Table of Contents

From The Chief Editor's Desk

1. Short Topix: New Website Removes Photo Backgrounds In Seconds, For FREE!

2. Worst Passwords Of 2018: You Should Change Yours!

3. ms_meme's Nook: Her Name Was Meme

4. Firefox Updates Autoplay Media Control

5. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner

6. Alternatives To Dropbox, Part 2

7. GIMP Tutorial: Helpful Tips You Might Already Know

8. ms_meme's Nook: You're Invited To The Sandbox, Honey

9. PCLinuxOS Bonus Recipe Corner

10. As Another Year Ends, The Cyberthreats Continue

11. PCLinuxOS Family Member Spotlight: drmarwat

12. Vudu: More Free With Ads Movies

13. PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

14. Screenshot Showcase

From The Chief Editor's Desk

Phew! Thankfully, the holidays are over! I was eager for the holidays to arrive, swept up in the enthusiasm for the holidays by my kids. There's nothing quite like a child's enthusiasm for the holidays. It's infectious, to say the least.

But I'm just as happy to see them complete. With the holidays being over, also over is their disruption to our normal, daily routines. Now that they are over, much of the stress of the holidays is behind us. After the buildup to the holidays, it's quite relaxing to get back to life as usual.

Of course, the actual "holiday season" typically ends with New Year's Day. And, New Year's Day typically means lots of people making New Year's resolutions. My usual New Year's resolution is to make no New Year's resolution. It's great for people to take a moment for introspection, but feeling obliged to make resolutions to "improve" one's self largely out of peer pressure is a recipe that is most often fraught with failure and disappointment.

Anyway, why does that introspection and self examination have to come at New Year's, when the stress of the holidays is just beginning to lighten? Maybe people need to perform an ongoing self examination throughout the year.

It's great to "resolve" to quit smoking, to drink less, to lose weight, to speak kinder, to cuss less, to get in shape or exercise more, to save more, to eat better, etc., but do you really think New Year's is the right time to do it?

Most people are going to fail if they are not ready to accomplish those tasks, which leads to nothing more than disappointment. No one, for example, is going to quit smoking until and unless they are truly ready to in their mind. Few people are going to be able to eat better or lose weight while mostly shut up indoors for the remainder of winter. Without an expensive gym membership, most people aren't going to have the discipline to get into better shape or improve their exercise levels. The "magic" of New Year's Day isn't going to make any of that happen.

Statistically, less than 2/3rds of New Year's resolutions last more than the first month. Less than half of all New Year's resolutions last more than six months. Among those over the age of 50, only about 14% actually achieve their New Year's resolutions, compared to 39% of people in their 20s. Other studies say that about 80% of New Year's resolutions fail by the first week of February. So, maybe New Year's Day isn't necessarily the best time to make promises that are very likely to fail.

Resolve to make changes in your life only when you are ready to make those changes. I quit smoking about 10 years ago, and not because of a New Year's resolution. I had already made up my mind that I wanted to quit, and I was in the process of weaning myself off of the cigarettes. After a brief viral infection, I was hit with some cardiac dysrhythmias, as sometimes happens after a mild viral infection. But it got my attention, loud and clear. While I knew that the smoking was not the sole reason for the cardiac dysrhythmias, I knew that it definitely was a contributing factor. So, right then and there, my "plan" to quit smoking was discarded, and I just quit. Cold turkey. It literally scared me, thoroughly.

But I had already prepared myself in my mind that I wanted to quit, which made quitting smoking cold turkey easier. I later discovered that my cardiac dysrhythmias were more directly related to some over the counter medication I was taking quite regularly for a stomach condition, rather than the smoking or the viral infection. Both undoubtedly contributed, but the biggest culprit was the over the counter stomach medication … which I have since stopped taking. Since quitting the over the counter medication, as well as making diet changes and improving gut health, I've not needed to take any kind of stomach medicine, either over the counter or prescription. In fact, I also no longer take any medication for the cardiac dysrhythmias, either. With the root cause eliminated by no longer taking the stomach medicine, the cardiac dysrhythmias were no longer a problem.

So go ahead and make changes to your life, but do it only when you're ready to do so. Don't succumb to peer pressure and make it your New Year's resolution, unless you truly are ready. There's nothing wrong with introspection and trying to make your life better, but New Year's Day typically isn't the best time to do it.

Until next month, I bid you peace, happiness, serenity and prosperity.

Short Topix: New Website Removes Photo Backgrounds In Seconds, For FREE!

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

Google Advances G+ Public Shutdown Four Months

After first announcing in October, 2018 that it was shuttering the public version of Google+ due to a bug that allowed third parties unintended access to otherwise private information on Google+ users, Google has decided to move up the planned shutdown of Google+ from August, 2019 to April, 2019.

At the root of the decision to accelerate the Google+ shutdown was the discovery of another bug in the Google+ API that could potentially compromise user information. The bug was discovered during a routine in-house testing of the API, and Google claims that no user information was compromised. They also claim that the bug was repaired within a week of being discovered, and they can find no instances of anyone exploiting the bug.

From the Google blog on December 10, 2018:

We've recently determined that some users were impacted by a software update introduced in November that contained a bug affecting a Google+ API. We discovered this bug as part of our standard and ongoing testing procedures and fixed it within a week of it being introduced. No third party compromised our systems, and we have no evidence that the app developers that inadvertently had this access for six days were aware of it or misused it in any way.

With the discovery of this new bug, we have decided to expedite the shut-down of all Google+ APIs; this will occur within the next 90 days. In addition, we have also decided to accelerate the sunsetting of consumer Google+ from August 2019 to April 2019. While we recognize there are implications for developers, we want to ensure the protection of our users.

Google estimates that approximately 52,500,000 (52.5 million) users were potentially impacted by the bug. The bug would potentially allow exposure of a user's email address, age, birthday, occupation, real name, etc., even if the user had set that information to be kept private.

Another Month, Another Facebook Scandal

In a December 19, 2018 article on Yahoo! Entertainment (excerpted from an article on The Wrap), Facebook admitted to granting access to users' private messages to major tech partners, such as Netflix, Spotify and Amazon. The New York Times originally broke the story on December 18, 2018. Facebook responded to the original NY Times article with a blog entry, on December 18, 2018.

Facebook claims that access was granted only after Facebook users "consented" to log into partner's apps with a Facebook user ID.

Yeah! Right!

Who takes the time to read the fine print when logging into a service, using another service's login information? Yes, we all should take the time, but in reality, WHO actually takes the time to read all that legal mumbo-jumbo? Especially when offered the convenience of logging in with the account of another service?! Reading that information, if you can even understand it and its twists and turns, would negate the convenience and time savings of logging in with an account you might already have elsewhere.

Fortunately, Spotify claims to have NEVER accessed Facebook users' private messages. Netflix ended their use of the program over three years ago, and like Spotify, claims to have never accessed Facebook users' private messages. Amazon, on the other hand, has admitted to using Facebook's program to its benefit.

From the Yahoo! Entertainment article:

Amazon, in a statement to TheWrap, said it used its access to better "sync" Facebook users with its products.

"Amazon uses APIs [application program interface] provided by Facebook in order to enable Facebook experiences for our products," an Amazon spokesperson told TheWrap in a statement. "For example, giving customers the option to sync Facebook contacts on an Amazon Tablet. We use information only in accordance with our privacy policy."

These regular reports of privacy violations makes me glad I followed my gut instinct and never got a Facebook account. I've never had one. With this continual parade and unending procession of privacy violations, it only strengthens my resolve to never, EVER have a Facebook account.

As a result, Facebook's stock prices on the NASDAQ Exchange fell from a high of $217.50 per share on July 25, 2018, to trading around $133 per share on December 28, 2018. That's almost a 40% drop in less than six months. It doesn't seem that Facebook is well positioned to survive too many more of these privacy scandals. But then again, a large percentage of Facebook users don't seem to be all that concerned about the privacy breaches, and continue on undeterred, as if nothing has ever happened.

New Website Removes Photo Backgrounds In Seconds, For FREE!

Anyone who has spent any time working on a computer has had the need to work with images. And, with cameras on virtually every cell phone made in the past 10 years, the ability to take photographs has blossomed to unforeseen heights.

Many, many of those photos taken have distracting backgrounds. Once a user digs deep enough into graphics editors, whether it's GIMP, Photoshop, or some other program, they will want to attempt to "clean up" those cluttered and distracting backgrounds. Anyone who has tried to remove a photo background will attest to how tedious of a process it is. In most cases, it takes minutes (if not hours) of painstaking work to satisfactorily remove a distracting background.

Well, thanks to an enterprising team of programmers out of Germany, you can remove the background of images in a matter of seconds, using an AI (artificial intelligence) algorithm. The new website is called remove.bg. The best way to illustrate its abilities is to provide an example. The image I chose to use as an example is a cell phone camera image of my two-year-old daughter, Lexi.

The original image is on the left, complete with a cluttered and distracting background. Within a matter of seconds of uploading the image to the website, the image in the center is displayed, with a download button beneath it. The image on the right is the downloaded image.

The resulting image is currently limited to a 500 x 500 pixel image, and the algorithm only works when there is a human face. The programming team hopes to enhance the algorithm to include objects, as well, like for product images. They are also hoping that they will be able to produce images at higher resolutions than 500 x 500 pixels.

Does it work? Mostly. In some instances, it's a bit too aggressive in removing the background. Notice how a good portion of my daughter's fine hair is missing on the left side of her face, comparing to the original image. In some instances, it's not aggressive enough. Notice the spout of the sippy cup on the table behind her is left intact. Some of the oak coffee table is left visible, too, between her arm and torso in the downloaded image.

Still, it does an admirable job. While I probably won't be able to replace the hair on the left side of her face that was inadvertently removed, cleaning up the areas where background was left remaining will take only very minor work.

If you're worried about privacy and the status of your uploaded original images, don't. Here's an excerpt from their about/fAQ page:

Your images are uploaded through a secure SSL/TLS-encrypted connection. We process them, and temporarily store the results so you can download them. After that (about an hour later) we delete your files. We do not share your images or use them for any other purpose than removing the background and letting you download the result.

Now, with the new image downloaded with a transparent background, I can place my daughter's image in other images. It will make it seem that she is somewhere that she never really was. Without a doubt, remove.bg takes the frustration and immense work out of removing backgrounds, speeding up your post processing work.

You can have all kinds of fun with this. Just be honest and tell your viewers that the image has been manipulated ... because, otherwise, they may not even realize it.

Debian's Anti-Harassment Team Is Removing A Package Over Its Name

On December 20, 2018, Michael Larabel, the founder of Phoronix, published an article that reported on a Debian package that was being removed from the Debian repository for violation if Debian's anti-harassment policies.

The package, Weboob (Web Outside of Browsers), is a Qt Python package that allows users to interact with a website without having to launch them in a browser. The original "complaint" was filed on August 14, 2018, in the Debian Bug Report logs.

As a result, the Debian Anti-Harassment Team made the recommendation to remove the "offensive" package from the Debian repository for violating the Debian Code of Conduct for needing to be respectful. The Debian project leader, Chris Lamb, has made the request for the package to be removed from the repository.

What's most interesting is reading the comments to the Phoronix article. As the posters there aptly and rightly point out, this is the start of treading a slippery slope. When will "manpages" be removed because it might offend someone? When will a program be removed because someone is offended by the programmer's politics or views?

This is what ALWAYS happens when social justice warriors target anything, for whatever reason. Sure, the name and anatomical references are childish. But is that reason for removal? Maybe Debian needs to remove the Linux kernel, too. This reddit thread from 2017 will illustrate the number of "offensive words" found in the Linux kernel.

What The EFF Learned About The Hemisphere Program After Suing The DEA

As the year draws to a close, so has EFF's long-running Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Drug Enforcement Agency about the mass phone surveillance program infamously known as "Hemisphere."

We won our case and freed up tons of records. (So did the Electronic Privacy Information Center.) The government, on the other hand, only succeeded in dragging out the fake secrecy.

In late 2013, right as the world was already reeling from the Snowden revelations, the New York Times revealed that the AT&T gives federal and local drug enforcement investigators access to a phone records surveillance system that dwarfs the NSA's. Through this program, code-named Hemisphere, police tap into trillions of of phone records going back decades.

It's been five long years of privacy scandals, and Hemisphere has faded somewhat from the headlines since it was first revealed. That was long enough for officials to rebrand the program "Data Analytical Services," making it even less likely to draw scrutiny or stick in the memory. Nevertheless Hemisphere remains a prime example of how private corporations and the government team up to help themselves to our digital lives, and the lengths they will go to to cover their tracks.

Here's a refresher on how it works:

Through the Hemisphere program, AT&T assists federal and local law enforcement in accessing and analyzing its massive database of call detail records (CDRs)--information on phone numbers dialed and received, as well as the time, date, and length of call and in some instances location information. More specifically, Hemisphere has access to telecommunication "switches" operated by AT&T that guide telephone calls. Because other providers use AT&T "switches" for their calls, the database contains call detail records regardless of carrier. The database has records concerning local, long distance, cellular, and international calls.

AT&T embeds employees with police agencies in at least three hubs: Los Angeles, Houston, and Atlanta. These employees run the software that searches and analyzes AT&T massive phone database. Cops (usually working drug cases) from around the country contact their regional hub to get the records, and federal officials can query Hemisphere without first getting permission from a judge. The system was reportedly especially useful for tracking people when they switched phones.

As shocking as this program was when it was first revealed, the secrecy surrounding it was just as outrageous. The media reported that law enforcement agencies are instructed to bend over backwards to keep Hemisphere from the light of day. That includes leaving the detail of its use out of arrest reports and court proceedings. Through a technique known as "parallel construction," after using Hemisphere, cops devise a second, more conventional way to obtain the information, and put that reverse-engineered method down on paper. The result is that law enforcement lies about the origins of its investigative methods, which also prevents individuals they target from knowing about, much less challenging, the surveillance.

With our lawsuit, EFF set out to shine light on this program, to free up documents, and to pry off redactions. Now we are releasing the final batch of more than 300 pages of records we freed up through our FOIA work. We have settled the case, with DEA reimbursing EFF $160,000 in legal fees. A judge has now dismissed the case, pursuant to the terms of a settlement. This was a hard-won victory by our legal team, Aaron Mackey, Adam Schwartz, and Jennifer Lynch, Senior Legal Secretary Madeleine Mulkern, and former EFF Staff Attorney Hanni Fakhoury.

You can read the "rest of the story" here.

Worst Passwords Of 2018: You Should Change Yours!

by Meemaw

Periodically, we update you on the current list of bad passwords. Security is important to all of us, simply because there are people out there who want to use our information to profit illegally. If there were no hackers and people could be trusted to leave others' private information alone, we wouldn't need passwords. Unfortunately, the perfect world doesn't exist, so we need to keep our own information safe from those crooks who want it.

SplashData does a list of the 100 worst passwords every year, and they have updated it this year as well. This list never ceases to amaze me, mainly because of some of the really weak passwords on it (121212...... seriously???) However, I'm just as guilty of it as anyone else, and I'm in the process of changing some of my oldest, little-used, weak passwords for sites I want to continue to visit, if only occasionally.

In this list, 2018 is on the left and 2017 is on the right:

parnote and others have done password-related articles for many years. They include the following:

April 2007: What's In A Password?

September 2009: Secure Passwords With openssl

March 2010: Secure Passwords Made Easy

September 2013: Password Security Revisited

November 2013: KeePassX: Not In The Cloud

February 2016: If Your Password Is On This List, Change It Now!

April 2017: Repo Review: Password Managers

July 2017: Weak Password? Five Ways To Generate Strong Passwords

January 2018: SplashData's 100 Worst Passwords Of 2017

To summarize best password practices, do the following:

- Don't repeat the same username and password on multiple websites.

- Longer, complex passwords are harder to hack and crack. Make your passwords 12 characters or more in length.

- Don't use information like birthdays, anniversaries, telephone numbers, names of wife/girlfriend, children and other family members that are personally identifiable.

- Don't use popular hobbies, sports, sports teams, or movie characters/stars, or anything else related to pop culture.

- Use a mix of letters, numbers and punctuation marks. Vary the case of the letters you use. An "A" and an "a" are not the same on the vast majority of systems.

I think we are all smart enough to generate our own passwords! However, if you need help you can search online, bearing in mind that it's not the most secure place you can search. If you Google "password generator", you will get tons of sites that offer to generate passwords for you. Some of them will even try to sell you security software for your Windows computer (which we don't need anyway). Here are a few:

Most of these are very easy to use: just put in the number of characters you want and what you want to use in terms of characters, then click the "Generate" button. Some generate one at a time, and some ask you how many you want generated. The images below are the first four in this list.

https://passwordsgenerator.net

https://lastpass.com/password-generator

https://my.norton.com

https://www.random.org/passwords

According to many sources, you shouldn't generate passwords online. It's better if you have a local app to do that. It's also better if you have a password manager to help you: that way it's local and not broadcast who knows where. If you do go online to get them, I suggest generating a bunch of them, and then combining some together. That way you have something a little more safe because it didn't come directly off the internet, letter-for-letter, so to speak. You could generate twelve 12-character passwords and then use the first character of each one as your password. That will still give you twelve passwords but not the ones that were generated.

Summary

One of the steps in keeping your information secure is to change your passwords often, creating longer, more complicated passwords (that don't appear on the list above!) If you have some older, shorter weak passwords, be sure to get them changed. You don't want your private information falling into the wrong hands!

ms_meme's Nook: Her Name Was Meme

OGG                                                             MP3

Firefox Updates Autoplay Media Control

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

In the June 2018 issue, I detailed how to prevent or stop multimedia elements from autoplaying in the major web browsers. If you're anything like me, you absolutely hate autoplaying media on webpages. It's one of those buttons for me that, when pushed, makes me see red. In many cases, it's cause enough for me to avoid using that particular website again. I want to be in charge of deciding what multimedia I want to see, if any at all, and when I see it. Call me old fashioned, but I'm not so lazy that I can't click on a multimedia element when I want to view it, if I so choose that I want to view it.

When I wrote that original article, Firefox was the ONLY web browser to give the end user total control over autoplaying media. The Google Chrome browser: forget about it. Opera: maybe, in certain situations. But Firefox put the end user in control, completely. Then, all you had to do was to change the Firefox about:config setting in media.autoplay.enabled to false.

Sometime in October, the Firefox developers made some changes to the settings that allow the user to control the autoplay of multimedia files. Imagine my surprise when, all of a sudden, after believing I had autoplay stopped dead in its tracks, multimedia elements started autoplaying again after upgrading to Firefox Quantum 63. Talk about feeling annoyed!

Ultimately, the changes made by the Firefox developers will give the user much more control over the autoplaying of multimedia elements. The changes should also stymie efforts by nefarious web developers to circumvent the end user's desire to not be subjected to autoplaying multimedia elements. So, in the end, the changes will empower the end user even more.

The quick and dirty way to stop autoplaying multimedia is to open Firefox's Preferences panel (hamburger menu > Preferences), and go to the "Privacy & Security" tab. Scroll down to "Permissions," then place a check in the box in front of the option to "Block websites from automatically playing media with sound." You may or may not find a dropdown list box that allows you to choose to always allow, ask permission, or never allow. If that's the case, choose the option you like best. I saw it once, before I made other settings, and now can't get Firefox to re-display the dropdown list box. I was still in "exploration mode" when I saw it, and failed to get a screenshot. At any rate, the above setting will achieve the exact same results, which are the ones that I am (and you probably are) after.

For full control, however, you will need to go deep into Firefox via the about:config settings. Once you've opened the config settings (and agreed that you'll be careful), type "autoplay" into the search bar.

The image above shows the default state of the autoplay flags, including the media.autoplay.enabled setting that we set to false last June. Note that this setting is no longer needed. You can right click on it and select "Reset." When you do, the entry will be removed upon a restart of Firefox. On my computer, I've just left it, since it's not hurting anything and is ignored. So, before we start to make wholesale changes, let's see what each of these settings do.

- media.autoplay.default -- Defines Autoplay behavior of the browser. Default value is 0.

- Value of 0: Autoplay allowed.

- Value of 1: Autoplay blocked.

- Value of 2: Prompt the user.

- media.autoplay.ask-permission -- Defines whether prompts to ask the user for permission to play media set to autoplay (with sound). Default is false.

- Value of True: Prompt is displayed in the user interface.

- Value of False: The Prompt is not displayed.

- media.autoplay.enabled.user-gestures-needed -- Defines whether user interaction with a page with autoplaying media with sound is required. Default is False.

- Value of True: The user needs to have interacted with the page.

- Value of False: Interaction is not a requirement.

- media.autoplay.allow-muted -- Defines whether autoplay of media without sound or sound muted is allowed. Default is true.

- Value of True: Autoplay of muted media and media without sound is allowed.

- Value of False: Autoplay of muted media or media without sound is not allowed.

- media.autoplay.block-webaudio -- Defines whether autoplay should block webaudio as well. Default is set to false.

- Value of True: Webaudio is blocked as well.

- Value of False: Webaudio is not blocked.

As best as I can tell, the media.autoplay.block-event.enabled setting determines whether or not the end user has the ability to block the autoplay of multimedia in Firefox's settings. Although I'm not sure why anyone would want to deny end users access to this setting, I might be able to see where system administrators could possibly have some interest in doing so.

So, after reviewing all the autoplay settings, the above image shows the selections I've changed (bold type) on my computer. And you know what? It works! I am now happily back in that place in my world where multimedia elements on web pages don't just automatically start playing. YAY!

There's rumors floating around that in future releases of Firefox, autoplay will be disabled by default. Now THAT will be a happy, happy joyous day for all Firefox users!

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner

Skillet Ravioli Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground beef

1 jar (25.5 oz) Pasta Sauce Italian Herb

1/3 cup water

1 package (18 oz) frozen cheese ravioli

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese (1 oz)

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS:

1. In 12-inch skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until brown; drain.

2. Add pasta sauce and water; stir. Add frozen ravioli; stir to coat in sauce. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and cook 8 minutes, stirring halfway through.

3. In small bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and parsley until well combined. Drop spoonfuls of ricotta mixture over pasta. Cover; cook over low heat about 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

4. Serve immediately.

Any flavor of frozen ravioli or pasta sauce works in this dish, so feel free to experiment!

TIPS:

Skip the meat for a vegetarian version!

Alternatives To Dropbox, Part 2

by Agent Smith (Alessandro Ebersol)

Continuing the series of articles on alternatives to Dropbox, I will present more options to Dropbox available in PCLinuxOS, and one that may surprise you (Telegram).

PCLOS Cloud

Login screen of PCLOS Cloud

A pleasant surprise, for PCLinuxOS users, is the possibility to enjoy the services of PCLOS Cloud. These services are offered free of charge by our good friend David (Mr. Cranky Pants YouCanToo, from the PCLinuxOS international forum).

The services available are as follows:

- PCLOS-Cloud - Cloud storage

- PCLOS-Talk - Electronic messenger

- PCLOS-Mail - Email account

- Mypics GraphicStor Image Hosting - Image hosting

- PCLinuxOS Knowledgebase -- PCLinuxOS wiki

Anyone who uses PCLOS and is a member of the international forum receives a PCLOS-Cloud account.

David manually checks every account request to check if the candidates are even forum members. If not, then they are rejected.

Once a PCLOS-Cloud account is configured, you can still retain it, even if you switch to a different Linux distribution. The only thing that becomes different is that its status is changed to non-user.

For now, this does not affect any accounts, but that may change in the future.

To obtain a PCLOS-Cloud account you must be a member of the PCLOS forum and follow the simple instructions to fill out an account request found at https://pclosusers.com/services-signup.php

Users receive 15 GB of free space on disk. They can also buy additional space, if necessary, for a small annual fee. This space payment is additional with your free space. Example: If you wanted 10 GB of additional space, you would have your free space of 15 GB plus the paid space of 10 GB for a total of 25 GB.

PCLOS-Coud can be accessed from anywhere with access to the Internet through its secure web interface at https://pcloscloud.com

You can also access it from your desktop using the nextcloud-client software available from Synaptic.

You can access your PCLOS-Cloud account on your Android phone using the nextcloud application.

For Apple products, you can get the app on the App Store.

Additional options for additional storage space:

- Additional         2GB - $ 1.00 / month.

- Additional       10GB - $ 10.00 / year.

- Additional       15GB - $ 15.00 / year.

- Additional       25GB - $ 25.00 / year.

- Additional       50 GB - $ 50.00 / year.

Users can get the extra space by requesting it at this URL:

https://pcloscloud.com/cloudstorage.html

Additional options available only for current users

David grants PCLOS-Cloud accounts to the wives of forum users if they request one, but they are listed as non-member. For now, they will need to send him a private message (PM) requesting this account. They need to provide a username, password, and an active email address to set up the account.

The subscription of PCLOS Cloud services can be done at https://pclosusers.com/services-signup.php.

Pros and Cons

URL: https://pcloscloud.com

Located in Lebanon, Oregon, USA.

Yandex Disk

application download screen

Based in Moscow, Yandex positions itself as Russia's answer to Google. It provides search, maps, a browser, an email service and a cloud storage service, the Yandex Disk.

I will talk about the Yandex Disk, which is the subject of this analysis.

Yandex Disk or Russian Google Drive, is an attractive option you can choose. It's a decent cloud storage that competes very well with Western companies. The price and plans of the Yandex Disk reach the middle class when compared to other cloud storages. There is a lack of sharing options, no version control system, and online support could be better. But if you ignore this and want cloud storage that is not accessible to US government agencies, you're in the right place.

However, while the portfolio is ambitious, at least in the case of the Yandex Disk, the product itself is half baked. Of course, the Yandex Disk includes some interesting features, such as Office Online integration, but these features are overcome by major errors such as lack of encryption on the server and no file versioning options (as mentioned above).

Yandex is a company that operates Russia's largest search engine, with around 60% market share in that country. If you're looking for a decent cloud storage service that limits US government agencies from accessing your files, Yandex Disk can be an attractive option. Keep in mind that download speeds are the best in Europe and may vary in other parts of the world.

However, one should take into account the fact that the Yandex Disk is based in a country where cybercrime lacks a hard enforcement and thrives quite a bit, the end result is a product that can be recommended, but with some caveats.

Features

Yandex Disk has applications for Windows and Mac, as well as a client for Linux. Mobile apps are offered for Android and iOS.

To install in PCLinuxOS, you will be directed, when you access the Yandex Disk site for the first time, to a download page, where you must download the file yandex-disk-latest.x86_64.rpm.

Installing by terminal, with rpm -ivh, will not be a problem.

The Linux client does not have a GUI, but its configuration is extremely easy.

After installing, you should create a folder (I called mine Yandex, but you can give it whatever name you want), and enter, by keyboard, this command $ yandex-disk token.

By doing this, the client will create an OAuth token by identifying your computer with the remote server of Yandex Disk and it will be ready to be started.

The next step is to type $ yandex-disk start -d /home/~/Yandex_folder/.

Then, the client will start working in Daemon mode, and will synchronize everything in the folder defined in the -d option.

Remember that you should always start the client, with the above command, for the synchronization to start. It can be placed in a .desktop file and also in an auto start, to automate the process.

By installing the application on your phone, you get unlimited storage for photos and videos, making it a decent cloud storage service for photos, though it's not the best choice for professional (or ambitious) photographers.

From the web browser, you can automatically view files as well as stream video and music. Yandex Disk is automatically integrated with Office Online, allowing you to create and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.

Uploads are limited to 2 GB per file, using the site and a WEB browser and 10 GB using the client software.

Sharing files with Yandex Disk

Sharing files with Yandex is somewhat limited. It does not offer many options like password protected files or setting expiration dates and such. You can share your files by creating a link that you can share with your friends via email, social media, or even create a QR code.

Your friend or co-worker does not need an account in Yandex Disk to view the files. He will need this to edit Word documents online, though. Well, he can always download the file, edit it on the computer and send it back to you. The first option is much easier, though.

There is also an option for you to disable the link that prevents someone from opening it in the future.

Pros and Cons

URL: https://disk.yandex.com

Located in Moscow, Russia.

Telegram

Telegram icon

Telegram is a cloud-based instant messaging and voice-over-IP service developed by Telegram Messenger LLP, a privately held company based in London, UK, founded by Russian businessman Pavel Durov. Telegram client applications are available for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Windows NT, MacOS and Linux. Users can send messages and exchange photos, videos, stickers, audio and files of any kind.

The Telegram client code is open source software, but the source code for recent versions is not always published immediately, while its server-side code is closed and proprietary. The service also provides APIs for independent developers. In March 2018, Telegram said it had 200 million monthly active users. According to its CEO, in April 2017, Telegram's annual growth rate was over 50%.

Pavel Durov, a radical libertarian, stated that what led him to create the Telegram service was to create a means of communication that the Russian authorities could not access.

Based on MTProto protocol, Telegram has already put Durov in several problems with the Russian authorities for not revealing the cryptographic keys of his application. He does, however, stand with the user, stating that any attempt to break the privacy of Telegram’s users will not thrive.

Durov can be considered a Zuckerberg of good, since he created the social network V Kontakte, and when he realized that the participation of allies of Vladmir Putin reached 88% in the company, decided to sell the remaining stocks and left Russia.

Telegram messages and media are encrypted only by client-server and stored on the servers by default. The service offers end-to-end encryption for voice calls, and end-to-end encrypted "secret" chats between two users online, but not for groups or channels.

Now, how to use the Telegram for storage?

Simple, you can send messages to yourself. You can then attach any type of file to yourself, or share it with your Telegram contacts. Across all devices on which the Telegram application is supported, with no file size limit.

Pros and Cons

URL: https://telegram.org/

Located in London, England.

Well, I hope you'll enjoy this part of this series of articles on DropBox alternatives. More next month.

Greetings and see you there!

GIMP Tutorial: Helpful Tips You Might Already Know

by Meemaw

There is so much in GIMP, and we have such fun using it! When we first started, we learned a few tips to make our work easier. In my visits to the GIMP Learn Forum, I saw a thread called Absolute Beginners Tips and thought I would illustrate a few of the tips. You may know these already, but I hope you can learn something new. I have added the name of the person who posted it.

"When having many layers in your work and you need to see only a layer. You can close all of the eyes less the layer needed by pressing Shift and the layer eye at once. The same action to get to recover the whole open eyes." (Issabella)

I have, at times, had so many layers in my creation that I lost track of the one layer I need to be working on, or see so much, I can't concentrate on that one layer. Hold down the Shift key, and click on the eye on the left side of the layer you want to work on, and the rest of them will disappear. I clicked on the eye on the fifth layer down (while holding down the Shift key) and now that is the only layer that is visible.

"One that for me makes things a little easier is the small icon at the extreme top right of your work area, when clicked the image is enlarged to fill the screen." (Steve Reid)

I already knew this, but it bears repeating. It's really easy to click on that corner icon and enlarge your image to the size of your work area.

"When you save an .xcf, all the layers and paths you have made are kept. This is good if you have done a project that you might use again. Also you can play with the layers and alter the images any way you wish." (Pat625)

I have this .xcf file of some planets I did a few years ago. I have changed it a couple of times, redoing the planets when I wanted, but I have kept two of the planet layers and the starry background. If I were to merge those layers, I couldn't edit the image nearly as much as I can if I keep the layers intact. I can always export any image I want to keep.

"One thing that you want to keep in mind is that if you merge a layer, and you close the work or Gimp, you won't be able to get that layer back. I don't know if I explained clearly, any layer you merge or any effect you put on a layer, you cannot roll it back when you close Gimp. Even if you save your work." (Conbagui)

Put another way, anything you do in GIMP can be undone (even merging two layers), as long as GIMP is open. When you close GIMP, your undo history is deleted and you can't go back to anything you did before you saved and closed GIMP.

"You can 'swap' layers between opened images without destroying or 'losing' layers. You may wish to practice this by creating two images open at the same time each with 2 colored layers and by holding down a left click of the mouse on any layer, drag it over the other image to activate it and release the mouse - now your first image still has 2 layers, your second has three." (RJKD)

I didn't know you could do this! I can see where it would be helpful if you were working on something tricky, and opened two versions of the same file by saving it under a different filename, then opening the original again as well. To illustrate though, I have opened a photo of a local bike trail where I walk, and also an image of the PCLOS pinwheel.

Duplicating the layer on the pinwheel, I will grab one layer and transfer it over to the photo. Click on the layer image (in the layers dialog) and drag it over to the tab with the other image. The image in your workspace will change and the layer you are dragging will be there.

When you release your mouse button, the layer will be in the image.

"Hold down the mouse scroll wheel and you can pan the canvas - by keeping it depressed and moving the mouse." (RJKD)

Well, now, I have learned something else as well!!! If you are zoomed into your image and want to move to another area, just press your scroll wheel down and hold it, then move your mouse. Your canvas will move and you can move anywhere on it you wish. Make sure it's your scroll wheel, because if you forget and try to do it with your mouse button, you'll just move a layer that you probably don't want to move.

It's amazing how much you can learn on forums! I shouldn't be surprised, judging by how much I have learned in our own forum! I hope you have learned something as well.

ms_meme's Nook: You're Invited To The Sandbox, Honey

OGG                                                             MP3

PCLinuxOS Bonus Recipe Corner

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds Flank Steak

1/4 cups cornstarch

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoons minced Garlic, Cloves

3/4 cups Soy Sauce

3/4 cups Water

2/3 cups Brown Sugar

1 cup grated Carrots

green onions, for garnish

Instructions

Cut flank steak into thin strips. In a ziplock bag add flank steak pieces and cornstarch. Shake to coat.

Add olive oil, minced garlic, soy sauce, water, brown sugar and carrots to slow cooker. Stir ingredients. Add coated flank steak and stir again until coated in the sauce.

Cook for high 2 - 3 hours or on low 4 - 5 hours until cooked throughout and tender. Can serve over rice and garnish with green onions.

Serves 4 - 6

As Another Year Ends, The Cyberthreats Continue

by phorneker

Another year just past, and we have survived a years worth of cyber threats, starting with the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities found in Intel chips produced since 1998, resulting in a mass scale updates to operating systems everywhere, ranging from the kernel updates to Linux (PCLinuxOS included), the BSD series (including TrueOS), and even ArcaOS (the OS/2 successor), to Microsoft and Apple scrambling to patch security updates to mitigate the problem.

But what really happened as far as PCLinuxOS is concerned? This forced us to update the kernel(s) installed in our PCLinuxOS installations, and reminded us of the importance of keeping software up to date.

One thing is clear as far as the technology scene in the consumer market goes, while Microsoft still dominates the desktop, it is no longer the threat it once was to our freedoms we have enjoyed for the past two decades. This can be attributed to the following:

- Desktops and laptops with Apple's Mac OS-X installed as well as laptops with Google Chrome OS installed (better known as Chromebooks) continue to be offered in retail outlets such as Best Buy and OfficeMax. (PCLinuxOS can be installed on these machines as well.)

- Microsoft's contributions to the Linux kernel.

- The massive patent releases by Microsoft to the open source community. Enough said here.

- Applications such as Visual Studio Editor and PowerShell available for Linux (the latter a standard part of Windows 10).

- The growing popularity and use of smartphones as a primary device for Internet access.

That brings us to the next topic: the current state of cyber threats.

Cyber threats have been around throughout the history of computing. Remember the Milwaukee 414s? Back in the early 1980s, a group of teenagers broke into some high profile computers, not to cause havoc, but for the thrill of challenging the security of computers at that time. During that period, a movie called WarGames and starring Matthew Broderick, was released showing the vulnerabilities of the technology we had at the time. That movie is now being remade to reflect the current state of cybersecurity.

Richard Stallman describes the real meaning of the term "hacker" as follows (from his personal website):

In June 2000, while visiting Korea, I did a fun hack that clearly illustrates the original and true meaning of the word "hacker".

I went to lunch with some GNU fans, and was sitting down to eat some tteokbokki , when a waitress set down six chopsticks right in front of me. It occurred to me that perhaps these were meant for three people, but it was more amusing to imagine that I was supposed to use all six. I did not know any way to do that, so I realized that if I could come up with a way, it would be a hack. I started thinking. After a few seconds I had an idea.

First I used my left hand to put three chopsticks into my right hand. That was not so hard, though I had to figure out where to put them so that I could control them individually. Then I used my right hand to put the other three chopsticks into my left hand. That was hard, since I had to keep the three chopsticks already in my right hand from falling out. After a couple of tries I got it done.

Then I had to figure out how to use the six chopsticks. That was harder. I did not manage well with the left hand, but I succeeded in manipulating all three in the right hand. After a couple of minutes of practice and adjustment, I managed to pick up a piece of food using three sticks converging on it from three different directions, and put it in my mouth.

It didn't become easy--for practical purposes, using two chopsticks is completely superior. But precisely because using three in one hand is hard and ordinarily never thought of, it has "hack value", as my lunch companions immediately recognized. Playfully doing something difficult, whether useful or not, that is hacking.

I later told the Korea story to a friend in Boston, who proceeded to put four chopsticks in one hand and use them as two pairs--picking up two different pieces of food at once, one with each pair. He had topped my hack. Was his action, too, a hack? I think so. Is he therefore a hacker? That depends on how much he likes to hack.

As we can see, the term "hacker" is used to describe a person who likes to explore ideas (not just technology) and build upon or improve those ideas. This is definitely not the definition of "hacker" as presented by mainstream media and its propaganda.

Today, we have a new class of cyber criminals, and they are not there to challenge the security mechanisms for the thrill of it. They are there to steal your money and (worse) your identity.

But who are these people? That is unknown at this time, and these people would prefer it stay that way.

One thing we do know, these cyberattacks have come in the form of data breaches (apparently at least one a week) and malware (including so-called "fake applications"), but more recently, the attacks are targeted less on desktops and laptops, and more on smartphones, mainly Android devices, though Apple's iOS has its vulnerabilities, too.

Some of these attacks come in the form of stealth installations of malware, especially with fake applications being submitted to Google Play. Fortunately, the latter is being mitigated by Google at this time.

So how has this affected PCLinuxOS? Not much. The decision to not support systemd was one of the best decisions ever made. As Android is based on Linux, and that Android is now the preferred platform for cyberattacks, it makes sense that systemd would also be targeted.

I will make one important point that should be addressed in the tech sector.

At some point, we need to find out who these cyber criminals are, if it isn't already too late. While much has been done to warn the public about these vulnerabilities, what exactly is being done to find these people? As far as we know, not much if anything.

Also, while it is a very good idea to change your password, it will not stop cyber criminals from doing what they do. Remember the data breach involving Target a few years back? This was done by intercepting credit card and debit transactions in real time by breaking into Target's internal network of POS terminals and credit card readers without using a password, but instead using an open TCP port!

Google Play and Apple's App Store are two examples of online application stores that have been doing what they can to keep malware from infiltrating their product offerings. When it gets to the point where it is very difficult to accomplish this, there will be no choice but to shut the stores down.

I replaced my aging flip phone with a Kyocera Cadence (also a flip phone), and despite being a Android device will not allow installation of applications from Google Play. Yet, the phone will update itself. How? Kyocera provides updates to the system software in the form of system images not unlike virtual machines we make with VirtualBox. These images are stored on an internal server at Kyocera, and are accessed only through Kyocera phones (such as the Cadence).

Now, for my first prediction. A major change in the smartphone market took place.over the last two years as cellular service providers announced the elimination of 3G service. For those who use smartphones for their cellular service, this is of no concern. However, for those of us who use a feature phone, or a flip phone, this meant at one time a requirement to switch to a smartphone for continued service. Tracfone (and its other branded services such as Straight Talk and SafeLink) customers who use these types of phones were the most affected by the elimination of 3G service as Tracfone utilizes the towers of AT&T and Verizon for their branded service.

As a result, new flip phones are being developed that use the 4G LTE service. The first new flip phone to come out was ZTE's Cymbal, available on Verizon Wireless and on Tracfone. This flip phone is the first phone that is a cross between a smartphone and a flip phone. As with most any smartphone, you can install applications from Google Play. However, not all applications are compatible with this phone because of the hardware design.

My new phone is actually the first flip phone to be powered by Android, but the second on the consumer market. The Kyocera Cadence was introduced last January as a flip phone designed for enterprise users of Verizon Wireless services.

Verizon made the decision to market the Cadence to consumers as the result of the success of the ZTE Cymbal. The Cadence is marketed as a back to basics flip phone that brings the flip phone user to the world of 4G LTE service without having to buy a smartphone.

Where security and privacy is a concern, the Cadence provides a reliable and affordable solution. The fact that Android applications cannot be installed on this phone is a good thing, and hence could well present a precedence for other phone manufacturers (got that Samsung) to do likewise.

Hence, my first prediction for 2019 is there will be more cellular phones in the consumer market that cannot have external applications installed, ensuring that your data and personal assets are kept personal and confidential, the way it should be.

Verizon Wireless now allows tethering on its prepaid as well as postpaid service plans (featuring plans that have 3G or more of 4G LTE data, including their Unlimited plans).

This means that phones that use Verizon Wireless service (including my Cadence) can be used as 4G LTE modems on PCLinuxOS! (This will really help out in a pinch if you lose your home Internet service to unforeseen circumstances.)

My next prediction makes reference to the 1983 film WarGames. In the movie, Matthew Broderick's character used his ISMAI computer (which recently sold at auction for $25,000) to break in to various computers, to find out what new video games were being developed at a Sunnyvale, California software company (presumably Atari, which was a major developer of video games in that era). Among computers he broke into were the school district's mainframe (to change his grades, and that of his girlfriend at the time), and an airline's network (to book a flight to Paris), before he managed to break into NORAD (the supercomputer built during the Cold War as our missile defense system). He only found out about the impact of what he had done was after a newscast story about the NORAD breakin was broadcast, and after the FBI came to arrest him.

So how do today's cyber criminals stay undetected? They do not brag about such activities in public. That is how some of the earlier cyber criminals got caught.

For my second prediction, I state this. No matter how careful or how much stealth these people practice in their activities, at some point, someone is going to make a mistake (even a small but critical one) that could blow the whole operation out of the water.

Hint, it will not happen in Russia (or the Ukraine for that matter) or China.

Why do I say this? Look no further than the recent headlines regarding social media.

Over the past two years, there has been one scandal after another regarding Facebook, with the most recent (as of this writing) being the enabling of 150 plus companies being able to access private messages from Facebook users. As far as I am concerned, Facebook cannot and should not ever be trusted. Period.

Even if the US Congress does not legislate new privacy laws, the European Union has already sanctioned the social media services for violations of their data privacy laws.

My next prediction, the US Congress (both House and Senate) will legislate so-called data privacy and security laws, which would effectively do nothing new as they would be a rewrite of existing laws regarding privacy.

If you really want a look at what could happen, simply watch the James Bond thriller "Tomorrow Never Dies" (on DVD or whatever streaming service has that film).

PCLinuxOS Family Member Spotlight: drmarwat

As told to YouCanToo

What is your name/username?

My name is Saleem Khan. My username is drmarwat

How old are you?

I am 49 years old.

Are you married, single?

I am married.

How about Kids, Grandkids (names and ages)?

I have one daughter, Samavia Khan. She is 18 years old.

Do you have pets, what is your favorite?

We have 3 cats, they are our children, Mikkuh, Pippi and chichi, all three are best.

Are you retired, still working and if working, what do you do?

I am working as a psychiatrist.

Where do you call home? What is it like? IE: weather, scenery ?

I call my home town Lakki Marwat as my home, it is a desert vast land, peaceful and serene. I love it when I'm there.

Lakki Marwat, Pakistan Population: 36,391

Lakki Marwat or Lakki is the headquarters of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Persian Water Wheel at Gambila River

Where did you go to school and what is your education level?

I completed my education from different cities and did my M.B,B.S from Khyber Medical College, Peshawar and have completed my postgraduate fellowship training in psychiatry from CPSP, Pakistan.

What kind of things you like doing? hobbies, travel, fishing, camping?

I have lifetime hobby of collecting pens and old watches, watching paranormal documentaries, interested in forensic psychiatry and doing Linux.

Why and when did you start using Linux?

I started using Linux in year 2000 , out of curiosity and out of boredom with Windows, found RHL (RedHat Linux) and later on played with SuSE for a while, then discovered PCLinuxOS V 0.92 and then Arch Linux. I've used PCLinuxOS since that version and Arch Linux since 2009. My Arch Linux installation from 2009 is still alive and working perfectly.

What specific equipment do currently use with PCLOS?

I am using PCLinuxOS on my two laptops and a desktop pc. The laptop is a 64-bit Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2410M CPU @ 2.30GHz.

Do you feel that your use of Linux influences the reactions you receive from your computer peers or family? If so, how?

Of course it does, everybody is impressed and come to me for fixing their issues mostly related to Windows viruses , my laptop is something unusual for everyone, they look at my Linux installations (PCLinuxOS and Arch Linux, which I triple boot with Windows 10 ) as something very unique, some think I am using some kind of Apple MacBook!

What would you like to see happen within PCLOS that would make it a better place. What are your feelings?

I want this distro to live despite all the odds. I would want to grow older with it.

PCLinuxOS Family Member Spotlight is an exclusive, monthly column by YouCanToo, featuring PCLinuxOS forum member. This column will allow "the rest of us" to get to know our forum family members better, and will give those featured an opportunity to share their PCLinuxOS story with the rest of the world.

If you would like to be featured in PCLinuxOS Family Member Spotlight, please send a private message to youcantoo, parnote or Meemaw in the PCLinuxOS forum expressing your interest.

Vudu: More Free With Ads Movies

by Paul Arnote [parnote]

In last month's magazine issue, I told you about YouTube's "new" Free With Ads movies. Well, they aren't the only ones around. Vudu has also added a LOT of "Free With Ads" movies to their website.

Vudu, based in Santa Clara, CA (USA), was started in 2007. They sold set-top boxes dedicated to their service, offering on-demand streaming of over 5,000 movies. In 2008, they started selling their set-top boxes in Best Buy stores. The second day of the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, Vudu announced that it was no longer shipping its set-top boxes, and instead would partner with select HDTV and Blu-ray player manufacturers to access its service. Their main market is the U.S. and Canada. One month later, in February 2010, Vudu was purchased by Walmart for a reported $100 million (U.S.).

Users in the EU will be unable to access Vudu, thanks to the GDPR. That is, unless you are in the EU and you use a VPN server that is based in the U.S. or Canada to connect to the service.

Just like with YouTube, you can watch movies on a pay-per-view basis, and there is a very large selection to choose from. You will need to setup an account with Vudu, which is free. You will also be asked to provide credit card information (for your future purchases), but there is an option to "do it later" if you don't want to provide credit card information. I successfully "skipped" this step by opting to "do it later," since I was only interested in the free content.

Firefox users will be disheartened to learn that I was unable to playback movies on Firefox (and in all honesty, my preferred browser). The Vudu site works just fine, up until you go to playback a movie. I didn't dig too deep into it, but changing my user-agent didn't change anything regarding Firefox's ability to playback movie selections. So, it could have been a plugin/add-on I have in Firefox (or don't have) that impaired its ability to playback movie selections. But, I didn't dig deep enough into the issue to be able to say with any degree of certainty that was happening.

So, I tried the Vudu service in the Google Chrome browser, where everything worked perfectly and as it should. Playback was effortless and easy. Since I really don't use Google Chrome unless I'm faced with a situation like this, my copy of Google Chrome is devoid of any add-ons (honestly, I never took the time to set them up, or I would, minimally, have ad blockers and other assorted add-ons installed).

My five year old son, Ryan, loves the old Gumby shows. So, he was happy when I played The Gumby Movie (1995) for him, which was a "free with ads" selection (image above from near the end of the movie). The movies have options for SD (Standard Definition: 480i or 480p) or HDX (High Definition: 1080i or 1080p). For whatever reason, the HDX option would not play on my computer, but the SD version played just fine. The image was sharp, crisp and clear. To be honest, he watched a lot more of it than I did, but I didn't notice any ads displayed during the playback of the movie. There was a 20 or 30 second ad prior to the playback of the movie, but just a few hours after the playback of the movie, I can't even begin to tell you who sponsored the ad or what it was about.

Vudu definitely has YouTube beat when it comes to the sheer numbers of movies that it offers under the "Free With Ads" option. YouTube just started their service in October with 100 top tier movies. I didn't count the number of "Free With Ads" movies on Vudu, but it was WAY more than 100 top tier movies. Of course, as I disclosed in the December YouTube article, there are even more "B" movies on YouTube that you can view in their entirety, without any kind of ad interruptions.

Vudu calls their "Free With Ads" service "Movies On Us," which was launched in 2016. This means that Vudu launched their "Free With Ads" service a full two years before YouTube. With Vudu not being a site I would ordinarily use or travel to, it's no wonder that their "Movies On Us" free service flew under my radar. Their "Movies On Us" service is a true cross-platform service, available on most computer and mobile platforms.

Linux users are accustomed to having plenty of choices. It's choices like this, coupled with "competition" among streaming services (discounting Hulu getting rid of their free, ad supported service in 2016), that make "cutting the cord" from cable and satellite programming services possible and feasible.

For what it's worth, the "free" Hulu service has been replaced with Yahoo! View, which allows you to view the last four episodes of popular shows on U.S. broadcast TV (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, etc.). Since I rarely (if ever) watch the programming from the major U.S. broadcasters, I can't find anything of interest there that appeals to mine or my family's viewing habits. They also offer some "movies" that you can stream on Yahoo! View. But, when I pulled up the list of free movies on Yahoo! View, there wasn't a single movie listed that I had heard of or recognized. I had better luck with the "B" movies on YouTube. At least I had heard of some of them, and even recognized a few of them. But, if the programming fare of U.S. broadcasters is your cup of tea, Yahoo! View might be of interest, especially if you missed an episode from the last week or two.

So, happy viewing. It's nice to know that there are plenty of choices out there.

PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

Scrappler

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

Sudoku

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

Crossword

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

WordFind

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

Cryptograms

From the computer of ms_meme:

Everyday I work the daily crosswords and cryptograms in the paper. I like the cryptograms as they are wise/silly sayings of famous people.

The magazine article about secure passwords made me think of the cryptograms. We have people in the forum who are always posting famous/wise/silly sayings.

I have made a few into cryptograms, and hope our readers will enjoy them.

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

Screenshot Showcase

Posted by hurricane, December 28, 2018, running KDE

Posted by Mr. Cranky Pants - YouCanToo, December 2, 2018, running KDE

Posted by Meemaw, December 22, 2018, running Xfce

Posted by tuxlink, December 7, 2018, running KDE

Posted by Only Human, December 12, 2018, running e23

Posted by parnote, December 6, 2018, running Xfce

Posted by piratejumbo, December 11, 2018, running KDE

Posted by plambi, December 23, 2018, running KDE

Posted by smileeb, December 5, 2018, running LXDE

Posted by tbschommer, December 5, 2018, running KDE

Table of Contents

From The Chief Editor's Desk

Short Topix: New Website Removes Photo Backgrounds In Seconds, For FREE!

Worst Passwords Of 2018: You Should Change Yours!

ms_meme's Nook: Her Name Was Meme

Firefox Updates Autoplay Media Control

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner

Alternatives To Dropbox, Part 2

GIMP Tutorial: Helpful Tips You Might Already Know

ms_meme's Nook: You're Invited To The Sandbox, Honey

PCLinuxOS Bonus Recipe Corner

As Another Year Ends, The Cyberthreats Continue

PCLinuxOS Family Member Spotlight: drmarwat

Vudu: More Free With Ads Movies

PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

Screenshot Showcase

Unnamed

Russia

Unnamed