Jack Manassas and Company

Updating the Kubuntu Desktop Note to Self- Read this first before the next time you update the Kubuntu Desktop Intro; Perennial as the winter, I got a system message that “Kubuntu 14.04 is no longer supported.  Click this button for a fast ‘n easy upgrade to Kubuntu 16.04.” “Kubuntu hasn’t been working that well lately,” I says to meself. “No more support is a bad thing.  Okay...” I shouldn’t have, but I clicked it. Six hours later, I had Kubuntu 16.04, but it tended to freeze up and I could only use the Command Line Interface (CLI) if I was quick enough to hit [Ctrl][Alt][F1] or [Ctrl][Alt][T]. First Note To Self–Read the Release Notes First Using another computer, I went to the website and read the 16.04 Release Notes; The release notes say not to click the automatic upgrade, because it does not work.  Hmmm. Second Note to Self–Fix Kernel Panic The first known bug that affects my system is “Kernel Panic,” brilliantly solved by Zanna at this web locati...

Re: Class warfare-- Seems appropriate to mention class warfare on Trump's inauguration day.  He was elected partly for his representation of the ignored Americans... I first got a clue about ceilings of class in a former job from a young woman of Barbados.  She was an illegal immigrant whose first action after coming to the US was to start a delivery service company.  She had two American employees.  The somewhat shady firm I contracted with at the time paid her cash under the table to courier packages around.  They paid her way less than her competitors, but they did a good job at delivery.  About once a week, I would suggest a way for her to get ahead.  "Here's a group that helps women business owners,"  and "This other group helps minorities with business," and "This lawyer donates time for immigrant rights."  After about a month, she told me, "You seem to be very sincere, but I have tried all your suggestions and nothing actually works...

This is an autobiography of an early settler of Sheridan, Wyoming--Frank Tschirgi.  It is interesting reading!  Particularly interesting to his descendants. :-) Here's a link to the book--"The Tenderfoot" https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4Z1O7SGLjoDTG4xZEtYLVltS1E

1 August 2016  – The Bell Ringers Last night, we had another visit from the bell ringers.  These are two young men that have been making the rounds of the neighborhood, ringing doorbells late at night.  On 7/31, they rang the doorbell once at 10:15 PM.  I saw them running down the street about 15 minutes later.  They returned and rang our doorbell again several times at 0:45 in the morning. I suspected they would be back again tonight.  So by secret means known only to the Boy Scouts, I managed to surprise them as they were sneaking up to the front door to ring it again, at 10:11 tonight. Because I happened to have my camera with me, I took several pictures of them as they ran away, and continued to take pictures of one of them as we ran down the street. “What the hell?” he said as I continued to take pictures of him. “What the hell?  What the HELL?” I yelled at him as he ran up the hill.  “What the hell are you doing, ringing doorbells ...

October 25, 2015, Sunday After breakfast, we crossed to Pacific time and readjusted our clocks. We stopped in Wallace Idaho, site of the Big Burn, a huge wildfire that consumed millions of acres of forest land in Idaho, in 1910. We ate at the Silver Grill and Bar, then went across the street to Tabor's Emporium. This is a gigantic consignment shop. Apparently, when old people die in town, their relatives clear everything out of the house and put them on sale at Tabor's Emporium. For $26.45, we found and bought what appears to be an actual Toltec mask. This is a ceramic mask with the Toltec helmet and one cheek puffed out as if chewing coca leaves, and a lizard on the forehead. Someone clumsily drilled a couple of holes on either side of the mask and threaded wire through them so that it could be hung on a wall. The mask contains no maker's mark. It has what appears to be very old dirt in the nose holes. As soon as we can, we will have the mask assess...

How to Remove an embarrassing image from Google Suppose you do something stupid, like getting an embarrassing picture taken of yourself at a party. Suppose that the picture gets posted to a website, and that it comes up at the top of the images page when your name is googled on google images-- How do you get rid of the picture? 1. Contact the website to have the webmaster remove the image. If clicking the embarrassing picture gets you to a website, Google will not remove the picture. First, you have to get the website that hosts the picture to remove it. Fortunately, this is usually not too difficult. The webmaster of the site will often remove the picture if asked nicely. Hosting companies are sensitive to bad publicity, especially if there is even a hint of libel, and many picture-hosting sites have a link to request removal of the image. After the host removes the image, it could still show up on the google search. After removal, clicking...

It's time for another break from the usual boring contents--This is a campfire story I told in 2009 at a Webelos-A-Ree campout in October--This is an annual campout that allows Webelos to visit a number of scout troops in the district, and see if they can find a scout troop that they would like to join.  We planned to have a campfire with skits and stories at our own campsite, but a hard, cold rain began in the afternoon.  We tied tarps to two sides of a camping shelter, and were gathered inside it, listening to the rain drumming on the tin roof.  Thunder and lightning echoed through the valley.  A campfire looked unlikely.  "Who has a story?" someone asked. "I do," I said.  "But I'm not entirely sure I _should_ tell this story." Just then, lightning hit close to the campsite, and a very heavy burst of rain drummed on the tin roof.  I looked around the shelter slowly. "Now I really don't know if this is a good idea.   But maybe i...