From: adam@address.invalid   
      
   Moe Trin wrote:   
   > On Sun, 23 Dec 2012, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in   
   article   
   > , Adam wrote:   
      
   Did you know that December 25th is the birthday of both Sir Isaac Newton   
   and of Rod Serling ("I was a Christmas present that was delivered   
   unwrapped")?  In fact, Minow's "Vast Wasteland" speech mentioned "The   
   Twilight Zone" as one example of the quality that TV broadcasting was   
   capable of.   
      
   [Thinkpad T60]   
      
   >> So far WinXP has Wi-Fi working at home and several books on   
   >> laptops have been picked up from interlibrary loan.   
   >   
   > OK!  But remember the priorities.   
      
   I haven't even turned the laptop on in several days, and just looked at   
   the books in bits and pieces, as well as postponing various other   
   things.  I even drove right by Staples without stopping in to look.   
      
   >> What I /expect/ to do when I'm away (usually for only a few hours) is   
   >> to use the laptop to check and reply to (or finish replies to) email   
   >> and newsgroups,   
   >   
   > My solution to that is that the mail and news tools do not have   
   > remembered usernames and "passwords".  There is a file in the home   
   > directory, with what seems to be babble - and most of it is.  But   
   > several lines are a Caesar "cipher" [...]  All I need   
   > do is take the third (space delimited) string from one line, the sixth   
   > from another and the second from a third (for example)   
      
   Sounds possible but awkward to me.  How do you remember which strings go   
   with which server and web site?   
      
   > bookmarks for me are a URL text file.   
      
   I can see that some bookmarks ought to be left off the laptop's list,   
   especially the ones under "Shopping".   
      
   >> The email/NG part of that would mean either still being user 'adam',   
   >> or copying stuff between users 'adam' and "away" (actual name TBD)   
   >> but connecting to mail and news servers with adam's credentials.   
   >   
   > The operating username need not be important - the names used   
   > externally "should" be different from the operating names anyway.   
      
   What do you mean?  For example, I have several VZ email accounts, one   
   being "adam707".  I also have a few free mail accounts with Yahoo et al.   
   (all POP3) and several news servers.   
      
   > Regarding mail, the laptop setup leaves "read" mail on the server,   
   > while the home setup deletes the mail as soon as I read it.  Thus, I   
   > can read the mail on the laptop, but saving it is done at home.   
      
   Okay, that makes sense.  Replies could be started on either system, and   
   synced back and forth until they're ready to send.   
      
   >> if I'm at a public hotspot, will just auto-logging into NewEgg's site   
   >> reveal enough info for someone else to order stuff at my expense?   
   >   
   > It shouldn't, especially if you're smart enough to use one account for   
   > "looking" and another (back home) for doing the actual buying.   
      
   I can see there are some things I'd better not do at public hot spots at   
   all.  I think I'll just not configure the laptop for them, and use   
   "stolid" for those when I'm back home.   
      
   > I don't know about you, but I've got a number of   
   > non-distribution applications on my systems.   
      
   Me too, but for all either the executable is in /usr/local or ~/bin,   
   both of which are included in my daily backups, or else the   
   source/tarball/package is in /mnt/download and most of those really do   
   need to get backed up right away.  There was one app where an ordinary   
   download wasn't sufficient -- I had to use Ubuntu's 'apt-get' in a VM   
   which retrieved a bunch of other files that were necessary for the app   
   to run, although now that I have those I can just copy them to Mandriva   
   or wherever.   
      
   [network configuration]   
      
   >> else if my home Wi-Fi, use that with "ordinary" security; else if any   
   >> other available Wi-Fi, use it with higher security.   
   >   
   > That's a bit more difficult with the modern parallel boot setups   
   > like 'upstart' or 'systemd'.  In essence, you need to put a wrapper   
   > around the firewall boot script (or alter it) to test the address   
   > of the link (it may get interesting if the hot-spot has the same   
   > address range as the 'home' setup - but fixable) and set the firewall   
   > rules accordingly.   
      
   Another thing for me to look into.  But what if I go from one wireless   
   network to another without rebooting?   
      
   >>>      accept anywhere state RELATED,ESTABLISHED   
   >>>      accept $LAN_RANGE state NEW tcp dpt:ssh   
   >>>      accept all 127.0.0.0/8   
   >>>      reject all anywhere reject-with icmp-host-prohibited   
   >   
   >> Except for that one substitution, can I just use that as is?   
   >   
   > Assuming your "helper" tool allows it, yes   
      
   And I see from elsewhere in the thread that's intentionally very   
   limiting as it's meant for a laptop.  But what would $LAN_RANGE be, or   
   is that up to whoever's running the WiFi?  My own little LAN at home is   
   192.168.0.0/26 but I have no idea what Starbucks, McDonalds, DCC, et al. do.   
      
   >> What about that clear plastic that seems to be on every LED and LCD   
   >> display when it's shipped?  It's clear but damage resistant.   
   >   
   > If you can find a supply.  Yes, it's more damage resistant, but I'm   
   > not sure how long it would last in actual use.   
      
   It doesn't have to last forever, as it is, or should be, replaceable.   
      
   [choosing a case]   
      
   >> I have a carton that can be cut down to the exact size of my laptop,   
   >> which I think would be worth bringing with me.   
   >   
   > I'm not sure I'd waste the effort at this point - remember the collage   
   > has priority.   
      
   But I will, once the collage is done.  I also gather from the laptop NGs   
   that choosing the right kind of RAM is more critical than with desktops,   
   and the easiest way to get it right is just to go to Crucial's website.   
      
   >> Some of this would be mainly useful if I'm called to fix someone   
   >> else's computer.   
   >   
   > I'm not in the repair business, but I'd have that in a separate bag   
      
   I'm not in the business either, but I do tend to get asked for help   
   occasionally.  Separate bag for the repair-only stuff is a good idea.   
   Still, I definitely need a laptop case with room for extra stuff.   
      
   [family collage]   
      
   >> I think "end of the year" is too optimistic, but "by the start of   
   >> next semester" (late January) seems possible.   
   >   
   > Oh come ON!   Stop goofing off!          ;-)   
      
   I've found all the digital photos taken since last year and finally have   
   chosen photos for all the 41 spaces which are of varying dimensions and   
   proportions.  Next step is the somewhat mechanical job of using GIMP to   
   enhance, resize and crop all 41 images.   
      
   >> that still leaves me wondering where to find room for the little   
   >> bookcase (3'H x 2'W).  Might have to be in the kitchen.   
   >   
   > That's why I built tall ones - I ran out of horizontal space   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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