OK - got the MacIntosh Computer - what about email...?

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 9:40 am

I figure there are three choices for laptops:

1. Another $500 Dell or HP like before,
2. A MacBook for $1200 or so, or
3. Maybe a better Windows machine for $800 -$1200

Me Dell and HP desktop machines have lasted 10-20 years, in part because their modularity meant I could repair and upgrade them, but my laptops seem to die in a couple years due to either Hardware problems like video cards or disk drives that I don't know how to fix on a laptop (or have time).

Are more expensive Windows machines better in longevity (not features - my computer use is very basic - word processing, photo editing, internet mostly) than lower priced ones?

A side concern is whether my Droid phone will mate ok with it for backup of its contents.

Also are there decent ballistic programs that run on Macs?

Does in-store service suck like with other brands, or only be better if you take a day off work and drive two hours to an official service center?

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 9:53 am

Mac and don't look back.

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:08 am

I don't like to tinker, and work on stuff.....Mac.
When I had less money, a PC was the best way to go because as you say, you can "tinker" and replace stuff as it goes wrong.

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 4:10 pm

Windows!

rossim92 · Post by **rossim92** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 4:21 pm

for the money, windows. My buddy swears by mac , he works on both os at his job. Just wish windows would stop messing with new os if one that is out works great, hence, windows 7. I like it and other then viruses it works great. mac seems to be virus prone. linux too, just a totally different world there.

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 6:03 pm

Mac isn't virus prone. Less of them, harder to write viruses for, so people don't much.

Macs just work better and easier and always have. I have been using Macs since I first sat down in front of a Mac Plus in the early '90s. Used a 512K Fat Mac at the same time. Windows just keeps getting new stuff built on top of old, and new systems that don't work well with old, and it becomes a mess.

I once ran the prepress department at a big printing company overseas. We had Windows 95 machines, Windows 98, 2000, XP, NT, etc., and one Wind Tunnel Mac G4. The only machine that worked with everything on the system was the Mac. Different versions of windows even uses different fonts, which means that the subtle differences between versions of the same font will cause text to reflow when RIPing files.

And you can run Windows on a Mac if needed. I used to, to use certain ballistic software and the software to drive vinyl cutters, because most vinyl cutters use ancient software, but now there are plenty of good cutters available that have modern software for both Macs and PC, and there is ballistic software, too.

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 6:47 pm

As a school psychologist that allows us to choose between a Mac and a PC in my district, I have found that test scoring software written for a PC that is supposed to work in some virtual something on a Mac is a complete farcical joke and I would not recommend it to anyone.

Please look at the software you need to run, and read consumer reports of those that run that PC software on a Mac and see how it does. It's not so heavily in favor of the Mac. I find Mac computers very counter-intuitive, literally twice the cost to the district as a PC, and despite all their Mac claims, not any faster on start-up when compared to a tuned PC that deactivates some programs.

The Mac experience is not so heady in my experience but I often feel its sort of like asking someone if they are Democrat or Republican and how they came to be that way in their formative years. I personally consider a computer to be a utilitarian tool like a good pocket knife, it needs no embellishment, and no bling is required. I don't need it to operate like a cartoon with names like "snow leopard" or whatever.

Doc, just focus on what you need it to do, and go from there IMHO. You will arrive in the right place that way.

Actually, I find the Android platform on my Samsung phone to be the fastest of all of them, PC or Mac, and the least attacked by viruses hands down. It is becoming the OS of choice but still some work to be done using printers and accessories and whatever personal PC software you may need. Regards,

-Tutt

Edited 8/19/15 at 8 pm PST.

92&94 · Post by **92&94** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 6:52 pm

I prefer linux. I tend to run old laptops, usually what fails is the bulb for the LCD, after around 8 years. Hard drives maybe half that, but replacing those is no big deal. OS is a free download that comes in a number of different flavors. You can try any of them as a bootable dvd that makes no change to your HD (aside from a temporary swap file unless you load the whole mess into ram).

They gave me a mac to use at the new job, I hate it. Makes too many assumptions about how I will like to have things organized and gets those assumptions wrong. I guess it's ok if you like to take things as they are given and not tailor them to your preferences.

MrMurphy · Post by **MrMurphy** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:05 pm

Been using PC's since the 90s. Mac's since the original brick.

PC, hands down. Yes, there are more issues at times, but you CAN fix things.

Macs are like communism and H&K products. "We know what is best for you, shut up and accept the only solution." Yes, they work, and well, typically. And then they don't, and you're screwed because you can't fix it.

I worked in the gaming business, on the production and support end (12.5 million customers) as well as the design and production end (art, concept art, in-game graphics modeling, etc).

We had the option of both. Using the exact same programs on both sides, far preferred PC. Some guys preferred Macs. In the end it's fairly irrelevant (we had a large IT department to fix things) but our people who handled viruses and hacks (where I originally started) always had a refrain for our tiny Mac-support group "But it's a Mac, it CAN'T get a virus!" (customer) "Oh, yes it can.....and it'll be 10X worse" (our guys).

Macs are less likely to get a virus, but anyone who takes the time to screw with doing in a Mac user will be after serious information, i.e complete ID theft, internet banking fraud and multiple other crimes we passed off to the Feds, vs random data theft or crashing your PC.

Edit:

The higher-end Windows rigs will get you better components. As far as longevity, less issues from overheating, and being able to actually replace 1 part instead of the entire thing. Cheap rigs will have everything on a single board or two. No room for expansion or replacement. If it's a laptop, expect a 4 year shelf life before needing replacement anyways. A desktop can last 10 years if you upgrade components every few years (speaking of high performance gaming machines....for your basic requirements, you could go 5-10 years with just some added memory and RAM probably).

rossim92 · Post by **rossim92** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 1:49 am

7.62 Precision wrote:Mac isn't virus prone. Less of them, harder to write viruses for, so people don't much.

Macs just work better and easier and always have. I have been using Macs since I first sat down in front of a Mac Plus in the early '90s. Used a 512K Fat Mac at the same time. Windows just keeps getting new stuff built on top of old, and new systems that don't work well with old, and it becomes a mess.

I once ran the prepress department at a big printing company overseas. We had Windows 95 machines, Windows 98, 2000, XP, NT, etc., and one Wind Tunnel Mac G4. The only machine that worked with everything on the system was the Mac. Different versions of windows even uses different fonts, which means that the subtle differences between versions of the same font will cause text to reflow when RIPing files.

And you can run Windows on a Mac if needed. I used to, to use certain ballistic software and the software to drive vinyl cutters, because most vinyl cutters use ancient software, but now there are plenty of good cutters available that have modern software for both Macs and PC, and there is ballistic software, too.

my bad. meant to say less prone to viruses.

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 1:59 am

I tend to run machines that are a bit on the old side. And I am usually an operating system or two or more behind. It is not quite as big a deal for my stuff because I am not running RIPS here or anything, but is is especially a big deal at places I have worked. Because of the type of software I tend to run, it can be an issue if I run out and get the new machine and new OS and new versions of the software as soon as they come out. So much needs to all work together, and there are things some of the developers just don't think about. Now PDF technology helps with that stuff, but I still tend to be cautious about upgrading hardware and software.

Now Adobe and others are going to online-only software that requires a subscription and internet connection, which means that you are forced to upgrade, and can become an impossibility for me when I work in remote locations where I have no or limited internet access.

As far as fixing Macs, if they need fixing, you can do it. I always have done my own troubleshooting and repairs. But if you are going to be playing serious games, get a PC, and one built for gaming.

The worst trend I see with Apple right now, is because of the popularity of the iPhone and the huge customer base it brought to them, they are catering most of their products toward the casual user, and while the computers are good now, some of what they are talking about in the future will leave their professional users (creative, especially, who have kept the Mac alive for many years in the past) feeling like they have been abandoned. PC is definitely not a good idea if you are doing any creative type work, we need Macs as things stand right now.

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:13 am

I just bought a new Dell laptop with a 1 terabyte hard drive for a hair under $800. The wife claims that one. I'm still using my old Dell laptop I bought on clearance. I had Win 7 on this one and just upgraded to Win 10. I'm holding off on upgrading the new one till I find out how it's going to work. Win 7 is fine and stable.

Old Ironsights · Post by **Old Ironsights** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 7:06 pm

My .0002 (rounded for inflation)

The choice is really dependent on 2 primary factors: Compatability with existing useful hardware and compatability with existing, frequently used, expensive/custom software.

If you have Rx/Billing/BusinessTaxRx software that is not likely to migrate well, then don't change platforms.

If it's just a home PC that primairly uses OEM software (for Web, Email, Audio etc)then platform doesn't matter... unless your $$$ Home Theater/Gaming Whatsit isn't compatible...

Other than that... 1911 vs Glock

OD#3 · Post by **OD#3** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 8:56 pm

A higher end PC will usually last longer. I took a Del XPS M1710 laptop to Iraq in 2007. It was a top-of-the-line gaming laptop back then, and I remember that I paid a lot for it. It is showing its age and I don't expect it to last much longer. Also, it is only 32 bit, but it is still my everyday computer after 8 years. I've replaced only the battery and power cord.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 5:21 pm

Ok.... I joined the dark side. MacBook Pro.

Reasons:

1) my wife has one so I keep having to learn how to do stuff on here to help her since she's not a computer person.

2) I am fed up with ever-updating and buggy Windows.

3) I hate bundled and pre-set-up files etc, but Windows is doing that now just like Apple.

4) I will never really know if I love or hate Macs until I try for myself.

.....wish me luck....

(........next thing you know I'll be getting one of those &@#%ed Glock contraptions...

)

vancelw · Post by **vancelw** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 5:52 pm

AJMD429 wrote: Ok.... I joined the LIGHT. MacBook Pro.

Reasons:

1) my wife has one so I keep having to learn how to do stuff on here to help her since she's not a computer person.

2) I am fed up with ever-updating and buggy Windows.

3) I hate bundled and pre-set-up files etc, but Windows is doing that now just like Apple.

4) I will never really know if I love or hate Macs until I try for myself.
.....wish me luck....

(........next thing you know I'll be getting one of those &@#%ed Glock contraptions... )

Once you get up and running (which won't take long) you'll find yourself being much more prodctive. More work accomplished, less maintenance. I've been using PCs for the past 9 years and the only reason is because that is what I was forced to use at work....no more. I'm free to choose again.

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 6:41 pm

Doc,

There are some good comments here.

I vote for CowboyTutt's entry as the best one.

And maybe I'll have to pray for you and your Apple Gadgetbox, Doc.

williamranks · Post by **williamranks** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 7:39 pm

AJMD429 wrote: Ok.... I joined the dark side. MacBook Pro.

Reasons:

1) my wife has one so I keep having to learn how to do stuff on here to help her since she's not a computer person.

2) I am fed up with ever-updating and buggy Windows.

3) I hate bundled and pre-set-up files etc, but Windows is doing that now just like Apple.

4) I will never really know if I love or hate Macs until I try for myself.
.....wish me luck....

(........next thing you know I'll be getting one of those &@#%ed Glock contraptions... )

I've been using Mac laptops since '03. I still have that one and use it for games.
I've learned a couple things about them.
First don't overcomplicate things like you did in Windows.
If you move a file it lives in the new place, there will be no copy left behind unless you make a copy to leave. Lost a few things that way.

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 10:06 pm

oh man, I coulda saved you about a thousand bucks!

rasberry Pi is about 35 bucks, hooks up to t.v. or monitor. you can dump their code and put puppy linux on it. do all the email and surfing you could ever want, and have enough money left over for a bunch of ammo.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/what-i ... pberry-pi/

does everything macs do except for running mac software.

mac os, btw, sits on unix, the backbone of the internet. in the same way that android sits on top of linux.

you can root android stuff and iphones. I'm guessing you can root mac too. and put BSD on, which is what apple runs on.

http://www.bsd.org/

7.62 is right about the creative uses of apples, but I think the line is blurring. the same photoshop runs on both boxes. The printing thing has been correct for some time, but is it impossible to do publishing work on win boxes? I got around that by sending my print jobs to a printer who can print off of PDF files. Included the fonts on the disc. Seemed to work for my simple needs.

anyway congrats on the new screen device. it's all temporary until uncle googapplamazofed insists on chipping every human on earth.

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 10:38 pm

Interesting post Grizz, thanks! My latest understanding of Google and Windows 10, is that Google should be very worried about Win 10. Its free, but the pay off for them is access to our private information which Google has been harvesting for years now, and selling it off. I gave up on using my Google email account as my primary as there was no privacy left to it at all. I only use it for spam or careless stuff now. And even Windows offers a Google email account as an "app" and again, I am careful what I use that for to. You Tube subscriptions and other things, OK. But if I want to talk personal stuff, I keep that more guarded because in the new internet world, all your private information, your home address with directions right to your door, your criminal record, your financial record and credit score, is being exposed ALL THE TIME for others to see!!!

My reasons are more personal as I work in public education and specialize with students who are "Emotionally Disturbed" and come from families who create these circumstances.

I do not want to have some of these families (not so much the kids surprisingly) showing up at my home, and they found out where I live just by Googling it, with complete GPS directions to my home.

If you want anyone on the internet to be able to Google your name, or the name of your wife or children, and be provided with explicit directions about how to get to your home, please, go ahead and submit all your information to Google or Windows 10.

The only protection is to be able to keep your phone number as "unlisted" and even that is becoming so much harder to do!!!

Whether your run Windows or Google apps, your privacy is the single most sought after information that they (Microsoft or Apple) want so they can sell it for advertisement purposes.

Keep your family safe, register your name and number as unlisted and if you want to see just how bad it is, Google and Bing your name and see what comes up!!!

Regards,

-Tutt

vancelw · Post by **vancelw** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 10:43 pm

You can't hide from Skynet.....

The machines are coming.......

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:55 pm

More to follow but wow, your really not well read. Keep buying those Colts at a real big discount over gunsmithing a Ruger. I wouldn't want anything such as facts getting in your way Vance. Really! -Tutt

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... il-lawsuit

http://www.clarkhoward.com/opt-out-goog ... ur-privacy

http://www.darkreading.com/risk-managem ... id/1102917

I'm sure I can have much more for you by morning Vance, but quite honestly??? Your not worth my time at almost 10pm my time. Your a sick *******' joke.

Tutt

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:57 pm

CowboyTutt wrote:Interesting post Grizz, thanks! My latest understanding of Google and Windows 10, is that Google should be very worried about Win 10. Its free, but the pay off for them is access to our private information which Google has been harvesting for years now, and selling it off. I gave up on using my Google email account as my primary as there was no privacy left to it at all. I only use it for spam or careless stuff now. And even Windows offers a Google email account as an "app" and again, I am careful what I use that for to. You Tube subscriptions and other things, OK. But if I want to talk personal stuff, I keep that more guarded because in the new internet world, all your private information, your home address with directions right to your door, your criminal record, your financial record and credit score, is being exposed ALL THE TIME for others to see!!!

Then what emails and browsers do you think are best...?

And how about "email readers"...? I used to at least be able to use Outlook Express to filter sort and archive emails ON MY MY MACHINE Then delete them so they didn't sit out in public g or ever.

vancelw · Post by **vancelw** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:05 am

CowboyTutt wrote:More to follow but wow, your really not well read. Keep buying those Colts at a real big discount over gunsmithing a Ruger. I wouldn't want anything such as facts getting in your way Vance. Really! -Tutt

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... il-lawsuit

http://www.clarkhoward.com/opt-out-goog ... ur-privacy

http://www.darkreading.com/risk-managem ... id/1102917

I'm sure I can have much more for you by morning Vance, but quite honestly??? Your not worth my time at almost 10pm my time. Your a sick *******' joke.

Tutt

Dude! What the heck are you talking about?

You posted 3 links that support my statement, and then insult me. SMH.

And what do Colts and Rugers have to do with computers?

Miss a dose, today?

You're fairly narcissistic if you think everything posted on this forum is directed at you. To quote Tom Selleck's Monte Walsh, "You can't know how little I care".

It would behoove you to put me on your "foe" list if you're so fragile.

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:26 am

Doc, I am no expert in this area but David who "runs" our tech department here is. He apparently has moved onto the county this year. All that I know is that many years ago, I learned that keeping my home number as "unlisted" even if it was just a cell phone number, was the best protection. If you didn't list your number as being unlisted at that time, it could provide others with direct, step by step to your door step directions and that is not a reality I am willing to work with.

Like you, I put my life on the line every day with the emotionally disturbed children and family's I work with. I'm not about to give those wretched people my personal information because they will use it against me if they can.

I am however here to help those I dream trust worthy. I've been doing it for 8 years now. I reserve the right to trust the people I believe in. Regards, -A-

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:33 am

FWIW some people say that the best Windows machine out there is a Mac with Windows installed on it. It's more stable than a pure Windows machine. That's just in case you need to run a Windows program.

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:26 am

AJMD429 wrote:
CowboyTutt wrote:Interesting post Grizz, thanks! My latest understanding of Google and Windows 10, is that Google should be very worried about Win 10. Its free, but the pay off for them is access to our private information which Google has been harvesting for years now, and selling it off. I gave up on using my Google email account as my primary as there was no privacy left to it at all. I only use it for spam or careless stuff now. And even Windows offers a Google email account as an "app" and again, I am careful what I use that for to. You Tube subscriptions and other things, OK. But if I want to talk personal stuff, I keep that more guarded because in the new internet world, all your private information, your home address with directions right to your door, your criminal record, your financial record and credit score, is being exposed ALL THE TIME for others to see!!!

Then what emails and browsers do you think are best...?

And how about "email readers"...? I used to at least be able to use Outlook Express to filter sort and archive emails ON MY MY MACHINE Then delete them so they didn't sit out in public g or ever.

I use firefox with private browsing turned on, and cookies turned off. Your apple browser is almost there because third-parties are turned off by default. turning off the cookies can interrupt buying stuff online. for that I make an exception for that url, and usually kill the exception after the transaction, and delete those cookies.

There is a different class of tracking cookie that the big websites use. There are some in-browser settings that can help deal with that.

For killing advertising, the best is to modify the "hosts" file in linux and windows. trickier in the new windows os but do-able. what this does is send advertisers to 127.0.0.1, which is an IP black hole. they are trick tho and it pays to see what the trackers put into your hosts file. don't have a clue about how apple handles that, but since it is running on bsd, it should be just about the same. there are lists of advertisers IPs that you can dl to overwrite the hosts file.

it looks like this:

127.0.0.1 007.free-counter.co.uk
127.0.0.1 008.free-counter.co.uk
127.0.0.1 008.free-counters.co.uk
127.0.0.1 008i.com
127.0.0.1 myspace.com
127.0.0.1 00fun.com
127.0.0.1 00fun.com #[Tracking.Cookie]

the result is that I don't see most adverts, and better, my box doesn't talk back to their box.

for extreme cases of winky-blinky side bars, I just shift the firefox browser to view|page style|no style and the entire site reverts to plain html. scroll to the article or area you are interested in, the obnoxicons are above or below that part and out of sight.

I use thunderbird email client. it dls email from the server. with google I think they keep a copy anyway because they are data mining you and think they own you if you have a 'free' email account.

one way to get around that is to get an account at reagan.com, it's a paid deal, and they 'promise' to keep your emails confidential and private.

another is to set up an email acct at your isp, so it would look like me@myisp.com. this uses space you already pay for, and is probably at least as secure as a gmail acct, without the data mining aspect.

and finally, for those you love and correspond with, using encryption for the email content is probably the very best solution. it's a little bit of a hassle and I don't do it routinely, but I should. if everyone on google mail encrypted them, google would be out of business, because the claim ownership of your content on their servers.

the problem is that when you log into your email account, and when you send email, your login info and password is plainly visible. I routinely used a packet sniffer when I forgot someone's password, when I needed to to admin stuff on their setup. so, any unencrypted email sits on the servers, the routers it passes through, in plain english. or spanglish, whatever.

for the record a server is just a hard drive, or SSD, a storage device that caches ones and zeros. every computer is a server to some extent.

the worst part is the unencrypted password, because anyone can sit downstream of your connection and sniff your traffic.

so it's not just which software you use, it's how you use it, what you allow it to do.

apologies for the meandering, it's pre-coffee and hey, it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

pdentrem · Post by **pdentrem** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:28 am

I have run the whole gamut of computer system. Started with MS-DOS 2 in early 80s. Windows, Mac and Linux are the options. I have an Asus Win8.1 laptop that I herited from Mom. My old laptop Toshiba in Vista. It is my outdoor laptop. I never had a problem with Vista. My current desktop is Ubuntu Linux. It runs circles around any Windows system and it is near 4 yrs old. No antivirus on it as the Linux user base is too small for the hackers and coders to bother with.

My choices would be Linux, Mac and last Window. Buy quality and figure on replacing after 5 to 10 years. Hard drives in laptops are always an issue due to smaller size and higher heat. Get on with a SSD drive and get an external USB drive to back up the internal drive. Usually only one of the two will not be readable, the internal one due to bad motherboard, memory stick, CPU in the laptop. You havetocover your butt. I back up in 2 places. USB and a network drive.
Pierre

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:45 am

pdentrem wrote:...My old laptop Toshiba in Vista...I never had a problem with Vista...

Had a Toshiba Vista that I originally bought for my daughter. She couldn't use it in college, just for Word and Excel and e-mails, due to problems that interrupted her studies. I bought her a Win 8 system and I took hers over to replace my beloved Dell XP which was about to lose support.

The Vista was a piece of junk, balking and failing me and at times causing problems even at bootup. I felt guilty offering it for sale and gave it away to a whiz kid neighbor (and I'm not a wealthy man).

Putting Linuz on that box was not an option to me; I tried several versions when I had more available time and found none of them capable of doing all of the interoperability and shared functions afforded by Microsoft Office Professional.

I totally don't get how your Vista works for you, at all. No novice to 'puters, I started using and programming with the 4-bit RadioShack Color Computer (Motorola 6809E chip running at 0.89MHz, 4kRAM) in or shortly after 1980 and have used or tried practically every microcomputer system (CP\M, DOS, a couple of Apples, Linux types, every Windows) since then. Vista was the absolute worst system I have ever dealt with, Windows ME second worst.

After the ill-begotten Vista, I had a Toshiba Win 8.1 box built that is my current Win 10 notebook and love it. It does amazing things that I have not fully tapped.

Grizz, your post was awesome but of course most of it will be beyond the ken of many readers. Somehow one of my anti-adware utilities altered the .host file to that 127.0.0.1 setting, I see, to get rid of ads. Black hole - interesting.

williamranks · Post by **williamranks** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:22 pm

For Safari I downloaded the AdBlock extension which removes 90% of them.
I also use the Click to Flash extension which stops videos from auto starting, allows downloading them while you watch and will open most flash videos in other formats like QuickTime or HTML5 if you tell it to.
Both available from the APP Store.
I use Duck Duck Go for search, they don't keep any record of searches.

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:44 pm

williamranks wrote:...
I use Duck Duck Go for search, they don't keep any record of searches.

Thanks - never used it before. It runs quickly.

But when I entered "9mm loads" into it, the first screen provided several LoadData links.

Entering "9mm loads" into Google brought a wider variety of sources.

So Duck Duck Go appears to be selective in its presentation. Of course, all of the search engines are remunerated for their content. Possibly, DDG will have a wider array after they have been established for a while.

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 8:54 pm

Grizz, apparently over the years I have let slip some personal information and now my location can even be found on the White Pages despite me making some effort to avoid that. I don't mind most people with a little effort can find me based upon what they know. I don't worry about people here at Leverguns at all. Its a good forum and while I may not get along with 1 or 2 people, in a pinch I think we would work things out and I have no "foes" here on my list.

As to how to avoid your personal information getting out, that is above my pay grade as it seems to involve more complicated computer strategies then I know about. It seems to get more and more difficult to hide your personal information because the internet and computer companies are trying harder and harder to get that information, necessitating more sophisticated measures to block those efforts.

JohnDeFresno seems to know a lot about this. Maybe he can elaborate on what people need to do to maintain personal information private for all of us.

Apparently once your information if made public it goes into multiple data bases and it may not be possible to have it deleted. I'm not that horribly worried about it as I am well armed and well liked, but still, I'm sorry to see that I have finally been compromised.

John, if you wanted to share with us some information on how to maintain anonymity in the modern internet world, that would be interesting to all of us I think.

Regards,

-Tutt

Tycer · Post by **Tycer** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:23 pm

Welcome my son. . . Welcome to the machine .. . .

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:34 pm

Cowboy Tutt,
I started to reply but then realized that the list is endless of how we are documented. When I worked undercover (several years), I stayed out of the papers; away from photographers when events happened around me; did not associate my job with Letters to the Editor; and nobody in my family talked about what I did. Yet when I put my name and age (approximate was good enough) into a newly developed online search engine and sent them a few dollars, my name, wife's name, addresses for the past several years, children's names and ages all popped up in seconds. My phone was unlisted, my DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) records of cars and drivers' licenses (wife and mine) were confidential. I remember that my jaw literally dropped open, because my partners in the room started laughing. This was roughly 25 years ago; the online search engine was called "Sherlock."

Now those search capabilities are commonplace and cheap to use. Some searches are totally free.

Undercover officers have to use assumed names. If they work in deep cover, they even require a false credit history and other things called a "backdrop" so that they can't be found out immediately from an online search. That process - to create a phony identity - is arduous.

For a few bucks and very limited info, such as name and city, or name and a wife's or child's name and maybe a state (not always needed), the massive internet data can be mined quickly by search engines in server farms and within seconds a person can be located, as you saw by PM. However, there is a lot of free stuff that can be used, as I told you privately.

I don't have any use for Facebook, and have commented about the huge security problems it can pose. I use an account, with no profile info, merely so that I can look at general shared information, such as keeping up with some missionaries that my church supports.

Once you start answering questions from "friends," or even allow somebody ELSE to comment to you - you can be compromised further: "John de Fresno - so, are you going to take the wife and children to Southern France for three weeks in July again?" Burglars love to know this stuff.

Naming what you do, what city you live in, even being a non-participant in somebody else's comment about you, opens you up for compromise. I never joined any open forum (just looked in) until I was totally through with active undercover work. I was online with a couple of closed forums, but did not give my real name there, and would talk by phone to those whom I truly knew. E-mails were also being compromise fairly frequently at that time, which led me to using a Private VPN connection which I use to this day.

Many here have family at home most of the time, and/or great alarm systems, and/or are retired and stay home for the most part. On the other hand, if one is away from home frequently and talks about all of the great stuff that they have, that presents an interesting target and they should expect that somebody might be interested in locating their residence for obvious reasons.

Here are some ways that we are exposed and therefore quite available to somebody who has a little information, starting with a true name.

If, for instance, you use the same Internet name repeatedly across several forums, a quick Google search can bring up other forums where you might be more chatty than you should have - even a review of a restaurant in your town, as an example.

If you write a piece about guns on another site and use your real name and then somehow show a link to your Leverguns name, that identifies you.

If you are any of these things:
Property Owner
Open any line of major credit
Have a bank account (?)
Have a driver's license (in some states, unless that has changed)
Listed telephone subscriber
Public utilities user, in some areas, I understand
Possess an arrest record
Registered sex offender, at least in California
Participant of some civil court action in the last 10-20 years
Author of a paper or article that hits the Internet (you may not know it)
Named in a newspaper article (these are put online)
Public employee ("Transparency" sites that show your salary, etc.)
Gun owner in some areas (illegal disclosure but current Govt did nothing about it)
...then you have created artifacts that can be linked to your identity and run against a database that has much more information about you, your family, finances, location, and so on. The going rate for a paid search is around $24 a pop, a bit more if a full legal and/or criminal history is requested. Or for free, if one knows how and where to look.

So it's not about concealing your identity - that can't be done unless you are totally "off the grid" like folks who live out in the sticks, under their own power, on property purchased with another name or using some type of shell corporation. Or the extremely wealthy or powerful individuals, who use lawyers, corporations, and other devices to filter their transactions.

Instead, you need to keep your real name and location (including state) close to the vest, or do like I do, since I participate in this forum regularly and once in a while on some others:
Minimize personal habits and information
Don't post names or photos of family
Watchful neighbors
Elaborate alarm system
Never advertise comings and goings
Never show a pattern for vacations or even doctor visits, for us older guys
Don't advertise hours working away from home, etc -
...or have somebody always at home
Regulate lights and have paper, mail picked up when away
It doesn't hurt if folks know that it would be extremely disadvantageous to enter the premises uninvited. There are ways that can be done without being obvious.

As I told you backchannel, it is no longer fiction. Big Brother is certainly watching you.

Cheers!

John

vancelw · Post by **vancelw** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 12:01 pm

JohndeFresno wrote:
If you are any of these things:
Property Owner

John

I wasn't going to mention all that, for fear of educating someone who didn't already know and doesn't need to....but they can Google it all anyway.

In Texas at least, if you own real or business property, you are going to be listed on an Appraisal District record. So, unless you use a corporate name with a P.O. box, your home address is public. Once someone has that, all bets are off.

A loan secretary at my local bank wanted my mother's maiden name for a motorcycle loan a few years back. I asked her, "Why?". She said it was going to be the password on my loan account. I said, "Oh no it isn't." After she expressed confusion I explained to her that I had been sitting at her desk less than 5 minutes and already had enough to ruin her credit. Photos of kids (in school uniforms) on her desk. her full name on her business card. Once I found her on Facebook or LinkedIn, wouldn't take me long to figure out family birthdays and who her mother's family is...now I have her mother's maiden name. She turned a pasty shade of white as told her more. I'm betting she changed some login names and passwords before the day was over.

I have said for years that FaceBook and Google are Skynet. The most recent Terminator movie even agrees

They call it Genesys instead of either of the aforementioned.

If you're using a smart phone, you have no anonymity. Even with GPS turned off.

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 12:44 pm

vancelw wrote:
...I have said for years that FaceBook and Google are Skynet. The most recent Terminator movie even agrees They call it Genesys instead of either of the aforementioned.

If you're using a smart phone, you have no anonymity. Even with GPS turned off.

A big "Yup" to all of the above.

If you don't want folks tracking you or logging your current location for any reason (mainly the gubbmint, but private industry does this now like car loan and lease companies and certain businesses), take the battery out of your cell phone, disconnect the WiFi / networking function of your computing device, take the battery out of your wireless camera, leave your "I've fallen and I can't get up" pendant at home, and drive a car or ride a bike that you KNOW does not have GPS installed (or find a way to disconnect it at will). But then there are the cameras - Fresno now has them installed all over town, accompanied by an article in the Fresno Bee and comments from the Police Chief that they now have another great crime fighting tool.

And if you want to be sure that your conversations are never monitored by the gubbmint, disconnect your landline phone headset from the phone, since phones are never really turned off. They make great surreptitious transmitters of conversations in your home, should a police or government agency decide that they want to listen in. Hey - how 'bout that cell phone? How 'bout the speaker and camera on your computer? Remember the scandal about the school employee who was spying on students with laptops equipped with Internet and webcams (as most computers are, now)? It goes on and on. But then there are those parabolic listening devices and microwave technology, anyway.

Aside from concerns about the government knowing everything (which is not a threat unless you are a proactive Christian* or a gun owner or a strong political opponent of the current Administration), just the common guy can use his tablet, phone, or laptop to find you out.

So beyond getting too paranoid about such things, the best protection against invasion of privacy and misuse of same by the common predator or criminal type is to assume that ANY communication to anyone - even items on your desk, as Vance pointed out - provides a key to compromise. That's just the way it is, now.

* If you haven't followed the IRS Intimidation scandal, you need to get informed. Frankly, I wouldn't share some of this information in the past because it was my belief that it was only used to put the bad guys away. But even our liberal media now discloses some of the wholesale and frequent abuse of our freedoms and privacy by various government agencies for purely political purposes, including selective character assassination and intimidation of those who try to exercise their lawful right of dissent. 1984.

By the way, the signature picture that accompanies my current posts is an old photo of me and a daughter, not my wife, posing as a saloon girl - one of those gag arcade photos. Neither person pictured there looks like either of us, much, now. As noted, I'm not big on sharing family photos online.

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 8:11 pm

Well, I have to say this whole thread has taken an unusual twist for me as now I can be found more easily than I want to be found in my job. That being said, I will just have to accept that and cope with it. I LOVE my job, I have the best job ever, but it is not easy as the dysfunction of kids and family can be extreme. We are a very closely knit family of people in my small little town. Hopefully that will make some difference in a positive way. I find that it DOES make a difference for all the nice things that the people I associate with do for each other here.

I do trust the members of this forum quite a bit actually, but that doesn't account for all the "bot's" and spies that may be looking for information here. So I have probably lost that privacy battle for good now. That being said, I have many people who "have my back" here in my small town, and I have theirs, and it feels very good to me to have that level of trust and support.

Vance, I believe I owe you a public apology now. I was extremely tired from an extremely long day, and I made a jack-butt of myself with you.

When I read your posts about privacy matters, we may have, in fact, found some common ground now.

I would welcome that.

I work for the most part with students with "emotional disturbance" or "strong feelings" in layman's terms. I relate to them well because I run pretty hot myself emotionally. So your comment about me being "off meds", while I don't take any, was accurate in that.

My best support comes not from medication but from the group of people that I work with who help to keep me, and each other, on an "even keel" despite all the stress applied to us, and the almost insurmountable family circumstances we constantly battle with.

I'm sorry Vance. I blew it. I lost it. You are correct. I am apologizing now.

I don't expect us to sitting together singing "Kombaya" in front of the campfire anytime soon. However, in regards to privacy issues we may have found some common ground here and I hope for a better future.

None of us older folk, would have gotten so far in life, would be here without the "Grace of God".

I suspect that applies to all of us who abide here, including you and me.

There is some serious Chit going on in the Severely Handicapped Program at my high school now. A changing of the guard after 15 years. Major, major changes. Staff are all upset and rebelling. Think we may have worked it out, but only time, and Grace of God, will determine.

Regards guys,

Its been a stressful few days. I am majorly less than perfect. But I appreciate this place for what it is. Still the best forum I know of. -A-

92&94 · Post by **92&94** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:57 am

Grizz wrote: For killing advertising, the best is to modify the "hosts" file in linux and windows. trickier in the new windows os but do-able. what this does is send advertisers to 127.0.0.1, which is an IP black hole. they are trick tho and it pays to see what the trackers put into your hosts file. don't have a clue about how apple handles that, but since it is running on bsd, it should be just about the same. there are lists of advertisers IPs that you can dl to overwrite the hosts file.

it looks like this:

127.0.0.1 007.free-counter.co.uk
127.0.0.1 008.free-counter.co.uk
127.0.0.1 008.free-counters.co.uk
127.0.0.1 008i.com
127.0.0.1 myspace.com
127.0.0.1 00fun.com
127.0.0.1 00fun.com #[Tracking.Cookie]

the result is that I don't see most adverts, and better, my box doesn't talk back to their box.

Now that is a neat trick, thanks!

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 5:03 pm

OK - so I used to have a Windows machine, and used to use Outlook Express to filter, sort, and 'read' my emails, and could easily select which ones to archive on my machine (and delete from the 'cloud'), which to delete, and so on. I liked the idea of not having a bunch of "read, but might need to keep for later reference" emails on some remote server, and EASILY archiving them on my actual computer.

Is there a good way to do that with a MacIntosh, and/or good software to do that...?

Old Ironsights · Post by **Old Ironsights** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 5:33 pm

M$ Outlook for Macintosh...

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 6:48 pm

Old Ironsights wrote:M$ Outlook for Macintosh...

I'm inclined to agree... tho' my Windows 8.1 doesn't have Outlook Express, just Outlook... which isn't quite a friendly, but it works very much the same... Okay, at least close enough that I recognize most of the junk... and does easily import your Outlook Exp stuff.

92&94 · Post by **92&94** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 9:26 pm

The pre-installed mail program ought to have an archiving feature - I haven't looked into it on my work machine since I have a couple dozen folders into which I organize all the work emails (and one of those folders is called "probably irrelevant")

williamranks · Post by **williamranks** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 10:29 pm

You already have icloud for free, up to 5G of storage. You just have to set it up.

https://www.apple.com/icloud/

http://www.macworld.com/article/2023735 ... cloud.html