Worst processed foods

Processed foods are all in the news as a major factor of decreasing American's health and life span. What is Processed foods? Here are 10 general categories of food that are considered 'processed':

1. Energy drinks
2. Mass-produced breads
3. Some breakfast cereals
4. Hot Dogs
5. Vegan Meats
6. Chicken Nuggets
7. Reformulated potato snacks
8. Margarine
9. Vegan 'Cheese'
10. Ready Meals

Beyond Google Alternatives

Google has dominated the search space for so long that a U.S. District Court judge recently found that it has acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search. You have probably used Google Search for as long as you can remember; it’s what replaced things like phone books and encyclopedias.

But just because Google runs the most popular engine doesn’t mean you have to use it. If you have never considered a search engine beyond Google, you might be surprised to see what else is out there.

There are many Google Search alternatives on the market that have gained traction. Whether you’re looking for increased privacy, enhanced AI features or just something different, there are some notable options worth checking out.

While Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo are arguably the most well-known, there are tons of Google Search alternatives that have also been around for a while. But for this list, we’re focusing on newer, lesser-known entrants into the search engine space.

Note: All search engines operate on your existing Browser as a web page. Most have their own software browser or app.

Search Engine    Overview    URL    Features

DuckDuckGo

Simple, Private

https://duckduckgo.com/

 Download Browser for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows OS. Addon extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera & Safari.

Ecosia

Environmentalist Based

https://www.ecosia.org/

Advertisers profits goes to planting trees. Powered by Google & Bing engines. Download Browser for Windows & Mac OS.

Brave Search

Privacy Based, Independent, AI Powered

https://search.brave.com/

Download Browser for Windows, Mac & Linux. AI powered question answers feature on/off. Filter out sources option.

Startpage

Google Based Anonymous View

https://www.startpage.com/

iOS and Android app

Perplexity

Controversial*, AI Powered

https://www.perplexity.ai/

Free to use but $20/Monthly subscription for additional features such as image-generation models. iOS and Android app

SearchGPT

Prototype released July 26, 2024. From ChatGPT/OpenAI

https://chatgpt.com/search

Update: Found Waiting List now closed but under prototype phase. Other ChatBot products https://www.chatbotapp.ai/. It is blurring the line between Search Engines and AI systems.

*Perplexity is being accused of (Forbes & Wired) plagiarism and unethical web scraping around copyright laws. Ref: Techcrunch article

This blog from Ref: Techcrunch article

Current benefits of using a smart ring

Smart rings are getting smarter and more powerful. Like smart watches, they can do a lot and are going to be able to do more. Here are some current benefits and limitations to using smart rings.

Benefits:

• Fitness tracking: Smart rings can track your steps, heart rate, and other fitness data. This can help you stay motivated to reach your fitness goals.
• NFC payments: Some smart rings have NFC (near-field communication) technology, which allows you to make contactless payments. This is a convenient way to pay for things without having to carry your wallet.
• Gesture controls: Some smart rings can be used to control smart devices with gestures. For example, you can swipe your finger across the ring to answer a phone call or change the song that is playing.
• Notifications: Smart rings can vibrate or light up to notify you of incoming calls, text messages, and other notifications. This can help you stay connected without having to constantly check your phone.
• Security: Some smart rings can be used to unlock your phone or computer. This can be a more secure way to access your devices than using a password or fingerprint.

Limitations:

• Battery life: Compared to other wearables like smartwatches, smart rings often have a lower battery life.
• Price: Compared to other wearables, smart rings may be more expensive.
• Comfort: For some people, wearing smart rings can be uncomfortable.
• Security: Just like any other wearable technology, smart rings can be hacked.

Epilogue: My ideal smart ring is not here yet as I envision a holo projection of a screen with data, audio input & output, much like in the 1974 science fiction Zardos film featured.

4 steps to stop the spam

It may require you to be as aggressive as the spammers are to combat this growing issue. Here are 4 steps you should be doing to stop (Reduce) the number of spam calls on your smart phone.

1. Register your phone number(s) with the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry. This is the first and simplest step to take, and may help a little… although it will only affect the ‘legitimate’ spammers who respect the rules. Still, it’s a start.
   
   
2. Block the individual numbers used by spam callers; you can do this on iPhone by tapping the Info (“i”) button next to the number and selecting “Block this Caller.” This can be a useful tool when dealing with repeat offenders, but is likely to lead to a game of “whack-a-mole” as the spammers adapt and change their vector of attack. And again, this does not address the underlying problem of data exposure.
   
   
3. Block all unknown numbers by going to Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers. This is a far more powerful method and should drastically cut down the number of spam calls that make it through… but has the side effect of likely blocking legitimate calls too. For many, this will be too high a price.
   
   
4. Remove your personal information from the sites and databases of data brokers: the companies and individuals who share your personal details with spammers, likely without informed consent. You can do this by sending opt-out requests to each broker, but this is likely to take a lot of time and effort and may not reach all the relevant parties. An alternative approach would be to call on the services of a data-removal service to send the opt-out requests on your behalf; such firms know exactly who to speak to in order to get the job done, and will save you the hassle of doing so.

Classic Microsoft Windows verses Ford Motor Company comparison

In 2013 after Bill Gates dissed the auto industry for it lack of progress compared to the computer industry, Ford issued the following press release: (Is it still true today?)

If Ford had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part):

 1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash......... twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

 3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this

 4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

 5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.

 6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.

 7. The airbag system would ask, "Are you sure?" before deploying.

 8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

 9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

 10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

 PS - I'd like to add that when all else fails, you could call "customer service" in some foreign country and be instructed in some foreign language how to fix your car yourself!

AI IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD!

It's been a long while since I have posted to this Blog but I wanted to create something contemporary and fresh. Unfortunately everything on this topic has already been blogged to death so I thought I would use Microsoft Edge Compose to put something together for me on this topic to demonstrate it's power!

Science Fiction Genre's

I am struggling to find good new science fiction books and I am realizing that one of the issue is that I like certain genre's better but don't know how to quantify or categorize them. So I found this list which may help me to express my favorite style of science fiction.

n Space opera/space western – Melodramatic adventures, often involving space battles (Buck Rogers)

n Utopia – Description of a perfect society, at least in the author’s mind (Ian M. Banks’ “Culture”)

n Dystopia – Description of a society gone wrong (George Orwell’s “1984”)

n Hard SF – Scientific rigor marks the story’s focus (Hal Clement’s “Mission of Gravity”)

n Soft SF – Characterization and ideas about society mark the story’s focus (“Star Trek”)

n Feminist SF – Deals with women’s role in society (Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness”)

n Cyberpunk – High tech in a society that has broken down (William Gibson’s “Neuromancer”)

n Alternate histories – History has diverged from the one we know (Harry Turtledove’s “The Guns of the South”)

n Alternate futures - A possible future never comes to pass, often because a character travels back in time and alters the past (“Back to the Future II”)

n Slipstream - Fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries between science fiction and contemporary literature (Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity's Rainbow”)

n Science fantasy – Elements of fantasy and of science fiction are melded (Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels)

n Dark SF – Elements of horror and science fiction are mixed (the movie “Alien”)

n Erotic SF – Sex and sexuality are explored in a science fiction setting (Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Ethan of Athos”

n New wave – A movement of 1960s, it boasted a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content (Harlan Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”)

n New space opera – A movement of 1990s, the stories tend to be more military-themed and literary than original space opera/space western (David Weber’s “On Basilisk Station”)

n New Weird – A movement of the early 21st century, surrealism or transgressive horror is used in a science fiction or a fantasy setting (China Mieville’s “Perdido Street Station”)

A Fine Tax

"A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well"

Computer Heaven and Hell

In Computer Heaven:

The management is from Intel,
The design and construction is done by Apple,
The marketing is done by Microsoft,
IBM provides the support,
Gateway determines the pricing.

In Computer Hell:

The management is from Apple,
Microsoft does design and construction,
IBM handles the marketing,
The support is from Gateway,
Intel sets the price.

Need I say more?

21 Reasons English is Difficult

My wife is a 4th Grade Elementary Teacher who is regularly regaling me with stories of her student's struggle with Mathematics and English. And why not - English is Hard as these example illustrate:

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there was no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen on how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Google Pacman

Need I say more? (Click on Image)

Handy Food Storage Site

I try to always error on the side of conservativeness when throwing out stored food past their posted date. This is sometimes a waste since I love having food stock on hand for being creative and being able to create something at a moment's notice. Here are a couple of sources of information on shelf life for ingredients and left overs:

Still Tasty is a great site for information on most ingredients and left overs as far as storage and retention. It contains references on how long you can safely store Fruits, Vegetables, Dairy, Meats as well as dry ingredients such as grains, Herbs and Spices and snacks in addition to non refrigerated items such as Oils, Beverages and even water.

Another fun chart from another source are food condiments in the shape of a periodic table.

Let me know if you run into any food preservation and Storage information.

Socialism is a Philosophy of Failure

There are clear and distinct lines in this coming elections which can be summarized very succinctly:

• Today's Democrat Party = Liberals = Socialist
• Today's Republican Party = Moderates = Yesteryear's (JFK's) Democrats
• Washington's Democrat & Republicans are mostly elitist more interested in the status quo or more government.
• Today's Tea Party = Reagan Republicans 

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..." -- Winston Churchill

Non-Free Streaming Television/Movie Program Choices

From a July 28th Fox News Article: Netflix vs. Vudu vs. Amazon and More: A consumer guide to streaming video

Amazon Prime ($79 per year):

Amazon's new Prime streaming service just announced access to NBC videos, in addition to the new CBS library, bringing the total number of videos available to more than 9,000. The service costs $79 annually for unlimited access to all those shows and movies, and has gotten decent reviews. Don't let the price scare you.

"Ultimately Prime Instant Videos is actually quite good," wrote Engadget in a February review -- while noting that the quality isn't as good as that from Netflix. If that's too much, the Amazon Instant Video service lets you rent individual movies at reasonable prices ($1 to $4 for SD; $2 to $5 for HD), with access to more than 90,000 videos --  a whopping selection.

BestBuy / CinemaNow ($1.99 - $3.99 per video)

BestBuy bought the CinemaNow streaming service in 2009 to offer up the 14,000 available titles. The company offers no monthly subscription , but those many movies and TV shows are available for as little as $1.99 -- though add a buck for high definition.

The site has fallen by the wayside however, while Hulu, Netflix and others have soared in popularity. If the company's plans to embed the service in DVD players and TVs takes off, it could make a comeback.

Blockbuster on Demand ($2.99 - $3.99 per video):

Netflix customers are fuming over recent price hikes, and Blockbuster has the solution -- free 30-day accounts for irate users looking for something new. The service offers more than 10,000 video titles at $2.99 to $3.99, as well access to video games for all the major platforms.

Blockbuster says it will have several new releases well ahead of Netflix and Redbox, and the service has received generally favorable reviews -- though  there's one big caveat: No HD, at least not yet. But if you're into video games, the option to rent those as well is compelling.

Hulu Plus ($7.99 per month):

Offering a wealth of TV shows, including full seasons and full series, as well as access to movies, the Hulu streaming service is wildly popular among TV fans -- probably because it's free. Hulu Plus offers a deeper catalog of videos and content at a higher resolution, 720p format for $7.99 a month.

Subscriptions aren't publicly available to the newly released service yet, and paying subscribers have to deal with just as many ads as everyone else. The experience is great on an iPhone, PCMag.com recently noted -- but "if deep content is your main concern, however, Netflix gives you a better variety of content … for a dollar less without commercials," the site noted.

Netflix ($8 per month):

The granddaddy of streaming video may have turned off as many as 2.5 million users with the recent news that prices would go up as much as 60%. Netflix plans to charge $16 a month for services that used to cost $10 a month when bundled together, for example. It's still charging $8 a month for streaming, which it launched late last year.

Price increases aside, Netflix is still the giant in the space, with 22.8 million subscribers in the U.S as of March -- that's more than cable giant Comcast. And it offers access to over 17,000 titles. But will it remain on top?

RedBox:

RedBox doesn't stream video -- yet. But the buzz is on that the video rental company -- you've probably seen one of the 27,000 kiosks the company keeps nationwide -- will offer a service soon. In April, the company sent out a survey to customers asking how interested they would be in a $3.95 monthly package that would provide unlimited video streaming as well as four free DVD rentals.

Vudu / Wal-Mart ($1 - $5.99 per video):  

Wal-Mart Stores bought video-streaming service Vudu.com 18 months ago and now offers 20,000 titles that can be viewed on almost any device with Internet access, from computers to televisions to Sony's PlayStation3 and other Blu-Ray disc players. The company claims it will offer movies the same day they come out on DVD, a big selling point if true.

Movies are available at Walmart.com to rent for $1 to $5.99 or to purchase for $4.99 and up. Wal-Mart is not offering subscriptions, making its service more similar to Apple's iTunes, which charges $3.99 to rent newly released movies and $14.99 to buy a movie.

Media Computers

The problem with Playon and TVersity is that they require a server that is on all the time. I will invest eventually in a home server but for today I wish to free up the burden of home desktop from constantly running to support these services. To accomplish this I needed a low cost solution which I found with the Dell Media Computer.

This computer starts at $299 is a perfect fit to replace the sometimes limited server based services. It includes DVD, a HDMI interface and with a wireless keyboard I found including cable, tax and shipping was under $399 for everything. (A little more for Blue-Ray).

This system is a Windows 7 PC. I set up the desktop to simplify the interface as much as possible (but did not use Windows Media Center) to create links to Hulu, our NextFlix queue as well as some of our favourite video episode sites such as CBS, SyFy, Food Network and Home and Garden TV.

There is so much content available with many of our favourite programs available the day after they have aired has created our sole source of family entertainment without antenna, cable or satellites connections or monthly fees. (We do pay only for Netflix at this time but are considering options.).

Bring Misplaced Off-Screen Windows Back to Your Desktop

This is an article is copied from http://www.howtogeek.com/:

If you’ve ever hooked up your laptop to a secondary monitor and then disconnected without remembering to move the windows back to the primary desktop, you’ve probably encounted this problem.

The application is running. You can see it in the taskbar, but you can’t see it on the screen, because it still thinks it’s running on the secondary monitor. You try and use right-click, Move, but that doesn’t do anything, and the window doesn’t move anywhere. You end up rebooting and cursing Microsoft.

There’s a simple trick to get around this. First make sure you’ve alt-tabbed to the window, or clicked on it once to bring it into focus. Then right-click on the taskbar and choose Move

At this point, you should notice that your cursor changes to the “Move” cursor, but you still can’t move anything.

Just hit any one of the arrow keys (Left, Right, Down, Up), move your mouse, and the window should magically “pop” back onto the screen.

Note: For keyboard savvy people, you can just alt-tab to the window, use Alt+Space, then M, then Arrow key, and then move your mouse.

This should work on any version of Windows. It’s really amazing how many people are not aware of this little trick.

Update: Note that you can also right-click on the taskbar and choose to Cascade your open windows, which will often help bring the windows back onto the screen.

Be afraid, Be very afraid!

Who said it?

1) "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

A. Karl Marx
B. Adolph Hitler
C. Joseph Stalin
D. None of the above


2) "It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few...... And to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity."

A. Lenin
B. Mussolini
C. Idi Amin
D. None of the Above


3) "(We) ...can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people."

A. Nikita Khrushev
B. Josef Goebbels
C. Boris Yeltsin
D. None of the above


4) "We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own ... in order to create this common ground."

A. Mao Tse Dung
B. Hugo Chavez
C. Kim Jong Il
D. None of the above


5) "I certainly think the free-market has failed."

A. Karl Marx
B. Lenin
C. Molotov
D. None of the above


6) "I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched."

A. Pinochet
B. Milosevic
C. Saddam Hussein
D. None of the above


-------------------------------------------------------
The answer to all of the above quotes is D. None of the above - these statements were made by the same person:
(1) Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004
(2) Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007
(3) Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(4) Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(5) Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(6) Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005

Playon vs TVersity

I have been a Playon customer since their early inception as an alternative to cable TV but now I have switched to TVersity. Playon and TVersity are basically web content retransmitters. They are server software programs that reside on an internet PC Windows computer and plays, on demand, web video content from such sources as Hulu, CBS and YouTube (amongst others) onto your other intranet systems such as Xbox, PS3, Wii, Itouch and Microsoft Windows Media Center devices.

Verses

Web retransmitters are a difficult application to create and update because systems like Playon and TVersity must rely on other sources for programming which may or may not approve of their redistribution methods. Web video sources by nature are constantly changing sites and technologies which means Playon and TVersity must be flexiblily written or needs frequent updates. Additionally the host computer where Playon and TVersity run on must be on for the other devices to be able to access the AV content.

Recently Playon has been getting more complex and difficult with, in my experiences, more frequent lockups. Playon uses plugins to allow users to customize the sources of video material. The user relies on Playon to provide a directory like structure to select the source content. Additionally, Playon has begun to withhold otherwise free internet content for a monthly premium charge. This completely defeated my intended use and purpose for using Playon.

I found out about TVersity in a Playon forum where there were multiple similar complaints to what I was experiencing with Playon but there were no answers beyond the users network connection was at fault. TVersity has a windows based interface that allows users to select the internet program content and make it available to all of the intranet connected devices. This gives me the freedom to put into a 'playlist' most any programming I desire. Additionally it has hooks into the subscription components of Hulu and Youtube which are then automatically updated.

Another very cool part of TVersity is it's ability to stream to my Itouch or any wireless mobile device with a browser. This means I can also watch on demand my playlist of Internet programs anywhere within my home wireless operates.

My TV

My television has evolved in amazing and wondrous ways over the past 50 years and is still continuing to change and grow.

Black and White
- As a kid in the 60's, I remember having and watching only black and white television

Color
- In the 70's As a teen we got a color console television

Cable
- Cable gave us much more choices including Music Television (MTV) and Cable News Network (CNN)

Laser Disk
- We got a large record (LP) size laser disk video player. There were only a few models and movies but video recorders were still basically reel to reel. (Not consumer friendly)

Video Cassette Recorder (VCR)
- Video tape saw the battle of the Beta Max (Sony) verses the VCR format.

Big Screen TV
- Large screen televisions and rear project screen consoles were big in the 90's

Digital Video Disk (DVD)
- After the advent of CDs the video form shortly became available and popular eventually replacing VCR

Tivo
- First commercial digital recorder. (Many of the innovations came from computer hobbyists)

Digital Television
- After floundering for many years the FCC finally set some standards and DTV took off.

High Definition
- Regular NTSC TV was about 704 dots x 480 lines. Higher Definition standardized on 1280 dots x 720 lines and 1920 dots by 1080 lines. (Computer pixels similar to television resolution)

Blue Ray
- I am still not sure this will succeed or go the way of Beta Max but Sony has created a High Definition DVD

Flat Screen Television
- Eliminating the original Cathode Ray (picture) Tube (CRT) using Plasma, LCD and LED instead

Internet
- Hulu - 2nd hand television on the web
- Playon - play hulu and other internet media on your TV through your Xbox or Playstation
- Netflix - Replaced Blockbuster stores with online downloadable movie rentals on your TV through our Xbox or Wii
- Amazon.com - buy your favorite movie or television show but Amazon keeps it online for you.

Future TV
- Will computer based television such as Microsoft's Media Center, Apple TV and the new Google TV finally eliminate traditional over the air TV and Cable? I hope so. My TV lets me watch what I want, when I want on what ever screen I have. (Flat Screen, PC or Hand Held Player like itouch). TV will be free (commercial based) for non first run content and buy or rent shows and movies.