There is absolutely nothing that really interests me happening today. The officials in St Louis are still proving that they have no concept of public relations or public safety. I wonder how much of an economic loss they are willing to absorb for this stupidity, because there are a lot of people in the rest of the US who are going to avoid the area as if it was a center for the Ebola virus.
I assume everyone decided to go on a holiday schedule early.
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4 comments
Since you got nothing… Allow me! 😉 😀
I have been so busy the past couple weeks. Helped with a lot of petitions and other things I’m involved in. Got a few win’s, but lot of work to do convincing the unsurprising usual suspects to play nice and at least attempt to do the right thing (Neocon gov, banks, insurance companies, and the Catholic church). Nobody is holding their breath in hope they will change, but you never know. 🙂 We have a few unexpected win’s, so it’s doable.
You remember last Xmas SoftMaker had a special deal where you d/l their s/w and they donate for every d/l? It’s back, and bigger than last year. 😀 This year as well as the free Win Office suite, they have Linux (5 variants) and Android (and you can have them all). 🙂
Note: these are new versions, so even if you d/l last year, it’s worth doing again as the new versions require new serial numbers (except Android which doesn’t need one).
SoftMaker Load and Help
I’ve also had some decent paying work, so I decided to upgrade/add a few things to my systems. Got a new WiFi Router/Modem and a high speed WiFi adapter for my general use PC (my Dev WS & Server will still use 4x 1GB Ethernet). After a lot of research and several sales/support emails, I decided on:
TP-LINK Archer D9 AC1900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit VDSL/ADSL2+ Modem Router ($239).
TP-LINK Archer T4U AC1200 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter ($42).
It didn’t take long at all to setup, and the performance has exceeded my expectations! The D9 is replacing my Billion BiPAC 7800NL Wireless N ADSL2+ Firewall Router which was surprisingly problematic. Mainly it’s range was not very good, and it would constantly change speeds, which got annoying.
I used to connect at between 75 and 130 Kbps (and occasionally slower) with an avg strength between 45%-70%. The two new devices connect at a rock steady 180Mbps (which gives me the best connection strength of 100% on the 2.4 GHz band), or 720Mbps on the 5GHz band for 100% strength). I was surprised at the 5GHz performance, but I realised I’m the only one in the area using that band! Woohoo! LOL
Been running 3 days now and not a hiccup! Also, I used to connect to the ISP DSLAM on the BiPAC at anywhere between 6-15 mbps downstream + 700 kbps up, but now I get the full 22 mbps dn + 1.2 mbps up (I’m about 500 m from the Exchange, one of the reasons I decided to live here, so I knew I should have gotten better speeds. Had the lines tested last year and they were 100%.)
I also decided on a graphics card for my Dev W/S. TigerDirect had some great Black Friday deals and I picked up an XFX Radeon R9 295X2 8GB with Liquid Cooling for US$775 (normally sells for US$999 & List is around $1,600!) Including shipping, it was cheaper than anything I could get here. Still waiting for it to arrive. 🙂 I got it because I needed something to drive my new UHD 4k LCD I got on BF here For a real bargain (better than TD!) AOC U2868PQU 28inch Ultra HD 4K 3840×2160, 1ms GtG, $519 (normally $619). I was a bit concerned as AOC are not usually a great brand, but the LCD is flawless!
And lastly, I upgraded my smart phone. Kogan just released a new Adora version of the one I had (which worked well but for the typical crappy camera, only 1 GB RAM, & 8 GB storage). The new one is the Kogan Agora 4G+ that I got for $219 (normally $259).
Has a better 5″ Gorilla Glass HD LCD, 13MP BSI camera, 2 GB RAM, 16GB internal storage (external 64 GB microSD + 2TB via USB), Android 4.4 KitKat, 2500mAh battery, and supports almost every 2G, 3G & 4G network. 🙂 I’ve already found someone who will buy my 6 Mth old one for $120. I decided to be generous, she’d been kind to me recently. 🙂
So, Xmas was early for me! LOL
You have been busy.
I’ll try the Softmaker to give some charity a bit of cheer. Even if I don’t like it, I’m losing nothing but some time.
My 5 GHz band is also faster than the 2.4, but the range is less than the 2.4 GHz. I’ll check out the TP-Link routers after my utility bills drop.
You are on a tear, but you are still active in the business, so you can write it off.
Yes, being nice can have its rewards, even if they aren’t immediate. It is always good to be nice to people who are nice to you. Even cats like positive feedback.
Yeah, thanks Bryan. 🙂
I actually own a license for the full SoftMaker Office Pro, which I got cheap ($9.99 I think) as part of a deal for some other s/w I wanted (EaseUS Todo Backup that was also discounted. win/win), and I helped beta test the new Android version. 🙂 But the linux version is useful for my Dev WS/Server.
I just got a great deal on AI Roboform. Been using the free, limited, version and found it quite good. They sent me an Xmas upgrade eMail offer that was too good to refuse. 🙂 Basically licenses for all the products (RoboForm Desktop Windows & Mac, RoboForm2Go — a portable version for USB/CD, and a 12 Mth RoboForm Everywhere Subscription (basically a secure unlimited online storage with several encryption options. I chose blowfish). I paid US$9.99 (includes all subscriptions & updates for 12 mths) and get all updates for $19.99/yr for everything after Dec 2015, which is lower than the normal cost of the RoboForm Everywhere subscription alone. 🙂
Also just got a nice present from WPMU Dev. They are one of the biggest developers of plugins/themes for WP/Multisite/Buddypress. And as a bonus, they are an Aussie company located in Melbourne. I decided to visit last month when I was in Melb, and it was very good. I had a Premium Silver membership which gave me access to everything they had + priority support (which offers more than any other developer I’ve looked at) + priority feature requests +white branding (I can modify the branding on all their products & customize them in any way). They have 3 subscription levels, Bronze (2 domains, Support Videos only for personal use, No access to their Anti-Splog API), Silver (5 domains including Support Videos & 1 Anti-Splog domain) and Gold (unlimited domains, 1,000 Support Videos domains, 20 Anti-Splog domains). After visiting and having length discussions about what I’m trying to do, what they are doing etc., I explained that I have been unable to use the previous 12 mth subscription due to health and other reasons, except on my local dev server and some limited testing on my cloud host. They could easily see that I have not reg’d any live domains. After telling them about the difficulties I’ve been facing (health, lack of funds, and other issues), they decided to help me out (and I wasn’t asking for a thing, simply explaining because they asked). They upgraded me to Gold, and offered an annual subscription fee of AU$95 instead of the normal $588 until I am up and running and have decent income! 😀 They also offered to pay me for publishing useful articles on their blog, but I declined for now.
WPMU DEV
My preferred WP theme supplier is Tesla Themes. I helped them out a bit the past year, and have been recommending them (which was a nice source of income as they have a generous 50% commission affiliate scheme). Anyway, they emailed me a nice Happy Xmas type email, and a gift of a lifetime Developer Subscription! Which means I’ll not have to pay for a thing forever! Gobsmacked?? You betcha! Apparently, they were very pleased that I managed to convince over 60 people to become paying members this year, and have been helping in other ways. 😀 Once I’m up and running, I’ll turn that into hundreds, or thousands! No worries. LOL
Tesla Themes
I have been buying products from the German s/w company Ashampoo (weird name, great products!) for years. 🙂 They made me a ‘Premium User’ (I own almost every product they make!) I get 60% discount for life and they gave me 10,000 points to ‘spend’ on products (they call the Yiggles… don’t ask me!) 😉 So I decided to get their most expensive s/w, 3D CAD Professional 4 which is normally $300 for 6,000 Yiggles. 😀 I don’t really need it, but it cost me nothing and I used to like playing with CAD s/w. Who knows… maybe I’ll invent a new can opener or something! LOL I am a qualified engineer after all. The other Yiggles I’ll save for version updates (revision updates are free). 🙂
What else… Oh! CyberGhost have their first NoSpyProxy server farm running, way ahead of schedule, in Romania with 12 servers. And it works brilliantly! 😀 I am invisible! Waahahahahah! 😉 LOL The next sites will be here in Vic (yayyy!) and USA.
One of the petitions I’m working on, is a family whose house was raided and wrecked by vandals whilst they were away, and ANZ (bank) insurance refused on a technicality to pay it. they have been fighting for 2 years to get what they are owed! To add insult to injury, ANZ have been billing them for insurance for a home they no longer have!
Here’s a summary of the latest email:
I donated some money to a start a ‘legal fighting fund’ which many people have generously donated to, so they can afford legal representation to fight ANZ. One legal firm has said they will look at whether they can take it on pro bono and will let them know within a week! If so, that will be a great Xmas gift for the family. 😀
Phew! No need to reply, just thought you might be interested. 🙂
And thanks Bryan for a little haven of sanity! I really needed it believe me. Be well my friend, and please take care. 🙂
The ANZ problem reminds me of an insurance commercial I’ve seen a couple of times where the advertising insurance company tells people to actually read their policies and makes the point that they may think their swimming pool is covered but their policy will only pay for an inflatable wading pool, and they may be paying to cover an SUV, but the rate is for a Ferrari Testarosa. Even insurance companies don’t trust insurance companies.
I got into a hassle over car insurance when my rate skyrocketed one year and it turned out they had an 18-year-old child listed on the policy. As I was 26 at the time, the agent understood that it was unlikely I had an 18-year-old child. I was expecting a decent drop in cost after 25, so it was more than slightly shocking.
It’s always nice to get a deal 🙂