Meeting Owl ○ This will be great for when we go back to work and are together, again in a meeting room. ○ This product may be interesting to us IT Folks that have worked with similar systems from Microsoft, such as the Polycom CX series, that can sometimes cost around $10,000. § OWL Labs Sells the Meeting Owl Pro for $999 dollars. (There is a normal version that's cheaper with a lower resolution). □ Inside , it has 8 smart mics, with a mic pickup range of 18 feet. You put this right in the center of your table and start meeting, and can display your meeting attendees in 1080p HD. It will cut to the screen of the person talking - when they're in the same room! □ It has a 360 degree camera. ® Why do I think it's brilliant? You don't have to have a ton of people in a building, using separate wificonnections, eating up all your internet bandwidth. With this device, you can all just start talking, using the device's one connection. ◊ We tried it at my work and it was awesome. ® Link: https://www.owllabs.com/
• Crescent Lufkin 4" Compact Measuring Wheel ○ This seems like one of those things I'd just buy because I thought it was amazing, even though I didn't need it all. I remember seeing people with these all of the time, in business environments, measuring an office professionally. Now, I can have one..for no reason at all… But I might need it! Like, I want to finish my basement in a year or so from now. I could totally see this making it super-fast to measure off room dimensions. ○ Maybe you want to measure the grass outside for a bocce ball court, or a practice putt-putt area. Seems like something useful that I could just hang in the garage and eventually find a good reason to use it. ○ Link: https://www.amazon.com/Lufkin-PSMW28CL-Compact-Measuring-Wheel/dp/B06XC53439/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=kaleemullah-20&linkId=4e3721e7d423465fa4ed0f52474773e8&language=en_US
• LifeSpan Fitness: Treadmill Standing Desk ○ LifeSpan Fitness is the brand you want to order from. They're built very solid, with Top-notch support. I've seen it for myself, and I'm really impressed with their thorough customer service. PAY THE EXTA money, and get their warranty. Pay attention to the model you're buying and make sure it hits the MPH that will fit your needs. Quiet, solid Holds up to 350lbs. *things to note, no incline Link: https://www.lifespanfitness.com/
• Mirage Eclipse (Hobie) - The first true "Stand Up Pedalboard". ○ It looks really amazing. What looks cool about this to me is that it appears it would be easier to keep your center of gravity on the board. I've you've tried a paddle board like I have, you may know that it's hard for some people to stay balanced on them - maybe just me. ○ Link: https://www.hobie.com/pedalboards/mirage-eclipse/
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Intro Randy talks about 4 interesting and useful apps and websites.
Random Tech that I Find Useful • Socratic by Google. ○ It's a learning app geared toward high school and university students, aiming to help them understand school work. § Students can: "use their voice or cameras to ask for help on anything they're confused about, and Socratic finds the best online resources that are available"
From ○ Uses AI from Google - It's available in these app stores: § Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.socratic&hl=en_US § App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/socratic-by-google/id1014164514 • Mathway - Math Problem Solver can do: Basic math, Algebra, Trig, Calc, Statistics, even Chemistry and Graphing. ○ If you'd like this to help your kids with math, you probably can, but I'd bet they're already heard of it. Being that it's hard to cheat at math, this would be a great learning tool! § It has a computer-accessible website, which is great being that it seems everything is limited to a mobile app nowadays. The mobile app has the ability to let you snap a photo of the math problem and it figures it out! I tried it on some simple algebra (I have extra-sloppy handwriting) and it still solved it. That's AI, baby! ○ Mathway is available in these app stores: § Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bagatrix.mathway.android&hl=en § App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mathway/id467329677 • PDFescape.com - https://www.pdfescape.com/windows/ ○ This is a Very-basic PDF editor that allows you to Annotate, Fill-out forms, password protect PDFS and re-save them to your computer. The PDF Editing functionality is limited compared to the Adobe editor, because Adobe is the de-facto PDF king.
• Microsoft Edge Brower (The New One) ○ Can run on Windows 7, 7, macOS, iOS, Android - and soon Linux! § I've been using it for a few months and it's Amazing! For over 10 years, I was stuck on Google Chrome. I felt like I could never get away from it. This is the first time in 10 years, I've switched and stuck with it! It's like being successful on a diet, away from Google. □ Microsoft makes it hard to hold on to the idea that you can't get away from Chrome extensions, because Edge can run those extensions! It can sync your bookmarks, passwords and more to any free Microsoft account if you wish to do so. □ It's up-front about privacy options § It could be a research BEAST because of the powerful "Collections" feature. □ You can add websites to collections and add custom notes to each site that you add. From there, you can then send your collection to the online version of Word, Excel, or even open all of the collection links as individual browser tabs. If you move the collection to Word or Excel, you can further edit the contents of the collection. This might be a great way for someone to outlook a research paper. Apps that don't earn my interest: • Apps that, in general, have a "SIGN-IN" screen before you're able to use the app. ○ How do you know that I care to sign up with my info before even trying out your app. BuhBye. ○ For the most part, the apps I've listed above don't make you create annoying accounts. Well, at least Mathway doesn’t before you get to use it. The Socratic by Google app just asks you to sign in with your Google account (which most people seem to already have), so it's not too annoying.
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro Randy yapping about his great experiences when dealing with small business, and how it was quite the opposite when dealing with the big players.
Announcements • Returned the ATEM Mini that Focus Camera shipped in error. They handled the return process and properly refunded me. Made me think back to my ROOOOOTS, loving small businesses. • Tomorrow, I will be receiving the actual ATEM Mini Pro - This is the one that's backordered for months from many companies, but not this one small businesses out there, working hard to satisfy customers and build long-lasting relationships. • Don't forget the one of my all-time favorite software is still on sale with the Manly Hanley Podcast Promotion. This sale is good though June 15th, 2020
Supporting Small Businesses Before Big Business • I've been trying to redevelop this habit more so during the pandemic. ○ Just as much as we're trying to survive at home, businesses are trying to survive "out there". § It's beneficial to both the small business and the customer during these times, because the natural habit is to go to the big box store. In many cases, defaulting to the Big-box store has blown up on me. □ Examples would be emailing B&H Photo and Focus Camera for the last 3 weeks, trying to chase down an ATEM Mini Pro. Getting mixed answers of availability from a company that sells thousands of items per day, compared to a small business that may have just a handful. ® What I did was simply visit the product manufacturer's website and looked up their "Authorized Retailers". Some of those retailers were very small businesses, that have 25+ years of experience in that very trade! So I emailed one. They responded and had one left in stock for the week! ◊ Thanks for Rich at EOS Tech Group. http://eostechgroup.com } Experienced: "Since 1980-ish" Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro Randy introduces a new plan for the podcast with a monthly, livestreamed Office 365 how-to! Announcements • Hitting up sponsors like a mad man. • Working with Focus Camera to fix an huge order mistake on the Atem Mini Pro
Having a Plan • It took an entire first season for me to have this idea sink in: Having a Plan. ○ Sure, the layout of my episodes is consistent, but the content delivery schedule is not. ○ I'm working on building out a schedule that I will adhere to. • Having a video live stream has helped me fix a couple of years that I had not, otherwise, noticed in the first season. ○ Dedicating one screen to bringing up the bullet points, is a waste of screen. I'm going to stick to the old-fashioned way of just printing out the show bullets and using my screens for streaming, rather than window switching. • So what's the "PLAN"? ○ Christa mentioned this to me, and it was something I was already doing in my professional career, every day, but not at all on the Podcast: Having a "Scheduled" something or "Monthly" something. Basically, this would be a topic on an area that I more or less base the podcast around. For example, I tend to talk a LOT about Office 365, but my Podcast is not named after it. To me, it would make perfect sense to cover an area of the quickly-evolving Microsoft 365 platform, once a month, just like do in the corporate world. The New Offering • Beginning today, the 2nd Sunday of each Month, I will be doing a "Microsoft 365 How To" ○ Today I'm kicking off the first How-To, by talking about Where/How/What to buy if you don't already have Microsoft 365. I'll give my input on the different type of plans and what you may want to purchase. § First off, before doing anything, check with the company you work for. □ If your company uses Microsoft Products, and provides desktop office to you, it's worth checking to see if they have an Office 365 account already active for you! There is a license called an E3 license, that allows installation of the Full Microsoft Office Suite on up to 5 total machines - Yes, your home machine is allowed in most cases.
Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro Randy helps you to narrow down the smartphone that's perfect for your mother! Why did he use this thumbnail? Because it makes no sense and it looks ridiculous!
Mom is ready for a new phone. What do you get her? • Smartphones mainly come down to two Operating Systems: iOS and Android ○ The iPhone runs on the iOS Operating System'. Apple oversees the production of their own phones and their OS, which means the have tight control over every aspect. § There aren't many iPhone models to choose from, but this could be a good thing when shopping from Mom. It's generally easier to support a device when there aren't 1,000s of other custom versions of it floating around, like Android has. § Mom might be a current iPhone user with an iPhone 6s, so perhaps she's not ready to lose the home button..which Apple killed for a couple years and then finally brought it back with the latest iPhone SE 2020. ○ Android is an operating system that can run on so many different brands' smartphone hardware. § Brands such as Samsung, LG, Motorola, OnePlus, Google, all use the Android Operating system. You just need to find the right combination. □ If you're looking for "Pure Android", you'll want to get mom a Google-branded Android Phone, known as the Google Pixel smartphone line. The Price argument is getting harder to use when choosing between the brands. • For a long as I can remember, Android phones were always thought of as a "cheaper" phone and were not overpriced like Apple devices..aka, didn't have the Apple Tax. ○ I still believe it to be true in some ways, such as Apple cutting corners by including a crappy 5-watt charger with their "basic" iPhone 11 smartphones that start at $700. Android phones often come with a better charger out of the box, that will charge your phone much, much quicker. § But why is the price argument getting harder? Because of the iPhone SE 2020. It competes with the "affordable"/comparable Android lines…sort of. I'll lay out the differences.https://www.apple.com/iphone-se/ □ Android has a $400 phone called the Google Pixel 3a, which they'll soon be refreshing with the upcoming 4a. Compared to Apple's cheapest iPhone SE 2020 - the Pixel 3a has a much more capable camera - with night mode and runs Google's lightweight stock Android. It's all about the camera with Pixel phones. https://store.google.com/product/pixel_3a □ Apple's iPhone SE 2020 does not have night mode like the iPhone 11/11Pro/Pro Max have. However, it surprisingly includes wireless charging, which kind of caught me off guard, seeing that in a budget phone from apple. The camera is not bad and, sure it won't take still photos like the Pixel can but, in my experience, I feel Apple tends to make up for it in Video recording smoothness. The iPhone SE 2020 includes the same joke of a charger, 5-watts. https://www.apple.com/iphone-se/ ○ Wait for pixel 4a, which is rumored to be released around May 22nd? Or Buy a currently-discounted Pixel 4: □ 6.3-inch Pixel 4XL with 128GB of storage for $699 (reduced from $999). This is Google’s top-line premium model, while the 64GB is $599. □ 5.7-inch Pixel 4 128GB for $599 (discounted from $899), 64GB is $499. I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro Video is not Randy's forte, but he's not giving up, providing his "Audio Check" for 2020.
Announcements • Changed my hardware and software configuration for the podcast yet again, and that's mainly what I'll cover today.
How is my setup Different today than it was one year ago? • Tomorrow, it will be exactly One year from the day I did the "Audio Check" episode. ○ I talked about advantages and disadvantages to having a USB Microphone ○ I discussed what I use and believe in. § Using an audio interface, that can have multiple mics connected to it and still, ultimately, one USB cable going into your computer. • There was one major difference in last year's setup from this years': It lacked Video. ○ This is technically a "podcast", so I never thought that video was really ever needed. Here's why I've decided to add video.
Why I've opened up to the idea of video streaming. • In the professional world, I'm used to creating a lot of documentation and how-to tutorials for people. ○ I've streamed tips and tricks-type videos, and life hack type videos. • The idea of video streaming sounded more appealing to me, because I realized that I, myself, my face, doesn't have to be on camera all of that time. I can stream my desktop, similar to how I record desktop "screen casts" or "webinars" instead of my big pumpkin-sized melon.
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Intro Randy discusses things to do when you're locked up - at home. Announcements • I've installed sound dampeners the room. It already sounds like the echo is cut in half. We'll record an episode or two like this to see how if feels and determine if we need more. • Purchased a couch, which is basically in here to be a more-aesthetic sound dampener, and you can sit on it and stuff. Things to do when you're locked up - at home • Get some fresh air, go for some walks. • Order carry-out every once in a while..remember, according to the CDC, it's still not believed that COVID-19 can be transmitted through food: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html#anchor_1584386553767 ○ I really have been starting to like DoorDash - Maybe it's the name that I'm feeling some sort of connection with - I dash to the door when I know it's food. • If you have kids, you can have them write letters for family/loved ones - Draw pictures. Our nieces sent us some homemade cards through the mail last week and it was really sweet. • Cancel your gym membership and go for a walk - Your gym isn't providing a service, so why pay them? Of course, peloton is paying for all of the commercials, but I never tend to find any type of subscription service that enticing, especially something that can be turned off if you don't pay. A bar and dumbbells in your home won't become unavailable if you stop paying, because you already own then. • Cook! I can't do it, but I'm doing it! Find what you have around the house and use it! • Don't feel guilty about just relaxing, just because you have extra time. • Don't do something that has the possibility of landing you in the hospital - Ladders, sharp things, lifting, you get it. • Conclusion How am I keeping busy?
• Christa and are definitely cooking and eating at home every day. • We found it useful to buy a grill. We talked about getting a grill a year or so, and now seemed like the perfect time to do it. • Drive to homes of our family and wave to them from outside, singing happy birthday to loved ones. • Organize rooms that I've been procrastinating on. • Selling items on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, using the same safe practice that business do: Curbside pickup.
Thank you for taking time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro
Randy continues discussing changes to production of the Manly Hanley Podcast.
Announcements • Realized we needed so much more for this room to not sound like an empty room. • It needs a couch, ordered that. • It needs sound dampening, ordered that • Video capture devices have taken about 3 weeks, but those are supposed to arrive on Tuesday
Tech Tip • If you ever run into a submerged smartphone speaker, I have a fix I'd like to recommend. ○ Apparently, it's more common than I thought it is, but I felt like coming up with a better solution than the "Ejector App that rattles the heck out of your speaker"… and it worked. § This is app called "Water Ejector" that claims to "knock out the water in your iPhone speakers". I tried it and it didn't do anything for me, so here's what I came up with that actually worked for me □ Tightly wrapping a dish towel around the phone (dry dish towel), finding a vacuum with variable power (so that you can turn the power down). Suck through the towel (so the towel is avoiding direct vacuum pressure to the speaker driver (which would otherwise destroy it) and suck the moisture in to the napkin. It worked and the $800 iPhone 11 was saved. □ I will post a video sometime this week, probably on YouTube or on the Manly Hanley Podcast Facebook Page, because I would love to know if I could help someone out that may possibly run into this issue with their phone, as I think this works better than the speak app. Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro Randy discusses how he and Christa are handling the public distancing, especially when it comes to grocery shopping.
Announcements • Ordered some video gear last week - It's backordered for a couple of weeks because of Covid-19 • Getting Groceries
Getting Groceries • Just trying to get things you need ○ The last few weeks, I've been having good results with ordering Grocery Pickup about a week out. Kroger.com § Once I get home, I put on a pair of gloves, lysol wipe everything, place it into a plastic tupperware bin, bring it to the house, where I then rinse off each item to place onto a towel to allow it to dry off. From there, it goes to the fridge or freezer. § Water isn't an absolute emergency item at this point, since there is currently a water supply going to most homes in the USA. Can't Get The Groceries You Need? Alternative Items that are As Good or Better • Disinfectant - Benefect - Deacon 30 ○ Kills 99.9% of Germs and doesn't kill you. It's botanical, and not toxic like bleach.
• Carry-out from Restaurants ○ I tend to prefer high-temperature foods such as pizza, etc, or things that generally don't have much contact after it's cooked. Pizza is typically scooped out of the oven with a shovel or tool to grab the Pizza tray, and then placed directly in to the box for delivery. § This link to the CDC website states there is "currently no evidence to support transmission of Covid-19 with food". Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html
Closing Remarks
I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. I'll also say probably what every person on the planet is saying to one another and that is to be safe out there.
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Intro Randy discusses his return to Season 2 of the Manly Hanley Podcast.
Announcements • I've relaunched the podcast. • Moved • New room, dedicated to the podcast. • Re-uploaded episodes to a different host - Sound Cloud. • Just re-submitted feed to iTunes/Spotify/Google Play Podcasts • Video Stream!
Last Episode of 2019, I laid it all out • Music Interviews ○ Actual interviews.
A few hiccups but, just like the rest of the world, we'll keep going
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Intro
When you meet the love of your life, people are going to ask you “how did you meet?”. Can you meet the love of your life through a dating site? Randy drank coffee at 5pm today, and you can hear it in his presentation during this awesome episode!
Choose your Dating Site
There are so many out there. It’s likely you’ve heard of eHarmony, OKCupid, Bumble/Tinder, Match and Plenty of Fish. After signing up for 2 or 3 of those sites, I ended up just deciding to pay money. This wasn’t just overnight. I had quite a few dates from Plenty of Fish, but the profiles I “matched” with had a similar them: The guilty until proven innocent story. “I’ve been hurt, you’re on watch, I know what all men (or women) are like. If you answer yes to A, B, C, and W, you’re not the one for me. Keep on reading, so that I can tell you a ton of other negative things that I will project onto you through my profile, blah, blah, blah.”. If you Google “online dating statistics”, you’re immediately going to see a lot of information in the top search results from eHarmony. The website, Statista.com, a site that is not eHarmony, stated that in 2018, online dating revenue in the US amounted to 555 million dollars. Apparently, the most popular dating website in the US is Match.com. Ok, so I don’t know what the heck I’m talking about. I figured that eHarmony is everywhere, and assume they’re the most popular. Upon browsing the Match Group’s website, sites such as Tinder, Match, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, and more, are owned by this same group! Alright, Match.com, you win. I recommend you. Closing Remarks
I’d like to our audience and our co-host, Christa, for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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The term “Cord Cutter” is nothing new by any means. We’ve heard that term for years. Do you even know what it means? Randy is joined by Christa today to discuss cord cutting.
A Basic Amount of Cord Cutting: Netflix
Netflix seems like the most basic form of Cord Cutting. CordCutting is really happening. Leichtman Research Group learned that, since a peak in 2012, traditional pay-TV Services lost about 10 million subscribers. Being forced to pay for a package of Channels that you do not necessarily want to watch is not cool. Cord Cutting Isn’t 100% Possible
The company you’re getting your internet from is often the Company you’ve been trying to escape. That’s how much power these cable companies have. What Do I Recommend?
Think about it a little bit before-hand to see if what you’re going to buy will meet your needs. Start with the foundation: Have a good internet connection. Since your CordCutting ability will rely on a good internet connection, I recommends at least 50Mbps for your house. Most providers, at least in my area, nowadays have 100Mbps options available for streaming. You may end up realizing that you’re paying more for internet service, than if your Cable company offers you a deal you cannot pass up. It’s not likely, but it happens. If you do find a deal on a great package from your cable company that offers, TV/Phone/Internet, it’ll likely be a discounted rate for maybe 6-months or a year, then they hike up the price after that. The way I look at it, I keep a great deal for a year, and that gives me plenty of time to explore & plan my CordCutting setup. Just do your annual “Threaten to Quit” your cable company, and you should be fine getting what you want either way. Have a great WiFi setup (I’d recommend a simple Mesh setup, such as a 3piece WiFi from Google). This will ensure great coverage in your home, which you’ll need if you’re a streaming family. YouTubeTV is worth it, if you can find a some family or nearby friends to go in on the deal. You can split the $50/month bill with 6 accounts that are “in your household”. That’s just a little more than $8 a month. The first time I sampled YouTube TV, it was $35 a month. Then I checked a few months ago, and I think I remember it being $40/month. Now it’s up to $50/month. That is starting to sound like a traditional cable company to me. I pulled up the YouTube family “Location Requirements”. In short, there is a Family Manager of the account. That person sets the home area and all family members must live in the same household. Each family member has to periodically use YouTube TV in the home location to maintain access. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
Randy shares what motivated him to create a podcast.
Everyone has a podcast, right? Why did I create one?
If every person on the internet started a podcast, that just gives us a bigger chance that we’ll find something we’ll like to listen. Now it is estimated that there are over 750,000 podcasts, equating to over 30 Million episodes, as of June 2019. This is according to Podcast Insights.com. https://www.podcastinsights.com/podcast-statistics/ Podcast Insights broke these numbers down a little more to show that 50% of all homes are podcasts fans. Why did I jump into podcasting? The whole reason I got into computing in the first place was because I’m a lifelong musician. I haven’t made a dollar off of this. I have a real, day job. Could this become a real, full-time, job? I don’t care, I’ll do it for free, forever – it’s fun and I’m probably helping someone. There are many, many groups on Facebook, Reddit, etc, where people are donating their time and skills to answers the questions of other aspiring podcasters. This Facebook Group is called “Podcasters’ Support Group“, with a key contributor being Helen Austwick Zaltzman Follow our Podcast
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Randy and Christa discuss some popular diets out there, diet apps, and what has worked well for their lifestyles.
Fad Diets have been around for as long as I can remember
Cabbage Soup Diet, Potatoes Diet Had a middle school teacher that went on the cabbage soup guy and got so sick that this person was hospitalized. On the other hand, Penn Jillette went on the potato diet and was able to lose over 100 lb. Now it’s just Penn by himself. Bad joke. Teller is the man and I actually met him in Vegas! The whole30. this day is great, however if you just go with the general guidelines, it’s very easy to eat an extreme excessive amount of fats. but I do think that the diet has some really good ideas that can be filed for life, such as lowering sugar intake, not eating dairy, and avoiding some of the really high carb foods. Brian Shaw’s YouTube Channel is awesome. – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjQFLkJG0737sMibjcdKrsw
Some of these fad diets do seem to be pretty drastic. Closing Remarks
Do what works for you. To me, it all seems to be calories in, calories out when breaking it all down.
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Randy covers owning software vs. renting it: Perpetual Licensing vs. the Subscription model. Is having the latest software or service better than owning the software for keeps?
Perpetual Licensing – What is it?
License that lets the customer use the program long-term, and you can purchase the term for how long you would like support on that software. You basically own the software and are just purchasing the support for it. A benefit to perpetual licensing is that it makes sense financially for some companies because it tends to cost less over time, as opposed to Subscription licensing (more on that below). Subscription Licensing – What is it?
Payment is recurring Typically monthly or yearly licensing for a product you’re using. If you stop paying, that software will typically stop working or annoy the crap out of you. Has smaller startup cost than just buying the actual software. I think it’s great for huge companies, as long as the monthly price is low. I also think it could be good if you’re wanting to try out the most professional software, but aren’t sure if you want to fully jump in, buying thousands of dollars of high-end software. An example of this would be Adobe creative Cloud. Students and Teachers can get all of Adobe’s applications for under $250 a year. If you’re using these things for your career, it might be a no-brainer. Conclusions: Finding the lesser of two evils. A subscription license will guarantee you the latest updates and support on your software, as long as you don’t stop paying for a split second. The down-side is that it often ends up costing more over time. It will depend on your organization’s size which will make the most sense, like I said earlier (the example of people coming and going from your organization).
Closing Remarks
I’d like thank our audience and our guest, Christa, for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro
Today’s episode applies mainly to Podcasters, but can be useful to anyone recording audio on their computer. I’m going to share with you my 5 Podcast Audio Tips that apply to you.
We have a big giveaway that podcasters, or any type of musician will want to jump on right away. We’re doing a Giveaway of Studio One Professional that sells for $399. 5 Podcast Tech Tips That Apply to You:
No Wireless Don’t worry about aesthetics over quality and reliability. Wired is better than wireless in almost every case. If you are doing any sort of live stream, it shouldn’t even be a thought whether or not you’re going to be on WIFI, or hard-wired in via Ethernet. The year is 2019 and a wired connection is still far more reliable than a Wireless one. Start with the signal Look up “signal-to-noise ratio“. In short, it’s a measure of the level of the desired signal to the level of background noise. In recording, that is the instrument (your voice/or the instrument you’re picking up), measured against the level of background noise. I see lots of videos where the speaker is pretty far from the microphone, similar to talk show hosts you see on television, such as David Letterman. Keep in mind that those professional studios have capability beyond using one microphone. There may be shotgun microphones, lavalier mics, and more! Make certain you’re using a Cardioid microphone, especially if you’re the main person doing your podcast. For basic, just-starting-out podcasters, you’ll commonly see them using the Blue Yeti microphone. I did an episode called Audio Check, where I talk about how USB Microphones, such as this Blue Yeti are good for starters, but I still recommend XLR and a real mixer for seriously future-proofing your podcast. If your only option is currently the Yeti, this YouTuber, Hazel, has a great video that show some things you can do to get a decent sound out of this microphone. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIBTbRWuNG4
Stay out of the Red! When you hit 0db, you will experience digital distortion. Unlike analog distortion, digital is not as forgiving. Pop filter – however you want to do this, it’s an easy way to avoid explosive p’s. Some microphones, such as the Shure SM7B I’m I’m using already have a Pop filter built in. But if you have a condenser microphone, you’ll typically want to use a pop filter. I’ve even seen some homemade ones, using nylons stretched over a coat hanger! You can avoid this manual labor, and buy one that looks professional for under $20, like this one on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Auphonix-Microphone-Filter-MPF-1-Diameter/dp/B00CFXH4S6/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=popper+stopper&qid=1558885707&s=gateway&sr=8-2 It’s acceptable to use Effects! Compression with a 3:1 ratio, slow attack, and medium release. I could do an entire episode on compression, but I’ve included a link in the description/show notes for a nice explanation. Basically my goal is to make my voice sound more present and clearer for the main mix, without it sounding completely over-the-top. – https://www.uaudio.com/blog/audio-compression-basics/ Use EQ if needed. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equalization_(audio) The last effect I’m using is a limiter – http://blog.armadamusic.com/music-industry/how-to-use-limiters-limiting-explained/ Dive in and just buy a recording interface
Don’t over-edit It doesn’t sound as natural or honest, in my opinion. If your Podcast sounds like a natural conversation, it can feel more relatable to the listener. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
Today it’s about Mac vs PC and Android vs iOS. I’m going to bring up the differences between them that are obvious to me and why I may prefer one over the other.
Mac vs PC – or Mac OS vs Windows
Mac is not the most secure solution – That’s an old claim. 10 Years ago, Wikimedia found that Windows visitors made up 90% of the traffic measured. Apple hypes up their speeds – Macs are SLOWER than PCs. Here’s why. Louis Rossmann, has multiple videos where he demonstrates how Apple makes repairs nearly impossible to accomplish His repair shop Microsoft is bringing back Power Toys! – This is such an awesome throw-back that geeks, like myself, will not want to pass up. I feel like Power Toys kind of gave us that level of customization that a geek may feel is missing out-of-the-box. My conclusions are that, if I’m going to buy a Mac, I’d buy the higher-end model with Apple care because I’ve heard from friends that Apple’s support is pretty good, but I’d also buy the Apple care + level of protection, just in case. PCs may come preinstalled with bloat, but that will depend on the manufacturer that you’re buying from. If you buy a PC directly from Microsoft, such as a Surface product, then you’re essentially getting a machine from the source, just as you would when buying hardware from Apple – You’ll be getting the intended experience. Apple’s iOS vs (many other manufacturers’) Android
Android sports customization and Apple sports simplicity – with a tax (they’re way overpriced). Even with Jail breaking iOS, it was still lacking the basic home screen replacement possibility that Android has out of the box. With Android, you can instantly customize your phone with an app called Nova Launcher. With iOS, you’re stuck with a mess of icons and folders. It hasn’t changed much in 10 or so years.
You definitely can get much more smartphone for your money with an Android-running device. Google makes the Pixel 3a, which can beat the pants off any other smartphone’s camera:
Intro
Today it’s about Mac vs PC and Android vs iOS. I’m going to bring up the differences between them that are obvious to me and why I may prefer one over the other.
Mac vs PC – or Mac OS vs Windows
Mac is not the most secure solution – That’s an old claim. 10 Years ago, Wikimedia found that Windows visitors made up 90% of the traffic measured. Apple hypes up their speeds – Macs are SLOWER than PCs. Here’s why. Louis Rossmann, has multiple videos where he demonstrates how Apple makes repairs nearly impossible to accomplish His repair shop Microsoft is bringing back Power Toys! – This is such an awesome throw-back that geeks, like myself, will not want to pass up. I feel like Power Toys kind of gave us that level of customization that a geek may feel is missing out-of-the-box. My conclusions are that, if I’m going to buy a Mac, I’d buy the higher-end model with Apple care because I’ve heard from friends that Apple’s support is pretty good, but I’d also buy the Apple care + level of protection, just in case. PCs may come preinstalled with bloat, but that will depend on the manufacturer that you’re buying from. If you buy a PC directly from Microsoft, such as a Surface product, then you’re essentially getting a machine from the source, just as you would when buying hardware from Apple – You’ll be getting the intended experience. Apple’s iOS vs (many other manufacturers’) Android
Android sports customization and Apple sports simplicity – with a tax (they’re way overpriced). Even with Jail breaking iOS, it was still lacking the basic home screen replacement possibility that Android has out of the box. With Android, you can instantly customize your phone with an app called Nova Launcher. With iOS, you’re stuck with a mess of icons and folders. It hasn’t changed much in 10 or so years.
You definitely can get much more smartphone for your money with an Android-running device. Google makes the Pixel 3a, which can beat the pants off any other smartphone’s camera:
Intro
Randy covers 8 must-have applications that are, for the most part, free and simply amazing.
Announcements
Congrats to our Jabra Earbuds winner, Jocelyn! There is another giveaway coming soon, in the next couple of weeks.
1: Greenshot
Best free screenshot tool out there. My career in I.T. is based on making tutorials for users and this tool is the most efficient one I keep going back to.
2: 7-Zip
Completely free, open source. Provides a compression ratio 2-10% Better than WinZip. Can work with a ton of different file formats: AR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DMG, EXT, FAT, GPT, HFS, IHEX, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, QCOW2, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, UEFI, VDI, VHD, VMDK, WIM, XAR and Z
3: TeamViewer
Team Viewer is free for “personal use”. It allows you to remote into computers to support them remotely. This is a fantastic tool to use to remotely support friends and families’ computers. The commercial version of Team Viewer is pretty pricey, so if you’re looking at corporate remote support software, I recommend GoToAssist.
4 VLC Media Player
Free and Open Source baby! So what is it? It’s arguably the best media player. Plays virtually any format. Get this one now.
5: Google Photos
Saves users (particularly iPhone users) from paying for tyrannically-priced storage plans. I believe this app is absolutely essential on all smartphones.
6: Outlook Mail and Calendar
Outlook Mail and Calendar has the calendar and contacts built into the actual mail app. It’s updated very often, and maintains a very high rating in all app stores.
7: Google Voice (Hangouts)
Think of it as an “Alias” for your actual phone numbers that you’d otherwise not feel comfortable giving out to someone. It’s also great if you want to make phone calls over WiFi, if you’re in an area with no cellular connection.
8: GIMP Image Editor
I like to refer to it as a totally-free version of Adobe Photoshop. It’s not exactly Photoshop, but it’s free and worth your attention
Bonus: Office 365 Suite
Intro
As a lifelong drummer, Randy gives you 5 reasons to play the drums. 5 Reasons to Play the Drums
Big stress reliever I often hear people reference a puppet when they describe drummers: Animal. Long periods of drumming will release endorphins – kind of like a natural pain killer. Source. Can Be Physically beneficial – Providing cardio health. I would say I agree with this one half of the time. If you’re a self-taught drummer that relies less on technique, there could be a tendency to exert oneself more than necessary to provide the same outcome, audibly, as a learned drummer with proper technique. There was an article in Modern Drummer magazine, written by an internist, who is also a drummer. He stated that drumming can reduce our diastolic and systolic blood pressure, thus benefiting our hearts. Drive the band The band follows the rhythm of the drummer. You will count off the song, they will look to you for rhythmic guidance. Communicate with others at a different level. Maybe you’re an overall friendly person, but don’t always feel like talking to people. I could bury my face in my smartphone and surf the internet to pass the time by. Or you could go sit in with some music that are around your skill level and communicate that way. You might not really understand what I’m saying until you try it. When you’re jamming with other musicians, you communicate with your instrument. In this case, as the drummer, you’d mostly be communicating rhythmically, while other musicians could be playing melodies/and or harmonies on their instruments. Being that your core function is rhythm, you will be in charge of driving this musical element. Different cultures and countries all have different styles of drums. In many of those cultures, you’ll notice that the drums are the backbone of what you’re feeling. Shout outs to the Bass too, though, because bass is part of the rhythm section, along with the drums. Appreciation for other genres. The absolute primary reason I listen to other genres of music is because of the various drum styles. For example, when I heard Latin music as a child, there was something about the drums that just made me want to learn what was “going on” with that music. It maintained a solid tempo, yet felt that it could break the rules, and sway around the beat, if you will. Same thing goes for certain types of Jazz. I don’t know if this example fits tightly enough, but watch some professional dancers dancing to latin music – it doesn’t look stiff and uncomfortable – It looks like they’re just having a helluva good time, and are relaxed – and that’s exactly what it feels like to drum along with this genre. A few notable Latin music drummer names out there would be Tito Puente, Alex Acuna, and Pete Escovedo (Sheila E’s dad). Follow our Podcast
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Intro
The Content of your Podcast is not the only important piece to the puzzle; The sound quality can be just as important, because it’s the primary way that a Podcaster’s message is delivered. A lot of podcasters use a USB Microphone. Is this really the best method for capturing your sound?
Announcements
We’ll be announcing the winner of the Jabra Elite earbuds. Stay tuned! More giveaways to come Are USB Microphones Worth the Money?
Benefits to having a USB Microphone. Short path for getting audio into your computer, with minimal to no setup required. Great for a one-person setup or podcast / YouTube Vloggers, or doing creepy ASMR videos. Disadvantages to having a USB Microphone They can only plug into a computer. Can get messy if you try to work with more than one Microphone – setup can become confusing to many users. Takeaway:
If you’re just starting out and want to get a feeling for recording, a single USB Microphone is worth it – You can get a decent-sounding one for 100 bucks or less: Link to the Blue Yeti USB Mic (This one is $129, but the Nano version is less than $100).
What I Use and Believe In
XLR is the standard the Recording/Music industry has been using for such a long time. I use mics such as the: Rode NT1-A – SM-57 – MXL 770 (under $78)
Boom Stand, such as this one. PreSonus StudioLive Mixer/Interface. This is where I can plug in up to 16 microphones if I ever needed to. Studio One DAW Software that came free with my Mixer. Audacity is a great piece of software that runs on multiple operating systems, so I have that as a backup solution as well. A few XLR cables from your local music store, you can usually pick these up for a great deal. My Backup Solution
My backup Solution in case I can’t use my StudioLive Mixer: (ANY Cheap Small Mixer will work (they can be $50 and up, such as a small Behringer Mixer) in combination with the Behringer UCA202 USB device that can thus connect basically any mixer to your computer!
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Intro
In Episode 6 of the Manly Hanley Podcast, Randy is joined by Co-host Christa where they introduce a new series, “Being a Musician”. Christa outlines the format for the types of questions that will be asked during series, asking Randy about being a musician.
Announcements
Jabra Elite 65t Earbuds giveaway! They will go out to a lucky winner that will be chosen 12am EST on April 28th. We’re starting to promote the heck out of this podcast, so turn off your ad blocker! 😉 My PreSonus mixer is in the shop, but that will not stop our show; We’re determined, and we’re using a back-up mixer for the next couple weeks until we get the StudioLive mixer back to our studio. Episode Rundown
Synopsis: This is going to be the first in the series called “Being a Musician”. We will ask different musicians about their perspective in their craft and how big of a role it plays in their life.
The Q&A is in the episode audio, so check it out to catch the rest!
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If you’re a new listener, we’d love to hear from you. You can follow this podcast by visiting RandyHanley.com/Podcast – And a friendly reminder to enter to win the giveaway while visiting Randrums on twitter Manley Hanley Podcast Facebook page. Sign up for BuzzSprout Podcasting paid monthly service by using my link, and we’ll both get a $20 Amazon gift card!
Intro
Randy is back after an awesome 4th of July to share his setup with you – A brief talk about what works for him when he’s outside of the studio.
What’s In Randy’s Bag?
A Windows 10 Laptop. Wired Mouse USB Headset Laptop Charger Mobile phone with hotspot plan. Clothes. Headphones. Regular, cheapo 3.5mm jack headphones. 6-port USB Wall Charger, such as this one. Pad of paper and a pen, and Steno Notebook, SNACKS! Lara Bars/RX Bars/Nuts/Cookies, and everything else in the world. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
If you’re thinking about turning your home into a Smart Home, Randy discuss what is necessary to accomplish this.
Choices – That Use a Hub
SmartThings – This is a company that started out as a Kickstarter in 2012 – for $1.2 million. Just a couple years later, they were acquired by Samsung in 2014 for $200 million. SmartThings is operated by a central hub that connects to your home’s router. The SmartThings hub can send out the signal required by Smart Light bulbs, or other Smart Devices that support different protocols such as ZigBee, and Z-Wave. Both of these protocols have their own pros and cons. For instance, ZigBee operates in the 2.4GHz range, which could potentially have some clashes with your WIFI devices that use that frequency. Personally, I try to keep most of my WIFI devices on the 5GHz range, because it can handle more traffic anyway. Z-Wave is considered more reliable because it operates in the 800-900Mhz Range. Z-Wave is also 2-3x’s ZigBee in Range. It’s really a personal preference between these two, but it’s great the SmartThings hub can support devices from Both. Wink – Wink labs is another company that received some crowd-sourcing to begin. This one received about $20 million in funding. Like SmartThings, Wink has its own hub as well. This was actually my starting point for trying out a Smart Home.
As long as you have at least the 2nd Generation Hub from Wink, it will support most Smart Home devices with Zigbee and Z-Wave – really the ONLY two protocols I care about at this point.
I had mixed results with my beginner setup when I bought my Wink hub that came included with 2 Smart Bulbs. In 2015, I was one of the users affected by a security problem that knocked our hubs offline. I’m sure you know what that means, I can’t control my lightbulbs anymore. I saw this as a huge problem, which is why I only wanted to test this out with a couple bulbs. I felt like I wanted more “local control”, you know like I did when I had used the regular light switch that I had been using for decades.
What I do – I really prefer to avoid putting more links in a chain when it comes to my setup – especially when each link has its own strengths and weakness. Just like in Audio Engineering, your setup is only as strong as its weakest link. You cannot argue with that. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
Christa and Randy discuss a weekend of Axe-Throwing, his bachelor party, and the fun times that were had.
Axe Throwing Is Fun
“BATL”: Which stands for Backyard Axe Throwing League. If you look up “BATL” on google, it will actually show up, alongside results that include “National Axe Throwing Championship”. But if you dig a little bit on the BATL website, they mention in their “about” section that they have played a lead role in the National Axe Throwing Federation. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
Today, Randy compares your smartphone to a teddy Bear. What?
Why is everyone’s Primary tool their smartphone?
Turns out there is a Psychological “Attachment Theory” that is actually present here. Source: Psychology Today. It is described as a similar behavior where children couldn’t put down the Teddy Bear during those years. Similar to how a Teddy Bear provides a connection when a parent is away, the cellphone situation is the same. The phone can be kept by your side while providing the connection to those things you can’t be near in-person. I see an example of this behavior that may even be present in myself! Follow our Podcast
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Intro
Most of us have smartphones – it has sort of become everyone’s personal tool. Today I want to just go over a few things that you could look at before jumping into buying a cell phone plan – things to maybe be aware of that not everyone thinks of.
Prepaid vs Postpaid
Post-Paid You receive a bill at the end of the month to show you what you’ve used. Prepaid Will typically have you pay for the service right up front. Very important to note: Many prepaid carriers are MVNO’s (Mobile Virtual Network Operators). Fancy for, they are just a name on top of someone else’s network. For instance, Metro PCS (Is Metro by T-Mobile). Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile are both just Prepaid plans using Sprint’s network. Cricket Wireless is AT&T. Something both Prepaid and Postpaid have in common:
They offer “BYOD”. This is Bring your Own Device. To me, I see BYOD as a great way to avoid too much involvement with your carrier. I don’t like to finance things through my carrier if I don’t have to. Closing Remarks
I’d like to our audience and our guest, Vic the cat, for putting time aside to listen to the podcast.
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Intro
Randy is joined by Christa in the studio and discusses the Unlimited nonsense that is your smartphone data plan.
Unlimited Data is Now a Half Truth
This holds for both Prepaid and Postpaid types of cell phone plans. Now carriers are offering different priorities of data Unlimited Data, up to X amount of Speed where, thereafter you reach a certain threshold, it is then throttled. I have seen this happening for well over a decade, since Comcast sort of did this with peoples’ home internet. Remember when we used to buy DVD’s and then it seemed like streaming came out of nowhere. That’s at least when I first remember Internet Service Providers really knowing where to cap things. I want to put things into some basic numbers – not getting too technical on the amount of data things use. According to Netflix, streaming an hour of HD uses about 3GB per hour. Streaming for the same amount of time in Standard Definition (think of the low-quality video that “Unlimited” carriers often throttle their users down to), uses about 0.7GB per hour. Off hand, 4K is about 7GB of video per hour. Source: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/87 I hope there can be a balance between companies not being so strict/greedy, while also not punishing user who don’t really get to use the data that they pay for. Sure, there are people that could really abuse networks, like if they’re doing some heavy uploading and streaming, but those numbers have always been throttled. Just beware of what you’re buying and that not all Unlimited packages are unlimited in Every kind of way. I think Verizon sets the best example of how ridiculously-confusing the whole idea of “Unlimited Plans” can be. For instance, they have the: “Start Unlimited”, “Play More Unlimited”, “Do More Unlimited”, “Get More Unlimited”. How about just name one “Honestly Unlimited” instead of putting a spin on things. Unless you have a comparison chart in front of you, you can’t even guess what in the hell any of those plans mean. There may even be an extra plan I’m not seeing on their website called, “We’ve contacted Miriam Webster and changed the definition of ‘Unlimited’ Plan”. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
Is a VPN really a good way to stay safe, or just something people feel obligated to buy from exposure to fear mongering?
NO VPN SERVICE IS ANOYNYMOUS. The weakest link is the VPN that you’re putting all of your trust in.
“I swear, just minutes after I was browsing an article about shoes, Facebook knew what I was looking at and now they’re advertising shoes to me! This is ridiculous.“
A VPN still isn’t going to stop things like this from happening. Marketing companies already have ways of finding out what products you like. When you visit Facebook, you’re logging into a site. Logging into a Site. Logging into their site. Facebook sells ads, you talk about things online, they’re listening. VPN won’t protect you from this. On the other hand, you would still decrease the amount of tracking on that happens because your IP address can originate from another country. So, you can still see ads, but they’re likely be irrelevant to you. Solution: Develop better habits and just be a little more educated on how things are tracking you. “Oh, “I’m logged into a social network?”. “Oh, I’m signed into Gmail, and receiving products receipts and promotional emails to my inbox? A company that makes a killing on ad revenue would never use this information to their benefit!”. Realize that if you DO go with a VPN Provider, you now need to put all of your trust in them. All of your traffic is routed through them. Your IP address is ONLY ONE of the ways to track you There are Tracking ID’s completely different from your IP address, so when you’re all set hiding your IP address, there so many other factors that can reveal ..You. Your machine has a cookies, device ID’s (given to you when you sign up for services – they can track you across the web). Mobile devices can further track you by GPS/Celullar networks that reveal your location. I think we’re so busy focusing on “IP Addresses” while marketing companies are perfecting their best product: You. VPN Companies can’t solve it all. Your browser, itself, has plugins, versions, so many other things that talk to the website it’s connecting to. You’re being tracked. You can’t hide. You’re wasting your time. My point is, if a government wants to subpoena the information that you’re hiding, a VPN will make it very convenient for them to get that data.
“Come one! I really want to do everything I can to not be tracked.“
Alright, then power off all of your electronic devices – anything with a network connection. You CAN do more to be tracked less, but remember that your fort Knox of privacy is as only good at the weakest link. Most of us probably don’t work for the CIA and we’re not in that high of demand. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
As a lifelong drummer, Randy gives you 5 reasons to play the drums. 5 Reasons to Play the Drums
Big stress reliever I often hear people reference a puppet when they describe drummers: Animal. Long periods of drumming will release endorphins – kind of like a natural pain killer. Source. Can Be Physically beneficial – Providing cardio health. I would say I agree with this one half of the time. If you’re a self-taught drummer that relies less on technique, there could be a tendency to exert oneself more than necessary to provide the same outcome, audibly, as a learned drummer with proper technique. There was an article in Modern Drummer magazine, written by an internist, who is also a drummer. He stated that drumming can reduce our diastolic and systolic blood pressure, thus benefiting our hearts. Drive the band The band follows the rhythm of the drummer. You will count off the song, they will look to you for rhythmic guidance. Communicate with others at a different level. Maybe you’re an overall friendly person, but don’t always feel like talking to people. I could bury my face in my smartphone and surf the internet to pass the time by. Or you could go sit in with some music that are around your skill level and communicate that way. You might not really understand what I’m saying until you try it. When you’re jamming with other musicians, you communicate with your instrument. In this case, as the drummer, you’d mostly be communicating rhythmically, while other musicians could be playing melodies/and or harmonies on their instruments. Being that your core function is rhythm, you will be in charge of driving this musical element. Different cultures and countries all have different styles of drums. In many of those cultures, you’ll notice that the drums are the backbone of what you’re feeling. Shout outs to the Bass too, though, because bass is part of the rhythm section, along with the drums. Appreciation for other genres. The absolute primary reason I listen to other genres of music is because of the various drum styles. For example, when I heard Latin music as a child, there was something about the drums that just made me want to learn what was “going on” with that music. It maintained a solid tempo, yet felt that it could break the rules, and sway around the beat, if you will. Same thing goes for certain types of Jazz. I don’t know if this example fits tightly enough, but watch some professional dancers dancing to latin music – it doesn’t look stiff and uncomfortable – It looks like they’re just having a helluva good time, and are relaxed – and that’s exactly what it feels like to drum along with this genre. A few notable Latin music drummer names out there would be Tito Puente, Alex Acuna, and Pete Escovedo (Sheila E’s dad).
Intro
Randy covers some very easy measures you can take to better your internet experience.
Announcements
Got married. Honeymoon trip to Spain and Paris was a dream. Back to work “It’s crazy. I was searching for ‘X Product’ online and, minutes later, I see advertisements in my Facebook feed. This is Ridiculous!”.
A couple of episodes back, Episode 24, I covered VPNs. While I’m not a huge user of VPNs, I still think they can have their benefits. In that Episode, I also more or less concluded that you can never fully avoid being tracked. However, there is more you can do to be tracked less. This recommendation is going to be based on lessening the amount of tracking across companies’ websites.
Use DuckDuckGo Search engine. They pride themselves on NOT tracking you. It works really well. The only problem for me is, I forget to use it all of the time because I’m so used to using Google. It’s hard to drop convenience. It’s totally worth a shot to try using it though. Here’s a link I’ll include where DuckDuckGo gives you the bullet points on how you can help encourage others to avoid being tracked: https://duckduckgo.com/spread I think a killer concoction could be using the Chrome Browser with the DuckDuckGo plugin. The DuckDuckGo extension for Chrome basically blocks Facebook and Google hidden trackers. The extension also forces sites to use an encrypted connection when available.
Or, the Vivaldi browser, with DuckDuckGo set as your home page is something else that could work well. Even though Chrome appears that it can be tweaked by adding these secure extensions, I can’t say I can trust Google 100% in the way the browser was compiled down to every line of code. Anything could be going on there, and I’d never know because Chrome is like a proprietary version of the open source Chromium, but contains more proprietary abilities, such as more codec playback and the ability to auto-update.
Something else you may not know about DuckDuckGo is that their site explains things very well. They have a page here: https://spreadprivacy.com/protection-from-isp-spying/ that explains how an ISP can spy on you and which types of pages they can typically see. They write it in an easy-to-understand explanation too.
See you on the Duck Side! That sounds cool. I don’t watch Star Wars.
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Intro
Historically, Randy couldn’t force himself to use an iPhone for more than a month. Christa talks about the iPhone 11 and gets Randy to loosen up on his anti-Apple stance.
No in-depth show notes for this episode, folks. This is a free-form discussion and it was a lot of fun! Thanks for listening!
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Intro
Today Randy discusses 10 applications that he often finds himself installing on Windows 10 machines. They’re all free, so it doesn’t hurt to have these “must-haves” on your machine as well!
10 Must-Have Windows 10 Applications
1.) Vivaldi Browser
2.) Chrome Browser (as a Backup)
3.) FileZilla – FTP Client
4.) 7-Zip
5.) VLC Media Player
6.) Greenshot
7.) Notepad ++
8.) A Photo editor such as GIMP or Paint.NET (Here’s a link to Install Both, simultaneously).
9.) Windows 10 Mail (Already comes installed on your Windows 10 machine, free of charge).
10.) VirusTotal.com
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Intro
Randy is joined by Christa in-studio to discuss the pros and cons of working from an airplane.
Working During your Flight has its pros and cons
Many of my friends and family cannot stop working. I often find myself supporting them while they’re trying to get something to work while they’re at the airport or on a plane. Is working while flying worth it? If you work for a company is paying for you to work on a plane money they’ll make back for the duration of that flight? An hour flight from Detroit to Philly. How much work can you actually get done on the flight when you have your usual interruptions such as the limited space and sitting close to someone. It may be difficult to relax on the plane, so you might feel more productive keeping busy. On many internet flights, as of this broadcast anyway, they block any type of “streaming”. Streaming includes YouTube, but not everybody uses YouTube for entertainment – sometimes a video might be referenced for work, or sharing an idea – can’t do that on a plan. I contacted GoGo Inflight, and they said they plan on adding the ability to stream soon. I’m still skeptical on how well it will work since internet on planes is often insanely slow. Delta Airlines took its first test at offering Free in-flight WiFi Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/19/deltas-test-of-free-in-flight-wi-fi-may-shame-other-airlines.html Follow our Podcast
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Intro
Who owns your photos once you upload them to “free” sites such as Facebook or Google Photos?
Randy rattles off some stats and goes to bed.
1.59 Billion log into Facebook each day. – Out of all of those Facebook Profiles, there are 83 million fake ones – Hacking your aunt’s account, creating a clone profile and trying to add you as a friend. 300 Million photos are uploaded each day. Source: https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/ Who owns those photos that you voluntarily upload to sites such as Facebook and Google Photos?
You do. How-To Geek did a write-up on this a couple of years ago and boiled it down to:
“ Facebook gets a “non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license” to your photos.
To sum up, this all means that:
Facebook doesn’t own your content, you do. Facebook’s terms of service sound scary but really aren’t. Your privacy settings control how Facebook uses your photos. “
Closing Remarks
The main thing to keep in mind for all of these “Free” products is the phrase that you’ve probably already heard…something along the lines of: “If the product is free, then you’re the product”.
Think about that: Online companies like Google earn their money from ADVERTISING! Also know that they suck up any data they can like a massive vacuum, growing this advertising beast exponentially. If Google (and Facebook) know everything about everybody (it’s getting to the point where it’s hard to avoid them), they can advertise to you very efficiently. Combine this situation with Google who controls the world’s most popular Browser: Chrome – and then making it harder for users to block ads.
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Intro
If you’re on Social Media, like most of us are, you’ll inevitably run into memes. There’s a good chance you’ve seen one of these phrases plastered over a meme:
“You see what I did there?” “Hold my beer” memes – These memes are generally following this simple formula. Person A is described as doing something foolish, while person B says “Hold me beer” and does something much more foolish. “You Only Live Once.” “Giving more than 100%” of anything “at the end of the day”. That’s a combo one. I’m surprised that I hear “At the end of the day” still, as much as I do. Over 15 years ago, that was old. Maybe before that, but I remember hearing it a lot around the time I completed had college. As I was handed my degree, I thought to myself that I only live once…and I was glad it was the end of the day, never mind. That was dumb. You see what I did there? “It is What it Is”. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I know for sure, I’m guilty of saying this one. But I also do think that it makes about as much sense as believing you shouldn’t brush your teeth until you have a cavity. Ever heard of preventative maintenance? “Just sayin’.” I’m not sayin’ any more, other than: This one just sounds like you’re not sayin’ anything intelligent. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
Randy and Christa chime in with some stats and thoughts as we approach the Black Friday Season.
Announcements (And Lots of Show Notes!)
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, which means that Thanksgiving is on Thursday. Do not forget that, you turkeys. I did not know this, but the term Black Friday is used because, since the early 1950’s, when sales on items would be so big, stores would tip into “The black”.
As retailers continued to grow, they pushed Black Friday openings to earlier and earlier times…many stores promoting the idea of opening at 8pm on Black Thursday..but those sales tactics didn’t work.
Then, of course, you have the door buster deals. I think most people understand how that works, and that’s when a store has a EXTREMELY limited stock on some goodies they’ll hand you at the door. It’s clever, but it’s not always likely that you’ll get a free LCD monitor.
Looking back to last year, Walmart was offering “Light up Black Friday” party with free coffee and cookies.
Try harder, Walmart.
As a tech guy, you’ll generally see this deal often, and that’s where $100 is slashed off the price of many Laptop brands.
Retailers are going to have to be a little more creative to stay alive in this market.
It’s not necessarily that the Holidays are the best time to buy.
Things such as Winter clothing and fitness equipment is almost always less expensive in late winter and, according to Business Insider, fitness deals peak in January. That does seem to make sense, because I know it’s easy to predict that every year we’ll see the Fitness Clubs posting their New Year Resolution commercials to get people in the gym.
Deals: By Keyboard
Or, you can avoid stepping foot in a store altogether. You can stay safe off the roads while others are rushing to the store. I have this theory that online retailers like to space out their extreme web server traffic. Think about it, even Amazon’s site can crawl on “Prime Day” – if you remember the terrible website issues they had in 2018, when many saw a “Sorry” message with a photo of a dog, rather than the product they wanted to snag a deal on.
More of the same as last year Google trying hard to sell Google Home, Amazon with Echos Google’s Home products can answer more complex questions, Alexa still hears better, in my opinion, and I still think that the Echo Plus is a great device and I’m happy I bought it for the ZigBee Radio abilities. Deals on the Google Pixel 4 – Don’t buy it. It snaps like a twig.
Don’t buy Google Stadia – Let it die. Gaming does need to pass any more control to the cloud. How would you like there to be a real remote shut-off switch for all of your shit? – well, Stadia is a great start. PC Gamer’s website does bring up a good point, though, and that is that “No one wants to be the Blockbuster to someone else’s Netflix”. Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/what-happens-if-stadia-wins/ Use a computer. I don’t care how fast and efficient you are with a smartphone. I could have my 89-year old grandfather sign in on a laptop and whoop a mobile phone deal-seeker’s ass. Even better, for you multi-monitor users out there, have your deals on different screens, compare them, and defeat. Sites that can save you time
Brad’s Deals – Ben’s Bargains has a team of deal seekers, even providing a paragraph Bio for each of them on the site. Probably the most-popular, boasting numbers of 10 Million Monthly users, with 80% returning visits and 15 Million app installs. They’re hiring in California and Nevada. The cool thing about Slick Deals is that the deals are “Rated and Reviewed by the community”. For the totally-obsessed, Slick deals even has a Live Feed view (in beta). It basically looks like a twitter live tweet screen for deals. So if you’re insane, definitely check that out. It’s at Slickdeals.net/live.
Intro
Randy discusses why he’s a hypocrite that loves and hates Amazon.
Hate Amazon
Main Point Ring Doorbell not secure Alexa Everywhere – Just like I had mentioned a couple of weeks back is that’s really the only Holiday deals that Amazon (Facebook and Google included) will offer – is their own little devices that you don’t need. Hurting Brick and Mortar stores Climbing membership prices Couldn’t they just allow members to customize their plans, À la carte, so I could get rid of the millionth streaming service that I don’t use, Amazon Video. Or maybe even something, such as offering little enticing shipping delay incentives, such as $1 toward your actual Amazon Rewards cash. Love Amazon
Saving on fuel and time. Prime Pantry – Rip off – Whole Foods – not too bad! On average, when I buy a weeks’ worth of groceries, most of it is organic, and it costs around $7 in convenience for me to have the groceries picked and delivered to me within a 2-hour window. If you’re having this completed during working hours, it depends how valuable that hour is to you that you’re getting back. On a weekend, an hour is important to me – because maybe I could be doing something fun – or just eating on the couch, fat, while someone is bagging my groceries. I love it, still. Invested in the ecosystem. For instance, I appreciate the quality in Amazon’s ability to guarantee their order and brand. Two weeks ago, I had ordered all of my groceries from Amazon/Whole Foods, and I noticed a couple of days later that some oranges were molded. I decided I’d try logging back into my amazon account and informing amazon. Not one question was asked to investigate – Rather than having to return the groceries to a “Customer Service” counter like every other grocery store on the planet, Amazon immediately credited me the $6 back to my account. If you’ve listed to our last episode, I mentioned how Amazon has refunded me on other perishable purchases, such as RX Bars that were as hard as a brick – no questions askes, $22 back to my card. They Invest in me too, I feel. Smile.Amazon.com allows you to donate to Organizations that have registered there. So anytime I shop there, I can support an organization, all while paying the same low price, receiving 5% off of my groceries too – It’s like a 2-punch. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
Ever plan on recording more than one person (yourself) on a podcast? If yes, you need to listen to this episode.
I want to list these things in order of importance:
Yourself – the sound. The Microphone that connects to the Audio Interface that connects to the DAW that connects to the computer, that records your sound. There are all-in-one Audio Interface/DAW’s out there, such as the PreSonus StudioLive mixer line. But I’m going to share with you, what I believe is the best way to get your content (that means yourself, and whoever else you’d like to record) into an audio that can be shared with the world. Studio One Prime. It’s really the same core software as the $400 version that you can purchase for amazing audio production capabilities. But you will not need all that for podcasting. With the Prime edition of Studio One, you can record up to two microphones simultaneously, for free! It gives you the power of Studio One, which is amazing software. If your show grows to needing more than 2 tracks being recorded simultaneously, it’s worth you to pay a little bit of money to jump to the Artist or Professional Edition. Again, it’s completely free for Studio Prime and I’m including a link to a page that will describe the differences between the versions. TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) – What Do I Buy?
Focusrite Scarlett, with 2 XLR inputs, right around the $150 mark. Yes, even if you’re the only host for your podcast, get something with 2 or more inputs – plan ahead. Just a simple USB cable that you connect to your computer will give your computer professional-sounding digital audio capabilities. It’ll work with Mac or PC, even Linux – sort of. Microphone, such as MXL Brand (if you’re looking to save money – they sound fairly professional for under 100 dollars – In fact , for this episode to kind of make a point, I’m talking into a regular, $70 MXL right now Of course you could buy a Shure SM7B for around $400, and that’s the mic that I usually use on this show but, inexpensive mics can sound good enough to most peoples’ ears. For the SM7B in a home studio, you really should use a Cloud Lifter, which is a device that allows you give the mic some boost (I’m putting this in simple terms for the purpose of this episode, so maybe it’s a not the best starter recommendation).
Audio-Technica makes a great XLR Mic for $120, called the AT2020 Another mic that’s good for the money is the Audio-Technica ATR2100 (USB/XLR). You can pick up this microphone, along with headphones and a pop filter for under $100.
Headphones – A great pair for just under $50 would be the Audio-Technica ATH-M20x. This one is often overlooked – a headphone mixer! There is an off-brand that, in my opinion, makes knock-offs of Behringer’s headphone mixer, but it honestly works great! I will include a link to that as well. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
The studio moves yet again, and Randy discusses if you really need all of that equipment like he does.
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Intro
If you’re uncertain of your passion, listen to this episode and maybe you’ll realize it’s right in front of you.
Maybe you’re a Person that Doesn’t think it’s easy to find what you’re passionate about.
Your Passion: Look in your YouTube Watch History. I’m going to have my primary New Years’ Resolution. But I’m also going to have a Podcast New Years Resolution In the New Year, I will Interview guests, using my curiosity to get answers to question that I think people may want to know the answers to. Being that my true, life-long passion is music and drumming, I would like to interview at least one musician or band in 2020. Follow our Podcast
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Intro
Randy looks back on our great first year of the Manly Hanley Podcast, and also shares what’s ahead.
Announcements
This is our 40th Episode, and also the last of this year! 2019 In Review
We had some amazing Giveaways A pair of Jabra Elite 65t Earbuds Multiple Amazon Gift cards, ranging from $15 to $50 dollars A PreSonus Studio One Professional DAW, worth $400. Most importantly, we’ve shared knowledge that I really feel good about, in that it can save people time and money. 2020 and What’s Ahead
Much of this, I mentioned in last weeks’ short Episode where I talked about the direction I intend to go with the Podcast. I plan to do at least one interview, which is going to be my New Year’s Resolution for the podcast. More Giveaways More listeners and interaction through the Manly Hanley Podcast Newsletter – It has been sitting idle for the last couple of months, basically between giveaways. Follow our Podcast
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