Simple backup option non-techy person

Ken Springer wrote:

I'm not a big thumb drive user, but I've got some empty thumb drives
here, ranging from 4 to 16 GB, so I should be OK.



That is perfect. You can download a couple of different distributions
and then you can "test drive" them and see what you are more comfortable
with.

Modern Linux is very much like Windows with GUI tools that are point and
click for users. But still has command line stuff for more advanced
users or those that are curious.

One big thing to note is unlike Windows Foo.dat, foo.dat, or FoO.Dat are
all different files and the *File Extension* is just a "suggestion" so a
Word document could be named example.doc or example.junk and still be a
word processor document and ope with the appropriate application.

--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

On 5/5/20 6:54 AM, Mayayana wrote:
"Chris" wrote

snip
It's nice because I can just turn it off when I don't
need it. And it actually does turn off. So the charge lasts
for months and it doesn't serve as a tracking collar. That
also means no one can interrupt me any time of day. They
can leave a message on my landline. I'm not NORAD. No
one needs to reach me *now*. It also means that I get
no texts and no one expects to reach me on that phone.
Occasionally someone tries to establish a "phone relationship"
with my cellphone, thinking they're not in my inside circle
until they do, I suppose. I have to explain to them that I'll
never get their message unless they tell me it's coming, and
that I don't actually know the phone's # offhand. They back
away slowly. "Is he messing with my head? Does he hate
me? ****! It might actually be true! WHAT A WEIRDO!"

I have a cheap Tracfone too, but I buy by the month. $10.69.

Tracfone used to send automated emails saying my time was about up,
please add more airtime. So, I would. For some reason, they stopped
sending the nag, and I forgot to add the time. I discovered this when I
was out and about, and wanted to use the phone. I don't know how long
the time frame was when the service was off. But via the phone, I added
a month.

And I got a "Welcome back, Ken" email. LOL Still no nags, though, and
I don't pay every month. I've learned all I need to do is go online,
pay for a month if I've not paid for X months, and they give me a
month's service. If the service has lapsed for 2 months, and I pay
$10.69 for month #3, my monthly cost suddenly drops to $3.57/mo. G

Since no cell phone works at my house, unless it's a smartphone with
wi-fi calling, that works just fine for me.

snip


--
Ken
MacOS 10.14.6
Firefox 70.0.1
Thunderbird 60.9
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 5/5/20 8:38 AM, Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:

I'm not a big thumb drive user, but I've got some empty thumb drives
here, ranging from 4 to 16 GB, so I should be OK.



That is perfect. You can download a couple of different distributions
and then you can "test drive" them and see what you are more comfortable
with.

Modern Linux is very much like Windows with GUI tools that are point and
click for users. But still has command line stuff for more advanced
users or those that are curious.

One big thing to note is unlike Windows Foo.dat, foo.dat, or FoO.Dat are
all different files and the *File Extension* is just a "suggestion" so a
Word document could be named example.doc or example.junk and still be a
word processor document and ope with the appropriate application.

How does Linux recognize the file is for a particular type of application?



--
Ken
MacOS 10.14.6
Firefox 70.0.1
Thunderbird 60.9
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 2020-05-05 9:38 a.m., Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:

I'm not a big thumb drive user, but I've got some empty thumb drives
here, ranging from 4 to 16 GB, so I should be OK.



That is perfect. You can download a couple of different distributions
and then you can "test drive" them and see what you are more comfortable
with.

Modern Linux is very much like Windows with GUI tools that are point and
click for users. But still has command line stuff for more advanced
users or those that are curious.

One big thing to note is unlike Windows Foo.dat, foo.dat, or FoO.Dat are
all different files and the *File Extension* is just a "suggestion" so a
Word document could be named example.doc or example.junk and still be a
word processor document and ope with the appropriate application.


I was made well aware of the case sensitive thing a week ago where it
was Kxxx. in one instruction and kxxx. in anther and naturally nothing
worked as I though it was the same file.

With literally hundreds of distros to choose from I can't give a
recommendation but an easy one for beginners is Puppy Linux 8.0, also
MXLinux is very easy to use. But try a few and see what fits best for you.

Rene

Ken Springer wrote:
On 5/5/20 8:38 AM, Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:

I'm not a big thumb drive user, but I've got some empty thumb drives
here, ranging from 4 to 16 GB, so I should be OK.



That is perfect. You can download a couple of different distributions
and then you can "test drive" them and see what you are more comfortable
with.

Modern Linux is very much like Windows with GUI tools that are point and
click for users. But still has command line stuff for more advanced
users or those that are curious.

One big thing to note is unlike Windows Foo.dat, foo.dat, or FoO.Dat are
all different files and the *File Extension* is just a "suggestion" so a
Word document could be named example.doc or example.junk and still be a
word processor document and ope with the appropriate application.

How does Linux recognize the file is for a particular type of application?


For some files it will try and use the Windows file extension as a quick
guess but the real way is by "magic" ;-) The magic file in Linux is a
list of regular expressions to identify from a files header (The
beginning part of a file) to identify what the file type is.

So for example if you have a jpeg image named "example.jpg" Linux will
say, Oh a jpeg image so open it with the default viewer. But if you
renamed it "mystery" with no file extension whatsoever,

Windows will shrug and say unknown file

Linux will peek into the file and see
00000000 FF D8 FF E0 00 10 4A 46 49 46 ......JFIF`
and say it is a jpeg and open it with the default viewer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_signatures

Just something to remember so if you send a file to a Windows user make
sure you put the Windows file extension in the filename, else Windows
users won't be able to open it.

BTW this is how hackers would trick Window users where Windows default
is to hide the file extension so they would send victims
"dangerous.txt.exe". In Linux having a file with an executable name WILL
NOT execute, it must have the executable bit set. So "dangerous.sh" will
not execute as a shell script just because of the name, it must have the
executable bit set first.

--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

On 5/5/20 10:01 AM, Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 5/5/20 8:38 AM, Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:

I'm not a big thumb drive user, but I've got some empty thumb drives
here, ranging from 4 to 16 GB, so I should be OK.



That is perfect. You can download a couple of different distributions
and then you can "test drive" them and see what you are more comfortable
with.

Modern Linux is very much like Windows with GUI tools that are point and
click for users. But still has command line stuff for more advanced
users or those that are curious.

One big thing to note is unlike Windows Foo.dat, foo.dat, or FoO.Dat are
all different files and the *File Extension* is just a "suggestion" so a
Word document could be named example.doc or example.junk and still be a
word processor document and ope with the appropriate application.

How does Linux recognize the file is for a particular type of application?


For some files it will try and use the Windows file extension as a quick
guess but the real way is by "magic" ;-) The magic file in Linux is a
list of regular expressions to identify from a files header (The
beginning part of a file) to identify what the file type is.

So for example if you have a jpeg image named "example.jpg" Linux will
say, Oh a jpeg image so open it with the default viewer. But if you
renamed it "mystery" with no file extension whatsoever,

Windows will shrug and say unknown file

Linux will peek into the file and see
00000000 FF D8 FF E0 00 10 4A 46 49 46 ......JFIF`
and say it is a jpeg and open it with the default viewer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_signatures

Aha!! That tells me why a Mac does not need the extension either, right?

Could the hacker conceivably change the file info from JFIF to XXX?

Just something to remember so if you send a file to a Windows user make
sure you put the Windows file extension in the filename, else Windows
users won't be able to open it.

At least not by a simple point and click. "Open with" should work,
methinks.

BTW this is how hackers would trick Window users where Windows default
is to hide the file extension so they would send victims
"dangerous.txt.exe". In Linux having a file with an executable name WILL
NOT execute, it must have the executable bit set. So "dangerous.sh" will
not execute as a shell script just because of the name, it must have the
executable bit set first.

So, in Linux, the extension serves more as information for the user,
rather than computer functionality...



--
Ken
MacOS 10.14.6
Firefox 70.0.1
Thunderbird 60.9
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

In article , Ken Springer
wrote:


How does Linux recognize the file is for a particular type of application?


For some files it will try and use the Windows file extension as a quick
guess but the real way is by "magic" ;-) The magic file in Linux is a
list of regular expressions to identify from a files header (The
beginning part of a file) to identify what the file type is.

So for example if you have a jpeg image named "example.jpg" Linux will
say, Oh a jpeg image so open it with the default viewer. But if you
renamed it "mystery" with no file extension whatsoever,

Windows will shrug and say unknown file

Linux will peek into the file and see
00000000 FF D8 FF E0 00 10 4A 46 49 46 ......JFIF`
and say it is a jpeg and open it with the default viewer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_signatures

Aha!! That tells me why a Mac does not need the extension either, right?

it doesn't.

mac apps normally *do* use the extension.

classic mac os did not, but those days are long gone.

Could the hacker conceivably change the file info from JFIF to XXX?

anyone can, but modifying the contents of the file will likely make the
file unusable.

In response to what Ken Springer wrote :

Since no cell phone works at my house, unless it's a smartphone with
wi-fi calling, that works just fine for me.

Hi Ken Springer,

If you're on a post-paid major carrier, and if your cellular signal sucks,
then it has been my experience that they will give you your own personal
tower or repeater for inside your house, for free.

I have T-Mobile but I think all the carriers give you a free cellular
repeater, femtocell, and/or wifi router if you simply ask them for it, at
least on the postpaid plans they seem to do.

In fact, I have both a cellular repeater & a femtocell from T-Mobile, free
of charge (they wouldn't give me the wifi router 'cuz mine is already wifi
capable, as are most nowadays).

That means inside the house, the cellular signal is fantastic.

Cellular signal sucks at the mailbox a few hundred feet from the house, or
at the barn or at the pool, etc., but _inside_ the house, the femtocell
almost always wins out unless I'm almost next to the cellular repeater.

I have plenty of threads on this where you can easily tell which unique
cell your connected to if you're on Android but not on iOS 'cuz iOS won't
give you the information - but Android has so many utilities for this it'ts
not funny.
https://i.postimg.cc/mrZdzpXs/network02.jpg
--
When there are so many choices, it helps to ask others what they like.

On 5/5/20 10:50 AM, Arlen Holder wrote:
In response to what Ken Springer wrote :

Since no cell phone works at my house, unless it's a smartphone with
wi-fi calling, that works just fine for me.

Hi Ken Springer,

If you're on a post-paid major carrier, and if your cellular signal sucks,
then it has been my experience that they will give you your own personal
tower or repeater for inside your house, for free.

I have T-Mobile but I think all the carriers give you a free cellular
repeater, femtocell, and/or wifi router if you simply ask them for it, at
least on the postpaid plans they seem to do.

In fact, I have both a cellular repeater & a femtocell from T-Mobile, free
of charge (they wouldn't give me the wifi router 'cuz mine is already wifi
capable, as are most nowadays).

That means inside the house, the cellular signal is fantastic.

Cellular signal sucks at the mailbox a few hundred feet from the house, or
at the barn or at the pool, etc., but _inside_ the house, the femtocell
almost always wins out unless I'm almost next to the cellular repeater.

I have plenty of threads on this where you can easily tell which unique
cell your connected to if you're on Android but not on iOS 'cuz iOS won't
give you the information - but Android has so many utilities for this it'ts
not funny.
https://i.postimg.cc/mrZdzpXs/network02.jpg

Hi, Arlen.

That's not the problem. There's these #$%&#&# things called mountains
in the way! LOL


--
Ken
MacOS 10.14.6
Firefox 70.0.1
Thunderbird 60.9
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 5/5/20 10:45 AM, nospam wrote:
In article , Ken Springer
wrote:


How does Linux recognize the file is for a particular type of application?


For some files it will try and use the Windows file extension as a quick
guess but the real way is by "magic" ;-) The magic file in Linux is a
list of regular expressions to identify from a files header (The
beginning part of a file) to identify what the file type is.

So for example if you have a jpeg image named "example.jpg" Linux will
say, Oh a jpeg image so open it with the default viewer. But if you
renamed it "mystery" with no file extension whatsoever,

Windows will shrug and say unknown file

Linux will peek into the file and see
00000000 FF D8 FF E0 00 10 4A 46 49 46 ......JFIF`
and say it is a jpeg and open it with the default viewer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_signatures

Aha!! That tells me why a Mac does not need the extension either, right?

it doesn't.

mac apps normally *do* use the extension.

Ah, I was given some misinformation somewhere along the line. Thanks.

classic mac os did not, but those days are long gone.

Could the hacker conceivably change the file info from JFIF to XXX?

anyone can, but modifying the contents of the file will likely make the
file unusable.

Kind of the point of some hacks, isn't it?


--
Ken
MacOS 10.14.6
Firefox 70.0.1
Thunderbird 60.9
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

In response to what Ken Springer wrote :

That's not the problem. There's these #$%&#&# things called mountains
in the way! LOL

Hi Ken Springer,

Maybe I don't understand your situation well enough to help you?

Do you have "Internet"?
o If so, why can't you use the free femtocell that I already spoke about?

For example, I'm in the mountains surrounding the Silicon Valley where I'm
too far from civilization for cable to even exist, or for DSL to exist - so
I get my "Internet" over the air from an access point which is a half dozen
miles away from me - so I don't have "great" Internet - but all I need is
"just OK" Internet, and I can then have great cellular signal via the
femtocell inside the house.

Why can't you?
o Do you not have any Internet?
o Do you not have a router to plug the femtocell into?
--
Usenet works best when adults post with purposefully helpful intentions.

On 5/5/20 11:34 AM, Arlen Holder wrote:
In response to what Ken Springer wrote :

That's not the problem. There's these #$%&#&# things called mountains
in the way! LOL

Hi Ken Springer,

Maybe I don't understand your situation well enough to help you?

Do you have "Internet"?
o If so, why can't you use the free femtocell that I already spoke about?

For example, I'm in the mountains surrounding the Silicon Valley where I'm
too far from civilization for cable to even exist, or for DSL to exist - so
I get my "Internet" over the air from an access point which is a half dozen
miles away from me - so I don't have "great" Internet - but all I need is
"just OK" Internet, and I can then have great cellular signal via the
femtocell inside the house.

Why can't you?
o Do you not have any Internet?
o Do you not have a router to plug the femtocell into?

Maybe I don't want one for daily use??? That never seems to occur to
people. Wow! You're weird, you don't want a ball and chain to
constantly bother you?



--
Ken
MacOS 10.14.6
Firefox 70.0.1
Thunderbird 60.9
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

Ken Springer wrote:
On 5/5/20 10:45 AM, nospam wrote:

anyone can, but modifying the contents of the file will likely make the
file unusable.

Kind of the point of some hacks, isn't it?



Sometimes, but I'd most hackers motivation to to make a file do
something hidden rather than break it, (i.e. do some hidden executable
function). But as I said in Linux an executable is not executable
without the executable bit intentionally set in the file permissions.

The default is 664
jonathan@kenny:~$ touch foo
jonathan@kenny:~$ ll foo
-rw-rw-r-- 1 jonathan jonathan 0 May 5 13:44 foo


--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

In response to what Ken Springer wrote :

o Do you not have a router to plug the femtocell into?

Maybe I don't want one for daily use??? That never seems to occur to
people. Wow! You're weird, you don't want a ball and chain to
constantly bother you?

OK.

I was just informing you (and everyone) that as long as they have Internet,
they can have fantastic cellular signal throughout their house.

For free.

However, if you don't _want_ cellular signal, that's a different story.
--
Usenet is where purposefully helpful adults can share common ideas.

In article , Ken Springer
wrote:


Could the hacker conceivably change the file info from JFIF to XXX?

anyone can, but modifying the contents of the file will likely make the
file unusable.

Kind of the point of some hacks, isn't it?

not the better ones, which would be designed to go unnoticed.