Pellet heads!! What's up today?

Just to prove I is different me had a root beer ice.

 

Nice that they leave the connectors off now.
(Earthsense)

 

Got about 6.5 inches here in Kingston. Heavy, wet stuff.

Sam

 

Hindsight is often 22/20.

 

Did end up taking me a lot longer than it used to doing the snow removal. Still don't have a lot of energy, upper body strength isn't there, bum left shoulder and bad knees. Just had to stop every 20 minutes or so to go inside and recoup some energy. A nice hot bowl of chili for lunch revived me.

Heck it's only been in the past two weeks I finally got the energy to put together my new computer system. Have had the parts for over a year. Was bleeding edge in early 2024 ( AMD 7900x3d, 32 gb DDR5, AMD 9070xt video card), a generation behind now, CPU-wise anyway. Dual boot Windows 11 Pro and Manjaro Arch Linux.

Sam

 

Little at at a time. My doc told me to take as many breaks and do what I can. If it takes longer, it takes longer. Tomorrow is another day. I was there with lack of energy and upper body strength. I won't get into specifics, but I tried to do one little thing more every day. eventually I got my appetite back, my energy and motivation slowly came back, but it was a process. If you haven't been through it, it's hard to understand. I still have days where I can't get motivated, but those days are less and less.

 

Been thinking about getting a new desktop. I got this one in 2020 and it still works fine. BUT, I don't want to be tied to AI or 365, and they are forcing both of those on a lot of the newer models / software packages. May look into alternatives to Office such as Libra and Coolabora.

 

When I upgraded the other computers in the house from Win 10 to 11 last month, I found a free program called Flyoobe. It allows an in place upgrade from 10 to 11, can bypass all Microsoft's hardware requirements, no Microsoft account needed, can debloat by removing all Microsoft's AI, apps, unwanted services, telemetry data collection. Also works on a currently installed 11. Flyoobe is regularly updated by the developer so it can handle new wrinkles Microsoft throws out.

For a clean 11 installation, I create an installation USB stick using Rufus ( also free). You just download a Win 11 ISO from Microsoft and use Rufus to create the USB. It will ask you if you want to bypass hardware requirements, create a local account so no Microsoft account needed, do some debloating before it creates the stick. Works great. I run Flyoobe afterwards to finish getting all the crap out.

I use Libre Office in both Windows and Linux .
I really only need Windows to use Microsoft Flight Simulator as my Logitech/Saitek control hardware (yoke, rudder pedals, throttle quadrant, switch panels) don't always work well in Linux. Though I have been investigating a distro called Bazzite. Based on Fedora, optimized for gaming. Lots of good reviews.Probably going to try it out soon.

Sam

 

I use Libra and have no complaints....does everything Office did.

 

I worry about compatibility with older versions of Excel and Access since I have several files from days gone by. May never need them, but just in case, I'd like them to work. Since I don't use them right now, I am unsure what they are - LOL.

Also need an email program that can read the PST version of Outlook emails as well as be machine based so I can keep the originals on local drive. MS's "new" Outlook cannot open them (I have emails saved separately for legal purposes). I bought their "Classic" Outlook 2024, that version doesn't allow POP setup so the emails aren't downloaded to the local drive. My email provider automatically deletes emails after 30 (or 60) days, so I can't just leave them there (and I don't wnat to leave them there anyway since it is just another area hackers can gain access to - I've had the password leaked at least once, which I had to scramble to fix as they were trying to get access codes to sensitive information)

That is some interesting info and I'll need to look into it further. Thank you!

 

At 6am it was 1° outside. Currently 11°. At least it's not real windy, out of the w-nw at 4mph right now.

Sam

 

You southern boys stay south.

 

Me has'em a new I9 Nuc with an AI chip it also ;s Windblows 1 1 pro b ox. it is 4 times faster than my I9 gaming tower