Year: 2016

Getting and Installing Linux – Part 2

6:01 am

Obtaining and installing a Linux Distribution

by James Stephens

Almost any Linux distribution runs great on today’s hardware. But I’m writing this with aging computers in mind. With older computers it’s a good idea to know how much RAM (often referred to as physical memory) you have in order to select a distribution that will work well with your machine.

With Windows this can be shown by opening “System” in “Control Panel.” RAM or physical memory will be expressed in Mb or Gb. Once you know this, you are armed with the knowledge to select a distribution.

For machines with 512 Mb RAM and up I recommend a distribution from LinuxMint. For machines with under 512 Mb RAM I recommend Bodhi Linux 32 bit legacy.

Operating systems come in 32 bit and 64 bit versions. With the exception of replacing Windows 8.1 and 10, a 32 bit distribution will work on any computer. (More about Microsoft and UEFI later.) At one time a 64 bit opening system allowed the use of more memory then it’s 32 bit kin. But with modern 32 bit distributions this is no longer an issue. So if you want to play it safe choose a 32 bit distribution.

LinuxMint offers a choice of desktops and the website does a good job explaining the advantages of each. I would recommend LinuxMint 17.3 MATE 32 bit edition as most likely to work on any computer. But take a look at each of them and see which one you like. As long as you follow the minimum RAM requirements guidelines as listed in the description you will be okay.
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TSA injures and arrests a disabled teenager, because they can

3:58 pm

Does this make you feel safer? A disabled teenager, partially deaf, blind in one eye, paralyzed, and easily confused, was injured and then arrested by TSA agents at Memphis Airport when they tried to subject her to a hands-on body scan.

Despite her concerns, Shirley [the mother] was kept away from her daughter by police. Hannah, obviously afraid, tried to get away from the grips of the TSA. “She’s trying to get away from them but in the next instant, one of them had her down on the ground and hit her head on the floor. There was blood everywhere,” said Shirley.

The teen was arrested, booked, and sent to jail. “Here we were with nowhere to go, not even a toothbrush, our bags had gone to Chattanooga,” said the distraught mother.

The mother is suing the airport, the TSA, and the local police, all of whom acted like brainless thugs, especially since anyone with any brains would have likely realized instantly that the girl was not a threat to anyone.

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NASA okays New Horizons mission extension, rejects Dawn asteroid fly-by

3:48 pm

NASA has approved an extension of the New Horizons mission to fly past Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 on January 1, 2019.

In the same press release the agency announced that they have decided that they will get more worthwhile science by keeping Dawn in orbit around Ceres for the reminder of its life, rather then sending it on a proposed fly by of another asteroid.

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Tennessee makes owner responsible for harm caused by gun-free zone

9:15 am

Want to make your property a gun-free zone? In Tennessee, a new law now makes you legally and financially responsible should anyone be hurt because of it.

As of July 1, if a handgun carry permit holder in Tennessee is injured, suffers bodily injury or death, incurs economic loss or expense, property damage or any other compensable loss on a property posted as a gun-free zone, they can sue the person or entity who stripped them of their right to self defense.

Makes sense to me. If you are a law-abiding citizen well-trained in the use of firearms and have the ability to defend yourself, and that ability is denied to you because some property owner wants to create an imaginary gun-free zone, that owner certainly shares some of the responsibility should you get injured because you were unable to defend yourself.

10 comments

Puerto Rico debt restructuring signed into law

9:07 am

A law written by Republicans and signed today by President Obama will allow the federal government to restructure Puerto Rico’s debt and freeze bonds owned by American citizens.

The article notes correctly that the restructuring of those bonds is essentially in direct violation of the fifth amendment, which states that no American can “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The article also notes that the law includes provisions that nullify the right of those citizens to go to court to challenge it.

The webpage that published the article is a big Trump supporter. And who can blame them when the Republican party works hand-in-glove with the Democrats to nullify the Bill of Rights. As they note, “Not hearing any shouts or screams from Mark Levin, Ted Cruz or Mike Lee are you? Yeah, funny that… Remind me what ‘conservative’ means again?”

As my readers know, I am not a fan of Donald Trump, and do not expect him to do anything different than the Republicans and Democrats who passed this unconstitutional law. Yet, I also understand why he is doing as well as he is. The American public is not being represented in any way by those in power, and thus the public wants someone outside that cartel to shake things up.

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China’s space plans for the rest of 2016

8:42 am

The competition heats up: If all goes as planned, 2016 could be China’s busiest year ever in space, and could set the stage for making it a major player for years to come.

They will not only launch their next space station test module, they will introduce a new rocket capable of putting about 25 tons into orbit, making it one of the most powerful rockets available. In addition, they are moving forward aggressively on planetary missions to Mars and the Moon, and on the followup larger space station designed to teach them how to transport people between the planets.

While the US is still substantively far ahead in space, the optics can suggest otherwise.

First, China will be launching people into space, which the US have not had the capability to do since the shuttles were retired in 2011, relying on Russia to get its astronauts to the ISS. Next, the International Space Station is currently only funded to 2024, which means the [Chinese space station], expected to be completed around 2022, could be the only game in orbit. Another issue is that it is becoming increasingly apparent that China is developing technologies and techniques necessary to take its taikonauts to the Moon, and ESA and Russia also have that destination in mind.

As the article notes, the private sector is the U.S.’s trump card (no pun intended).

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California university backs down and reinstates conservative organization

10:09 pm

Good news: After attempting to ban the college Republican student organization for a year because the administration didn’t like its conservative views, the University of California-Irvine was confronted with so much outrage, from both the right and the left, that it has been forced to back down and reinstate the organization.

The decision followed backlash from conservatives and liberals at UC Irvine and elsewhere. In addition to scathing reports from conservative and libertarian media, the President of the Holyoke College Republicans, Kassy Dillon, slammed UCI for their “insult to every College Republican across the country” in an op-ed for Breitbart.

Left-wingers on campus also came out in support of their rivals’ right to free speech. In a rare display of bipartisan unity at the campus grassroots, the group for Bernie Sanders supporters at UCI issued a statement condemning the administration for “repeated mistreatment of political organizations that take part in open discourse on campus” and calling for the restoration of the College Republicans’ right to access college facilities.

In a comment to Breitbart Tech, Ariana Rowlands, President of the UC Irvine College Republicans, said she did not intend to let the matter rest. “This complete revocation of the suspension placed on College Republicans is a big win for free speech and for free assembly, but also a victory for other clubs that go through the same type of administrative bias such as the Jewish, Bernie Sanders, and conservative clubs on our campus.”

To me, the big news here is that the leftists on campus came to the support of the conservatives, even though they disagree on almost all issues. Freedom of speech, however, appears to be something they do, and should, agree on.

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1.6 million people drop Obamacare in 2016

9:24 pm

Finding out what’s in it: Within three months of signing up for Obamacare more than 13%, or 1.6 million people, in 2016 have dropped coverage by not paying their premiums.

The AP story at the link is decidedly partisan in its tone, trying to make excuses for the disaster that is Obamacare. After proudly claiming that “the health law’s online insurance markets are now working smoothly,” it than is forced to note the following:

Enrollment has been lower than hoped for, and customers turned out to be sicker than expected. Some major insurance companies have cut back their participation, and 13 of 23 nonprofit insurance co-ops created under the law have folded. Premiums for 2017 are expected to be significantly higher.

Other than these minor details, Obamacare is wonderful! That’s why more than 1 in 10 quit paying their premiums within three months, probably because they simply can’t afford it. I wonder how many more decide to give up their health insurance as the year progresses. I suspect that by the time the open enrollment period arrives in November, the number who have dropped coverage will rise above 30% or higher.

Let me add one more thing: I also suspect that many of the people who drop Obamacare do so as soon as they’ve paid their taxes. This way, they pay the premium for as little time as possible, can demonstrate to the IRS that they have insurance and thus avoid the Obamacare mandate fine (or tax, depending the day you ask the Obama administration what it is), and then avoid paying the premium for the rest of the year. It’s called gaming the system, something that happens routinely when governments try to impose unwieldy and unaffordable rules to ordinary life.

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Juno has entered Jupiter’s magnetic field

6:34 pm

After five years of travel, Juno last Friday entered Jupiter’s gigantic and very powerful magnetic field in its approach for its July 4 orbital insertion.

Meanwhile, they have uploaded to the spacecraft its final software commands for that orbital insertion.

At about 12:15 pm PDT today (3:15 p.m. EDT), mission controllers will transmit command product “ji4040” into deep space, to transition the solar-powered Juno spacecraft into autopilot. It will take nearly 48 minutes for the signal to cover the 534-million-mile (860-million-kilometer) distance between the Deep Space Network Antenna in Goldstone, California, to the Juno spacecraft. While sequence ji4040 is only one of four command products sent up to the spacecraft that day, it holds a special place in the hearts of the Juno mission team. “Ji4040 contains the command that starts the Jupiter Orbit insertion sequence,” said Ed Hirst, mission manager of Juno from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “As soon as it initiates — which should be in less than a second — Juno will send us data that the command sequence has started.”

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