Manly Hanley Podcast

### Starting another Podcast I'm a professional when it comes to anxiety. Professional sufferer. I deal with it in ways that allow me to function. * Keeping busy * Working hard * Drums * Talking to someone or out loud Anxiety happens in the past or future. It's not always rational. Conclusion - I feel that talking about the biggest problem in my life could help others, and maybe even myself. ### Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. Follow [Randrums](https://twitter.com/randrums) on twitter and Instagram

### Intro Hello everyone and welcome to the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover. This is Season 6, Episode 1 I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax. This Episode was recorded on Monday, February 19th, 2024 --- ### Amazon's standards just seem lower #### Repetitive overpromise and underdelivering I order Amazon all over the country for different people, and myself included, so this is not limited to one region in the USA. The pattern goes a bit like this. The item shows that it'll arrive next morning if you pay the $35 minimum. Most things I buy on Amazon will be above that amount. If I really need the item, and my total isn't $35 or more, I'll often add something to my cart that I'll be ordering very soon, anyway. More times than not, the next day, I'll get the "Running Late" shipping status on that item, which eventually changes into "Tomorrow by 8 pm" or something along those lines. This is not okay. This is a company I'm also paying a subscription to every year. I now find myself finding anyway I can to order items through other companies that will deliver, even without a yearly fee. One that comes to mind, strangely, is Walmart. And their delivery times have never overpromised and underdelivered for me. I don't want to order from Walmart, but here I am doing so. --- ### Amazon Plans to Charge for Alexa? Good luck with that. It'll probably work, if people fall for it, as I'm not surprised if they do. As most of us have been conditioned into having our money siphoned away to a subscription or Software as a service, Amazon would like to take advantage of that condition by manipulating us into paying for Alexa. Do you honestly want that overpriced oven timer in your kitchen, if it now wants to siphon a recurring monthly fee out of your account? #### What is Amazon's excuse for the potential cost they'll be passing onto users? Amazon's Senior VP of Devices - Dave Limp - (Great name) - Believes a paid service is inevitable until Alexa becomes "superhuman" enough to justify a monthly fee. No. Just be a fucking oven timer, or you're outta here. I do have more faith in people that I give the general public sometime. I will guess that many people are getting sick of subscription services leaching off their every pore. ### Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. Follow [Randrums](https://twitter.com/randrums) on twitter and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/randrums/)

This is an update as to what's going on with my life and why I have not been posting. It's good news! Please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven't already done so: https://youtube.com/randyhanley Also be sure to follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/randrums Lastly, be sure to subscribe to https://RandyHanley.com for some awesome reviews and updates regarding cool technology.

Since the beginning of this Podcast, I had been searching for the perfect note-taking app. I've tried dozens, starting with OneNote, Obsidian, a billion Linux-specific apps, Notepad, Notepad++, etc. The one I've used the longest has been Trilium. Many of the platforms were just great, but didn't hit every want I had with the process of creating a post. They required too much configuration time than I had available. As for my "Content Management System" I did land on “HUGO” as my favorite static site generator, but I wanted something that allowed me to manage the mess of content files that I'd eventually encounter when creating the documents. The absolute best I could find was the Front Matter extension for Visual Studio code. Is it perfect? Nope, but I've settled on it being the best possible application for my needs at this time. It allows me to scan folders in Visual Studio Code and set them as content directories, and then fill in the tedious meta data with no effort. That's a time saver! I like saving time - and this Extension brings content-creating functionality to an app that did not have it. Follow Randrums on twitter

I was excited to have received an email from the YouTube Team, congratulating me on 500 subscriber. Also, what is next for the Manly Hanley Podcast?

Great reasons why Decluttr is the best option to sell your sell phone on sellcell.com. Also, ways to not get ripped off. Site: https://sellcell.com - Lets you compare the amount of $ different companies will pay you for your cell phone trade-in. My preferred vendor from that site: Sell My Stuff | Sell Stuff Online | Decluttr

Why I purchased this when I have less free time than ever before. I bought a Streamer X. It's simple Does what I need. It takes the work out of having to tweak computer settings. Spending $400 on this thing will pay for itself in the amount of time I save. I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. Follow Randrums on twitter

Trilium is My Reliable Note-Taking App It has not failed me once. This is in reference to backups. It has never crashed on me. I have it open for about 12 hours every single day. Open Source for the win. All of the other wins for this app are listed on their GitHub Page. I don't ever plan on ditching Obsidian.md as another note-taking app. That community is growing so quickly. I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow Randrums on twitter I still use other note-taking apps.

1. Clicking on suspicious links or pop-ups that can lead to malware or phishing scams. 2. Not using strong passwords or reusing the same password across multiple accounts, which can make it easier for hackers to gain access. 3. Failing to keep their software and antivirus programs up-to-date, leaving them vulnerable to security breaches. 4. Sharing too much personal information on social media platforms, which can be used for identity theft or cyberbullying. 5. Falling for fake news or misinformation, which can spread quickly on social media and other online platforms. 6. Not using two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of security to online accounts. 7. Downloading software or files from untrusted sources, which can contain viruses or other harmful malware. 8. Using public Wi-Fi networks without a VPN, which can leave personal information vulnerable to hackers. 9. Not checking the privacy policies of websites and apps, which can collect and sell personal data. 10. Not using ad-blockers or other tools to limit online tracking, which can be used for targeted advertising or other invasive purposes. Follow Randrums on twitter Check out https://randyhanley.com

### Plans for the Manly Hanley Podcast in 2023 - The Podcast will continue! - I had a busy 2022, and this year is even busier - having 2 children enter this world. Twins are a lot of work, but also fun. - I will do more episodes than last year. I did a whopping 14 episodes last year, and 28 episodes in Season 3. I'd like to see myself do at least 28 episodes this year, therefore doubling last year. - I will continue with my episodes leaning toward free software, privacy, and talking smack about (some) subscription services. :-D - Staying true to my word and using more open-source software for producing my content (Less Adobe Spark/Creative Cloud Express, and more). Lately, it's been Krita (a digital painting application), but may also be from GIMP, which I also love. - This is a hobby, and I'm excited to make more content for anyone that can benefit from it. ### Some Other Topics I Likely Will Cover - Even though I tend to focus on entry level Linux topics, Open Source Software, and talking smack about greedy (in my opinion) subscription services, I may also touch on: - Chat GPT and other Creepy AI that will be replacing us - Interesting News Headlines / Primarily tech-related. - Odd facts that you didn't know. I promise, not too Clickbait-ish! - Health and diet. ### Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. - Follow [Randrums](https://twitter.com/randrums) on twitter

Intro Randy Talks about Twitter, other tech news, and tech hype. FBI was paying off Twitter. It likely happened. The guy that owns it is presenting the data. Look up Michael Shellenberger on Twitter. It was brought up that Apple was originally thinking about removing Twitter from the App store. Elon Must was even talking about Apple potentially removing Twitter. That got squashed really quickly - it came out that Twitter never ever considered removing Twitter. It just feels like yet more toxic information spread by the corrupt news media. People announcing they're leaving Twitter. An example would be the St. Louis Mayor, Tishaura Jones. November 24th was her last Tweet. The media is running with this story that Wikipedia called the suspension of some Twitter journalists' accounts "The Thursday Night Massacre" "As Elon Musk Logs on as the New Boss of Twitter, Thousands Are Logging Off For Good." - I be the writer of that article really thought they hit a home run with that one...Similar to me making a dad joke. Google Chrome Getting Memory and Energy Saver Modes Not sure if this feature is going to help free up memory when Google tries to prevent you from blocking ads that you don't want to see. Google doesn't care about your internet experience and are using you.Here is the TechCrunch article that talks about only the good parts of Google's shady practices. Apple Maps is Better Than Google Maps Apple Maps has come a really long way. It used to be the worst. Now, I think it's the best, since Apple doesn't bank on selling every piece of information about you like Google does. Does it annoy me that Apple Maps is locked to only Apple devices? Yes, that's the main thing that I can't stand about Apple - Their overpriced App Store (for shoppers and authors), and their walled garden concept. I do think that, in the long run, the company that survives by selling it's users, will lose. Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. Follow Randrums on twitter

### Why guarantee an income to some company that is taking advantage of you, and will cut you off, with no measure of loyalty? - Subscription services are not just getting out of hand, they had already gone too far, many years ago. - These companies know you're programmed to rent things from them, and they're abusing this power. [Ever since the pandemic, those services are being purchased more than ever.](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/03/why-subscriptions-are-hard-to-cancel/623885/) Remember that, unlike with media that you used to purchase, when you stop paying, you have nothing to show for what you've been paying for years. - YouTube Premium, for years, was $18/month for a family plan, but is going up to $23/month next month. They said this price increase will "help them to develop more premium features". [Source for this BS.](https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/youtube-premium-family-plan-price-increase-1235411355/) - Supporting Data/Reference - Case Stud/Example/Anecdote - Conclusion ### Cancel this garbage and stop wasting money - Start small, and maybe cancel one or two things a month. - Every month, look at your credit card statement, and find another recurring cost for something that you don't get to actually keep. Maybe it's Amazon Prime, Adobe Creative Cloud, Netflix, Paramount +, Disney, HBO, or billion other ones I won't waste your time mentioning. - Try experimenting with signing up for a trial with different credit cards, email addresses, only when you're in the situation of needing that service. A good example would be watching TV Series, or Movie on YouTube TV. You could sign up for their 2-week free trial at the point, watch the series, cancel service, and not owe a penny. They don't deserve your money when you're not using it. - We are used to paying for services that are actually necessary, such as "water, gas, electricity, and other utilities. Why on earth do we contribute to these monthly expenses with entertainment?" Source: [DataDrivenInvestor](https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/monthly-subscriptions-are-taking-over-the-world-and-i-dont-like-it-4e30ff092107) - The writer in the DataDrivenInvestor article mentions that, for the price of 3 months of the full Adobe Bundle, you can buy Affinity's full collection of software with lifetime updates. Affinity makes great photo and vector-editing software. - If it really adds that much value to your life, buy it. You do you.

### Intro Hello everyone and welcome to the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover. I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax. This Episode was recorded on Sunday, November 13th, 2022 ___ ### Tools or Servers I Run to Avoid Big Tech Tracking and Selling my Data - A Pixel Smartphone running [GrapheneOS](https://grapheneos.org/). - Android and iOS track the hell out of you - out of the box. - Apple tracks you a bit less out of the box than Android does. - GrapheneOS allows you to avoid a lot of Google tracking on Google's own phones. - GrapheneOS is a custom ROM/OS that you can flash to most Google Pixel smartphones. It allows you to avoid using Google Play Services/Framework/Store. You can use multiple user profiles to (for example) setup your work apps where you might want to use Google services, and then perhaps a personal account where you block everything related to Google. It's brilliant. - I've not seen an easier-to-install Android ROM than GrapheneOS. Their installer works right in the web browser, and it's solid: Worked on the first try for me when plugging in my phone and following their guide! I was blown away; Flew right out of my chair. - There are some downsides that you might know about until you try it out, such as not being able to use Android Auto. If you want something to be highly-secure, you're going to have sacrifices. If someone tells you otherwise, they're lying. - [Wallabag](https://www.wallabag.it/en) - An Open Source "Read it Later". It extracts only the article's content and places it into a nice view. It even lets you highlight areas of the content that you're extracting and add notes! - They mention that they don't store data on US servers. They write: "Because **your data belongs to you**, we don't want to store them on US servers. That's why we only chose European partners, like [Online](https://www.online.net/fr) (french web hoster), [MailJet](https://www.mailjet.com/) (french emailing service) or [PayPlug](https://www.payplug.com/) (french payment solution)." - It's important to note that, this solution is still great in that you can host it on your own US server, since it's open source. I do what I want with my server. The coolest thing is that you can export your data from Wallabag and reimport it into your own instance. This would be great if you wanted to sign up for their service as a trial, end the trial, and move the data to your own server. Amazing!

### Announcements I'm back! I'm excited! Subscribe and follow for more to come! ___ Follow our Podcast - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. - Follow [Randrums](https://twitter.com/randrums) on twitter

Intro Randy shares some updates regarding this show's scheduling and what's to come! Why there are less episodes, and what is to come. Work is busy But I do take my opportunity at work to learn anything new I can and scavenge through any of that new information to feed into show content. I've been working crazy hours, visiting with family and enjoying every-day life. I've still released a few Linux videos here and there on my YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/randyhanley - Please check that out and subscribe there. I'm much more active there than on Twitter. One of my recent Linux videos regarding Pop!_OS has just under 6,000 views as of this episode. I hope to cover more Podcast episodes regarding open-source software, because I really see things moving in a darker direction with companies such as Microsoft releasing Windows 11 and trying their hardest to force everything to the cloud in an attempt to track you in every way possible. Let me make this clearer - They don't give a fuck about you or your privacy.

### Intro Randy has landed back on Linux Mint and discusses why you should try it out. ___ ### Linux Mint is so polished and stable - The desktop decoration is not over-the-top but looks darn good somehow. - I really have not much more explanation of it. It comes with some simple wall papers and a basic theme and it looks great. It's easy on the eyes for all types of websites, dark or light. - Just try it. Trust me. [Home - Linux Mint](https://www.linuxmint.com/) Follow our Podcast - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. - Follow [Randrums](https://twitter.com/randrums) on twitter

### Intro Randy gives some reasons why we need to use Linux ___ Announcements - I've moved the entire studio back into the basement; This is not just my desk and recording gear, but drums, drum mics, PA System and mini blue couch. ___ ### Why we should use Linux - It survives while being free. - The source code is accessible. Windows and MacOS will not Open Source their code. I speak of Linux openly because I'm referring to both the Desktop and the Server versions. - There are constant issues with Windows and MacOS breaking things during their upgrade cycles. - A few years ago, MacOS dropped 32-bit application support during the Catalina upgrade and broke tons of shit. MacOS Monterrey broke a lot of users' file paths in apps such as Dropbox and OneDrive. - Microsoft often breaks stuff with Windows update, sometimes it might be an activation issue (greed). - You can trust software that is free. - If you listened to my last episode I gave some reasons on why you can't trust Adobe and their greed. Do you think their software is open source. Heck no. - There is so much software to try, almost anything you think of, so you won't go broke when trying/scrapping different installs. - Package management is superior in Linux. - The fake "Windows Virus Detected" messages that pop up in the browser don't even apply to you. - No drivers to install (for the most part), aside from NVIDIA. - Linux is easier to install than Windows, and much easier to than MacOS. - You can "TRY" Linux. In 2022, we still don't have a Live USB environment for both MacOS and Windows. ### Here are my recommendation to get started on trying multiple distributions - Get a USB Stick, perhaps 32GB in size or larger. They're extremely affordable as of this writing. - Go to the Ventoy site at: [Ventoy](https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html) - Ventoy makes it very easy to make a bootable USB disk that you can put tons of ISO (Disk Images) on and select them from a menu during boot time. Follow their guide and try it out, I highly recommend it. - Now that you have a Multi-Boot USB, start adding your ISO (Linux distribution downloads to it. (The Ventoy site shows you how to place them on the Disk..just drag and drop or copy/paste)) - Download all the LInux distros you'd like - go crazy, it's free! - Once you boot up your Ventoy USB drive, you can then select from the menu any of the distributions you've downloaded.

Intro Hello everyone and welcome to the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover. I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax. This Episode was recorded on Easter Sunday, April 17th, 2022 I witness Adobe products crashing (Dozens of Instances) on a weekly basis. Their software policing (greed) hinders the software's stability.Shit-tons of services/processes running even with just an Acrobat DC Standard install. 2 weeks ago, EposVox (The Stream Professor/Young man that knows a hell of a lot and makes some amazing master classes) announced he was leaving Adobe Premiere.(131) I never thought I'd leave Premiere... but I did. - YouTube Their cloud-based installers suck. I find my self (often) having to download the full/offline installer in order to get a base package to install. Then, of course, it needs to update to the latest version that isn't in the offline installer because, why in the hell would they want to keep that up-to-date? That would make too much sense. The Solution? Stop Feeding Adobe Make them starveUse Open Source, alternative products that are transparent, and don't take advantage of their users. Donate to those open source projects that you're benefiting from, if you feel like it. Check out some crowd-sourced/recommended alternatives to Adobe's software at: AlternativeTo - Crowdsourced software recommendations Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. Follow Randrums on twitter

### Intro Are skilled trades dying? ### Skilled Labor Shortage - No notes for today, just commented on this source: https://esub.com/blog/impact-skilled-labor-shortage-construction/ - Also, this source: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210318005265/en/U.S.-Skilled-Trades-Labor-Shortage-Heightens-as-In-Demand-Jobs-Remain-Unfilled-the-Longest ### Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. - Follow [Randrums](https://twitter.com/randrums) on twittered

Randy discusses whether or not distro-hopping can be a problem for Linux users. ___ ### What is Distro Hopping? - Not settling with any particular Linux distribution. - Novice Linux users are likely the ones that do this the most. - Do you actually learn or grow when hopping. - There are articles on how to stop distro-hopping, and find one that you can stick with for decades - On particular article is from MakeUseOf.com that mentioning how there are so many distros out there that it may seem like a nearly-impossible task of finding the best one. - Source: [How to Stop Distro-Hopping and Find the Perfect Linux Distro for Yourself (makeuseof.com)](https://www.makeuseof.com/stop-distrohopping-find-perfect-linux-distro/) - It talks about distro hopping like it's almost a drug addiction. Maybe it is. I've been using Linux to close to 15 years and still would consider myself a novice user. - Think about why I distro-hop in the first place. - Looking for a stable system? - Best eye candy? - Rolling release distro that is always cutting-edge? - What are the major issues that I run into with a distro - and is is really a deal breaker that causes me to hop to another? - The solution may just be listing your needs and preferences, according to MakeUseOf. - Here are some that I can think of for myself to look out for to start: - Absolutely necessary applications that can replace what I did in Windows or MacOS. - Best package manager for me. - Fast, snappy desktop operations. - Awesome U.I. - Since there are so many distros out there, take that list that you made and see what aligns with closely with the next distro that you want to hop to. Maybe this could be my last hop. ### Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. - Follow [Randrums](https://twitter.com/randrums) on twitter

### Reasons to switch to Linux - Linux developers patch security holes faster than Google, Apple, and Microsoft. - Linux security holes are patched in an average of 25 days. - Apple 69 days - Microsoft 83 days - Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-project-zero-finds-linux-developers-patch-security-holes-faster-than-anyone-else/ - You can still use a lot of the tools that you use in Windows - or there is a comparable alternative. - Microsoft Edge even runs in Linux. It's actually one of my favorite browser for using in the corporate world. You can sync your bookmarks/passwords, etc to your corporate account. You also sync them to a free Microsoft Outlook or Hotmail account, for example. - It's free - and doesn't have ridiculous licensing enforcement/greed that MS/Apple have. - You can run the "latest" version of Linux on just about any computer - Microsoft is about to enforce some terrible restrictions on even their "Pro" version of Windows 11 - and that's that they will not allow account creation without have a Microsoft account. This is pretty tyrannical. You realize that you own your computer, right? This is bullshit and nobody should put up with this. This means that in order to use your computer, Microsoft has to know about it first or else you can't use Windows 11. - Source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/02/new-preview-build-adds-microsoft-account-requirement-to-windows-11-pro/ - You have a package manager. - Go ahead on your Windows computer. Think of a piece of software you'd like to install. Go to the website, find the download area, save it to your computer. Run the installer, complete the install, delete the installer file - By the time you thought of the piece of software you wanted to install, a Linux user was already able to install it, no cleanup needed. - Linux distributions, since I can remember over the last 15 years, have always had this, sort of, App Store. The difference with this "store" is that everything in this repository of software is free. - Your downloads folder won't be full of bloated installers that you forgot to delete like on your Windows machine. Sure MacOS reminds me to delete installers, often. Package installing is still easier in Linux distributions that have a repository, which is most of them. - Useful apps are already preinstalled. - In Windows and MacOS, you don't typically start out with a fully-functional Office Suite installed. In Linux distributions, you do. - Every Linux distribution and every spin or flavor of those distributions have their own software selections that their creators chose. - You can Run most Linux distributions off of a USB stick (Try before you buy). - This is how I started using Linux in 2005. It was on a CD Rom, though. But, since i couldn't write to that CD Rom, I couldn't save data to it. It was enough to play around with Linux to then decide if i wanted to install it to my hard drive. On the CD Rom, there is an Install launcher that made it so simple! Follow our Podcast - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. - Follow [Randrums](https://twitter.com/randrums) on twitter

Learn if livestreaming is for you, as well as what is needed to get started today! ___ Announcements Randy is a YouTube streamer/gamer - Minus the Red Bull. ___ ### Why would you want to Livestream? - I feel like it makes the creator or business more vulnerable or approachable to their audience. - When you see some big names do a Livestream, or even a planned Zoom session, it makes them feel more down-to-earth. - In these types of sessions you can learn from each other. It's almost like a team-learning environment such as cheerleaders, a sports team, or even a band; You may have one person (the presenter, i.e. the coach) that gives the information, and the attendees or team can process that information, correct themselves personally and amongst one another to gain that knowledge. - They're not limited in capacity like an in-person event would be. - Feedback can be logged and that can only help you improve your business. - You can Livestream just about anything. Video gamers have been doing this for quite some time. - I actually just got into game streaming and it really is a lot of fun, no matter what age you are. There are games for every age. If your Video game system has an HDMI port (all modern ones do), there is an easy way to stream it. ### What do you need to get started? - A computer or smartphone. - It's hard to find a computer without a webcam and mic built in. The same goes for smartphones. - A computer's built-in webcam usually has garbage quality, but is still good enough to start doing a livestream. A smartphone's camera (as long as the lighting is good in your surroundings) is usually many times better than the camera on most laptops and even desktop (external) webcams. - If you see that livestreaming is going somewhere, you can then invest in studio-grade equipment. Try to buy things that you can use in and outside of your streaming setup. - A high-quality microphone. If you listen to the older episodes of my podcast, you'll almost think that I'm against USB microphones. When compared to XLR microphones, they're still mostly inferior - sort of like how your iPhone Pro Max cannot compete with something such as a Black Magic cinema 6k camera. Not even close. - However, USB microphones are only going to get better, due to their convenience of being so easy to just plug and play, and will avoid you needing a separate mixer or audio interface outside of your computer. - Bandwidth - If you're planning on using just your smartphone to livestream, if you have a generous data plan and good cellular coverage (4G or 5G), you're probably already set to stream. - If your home internet connection is garbage, you should consider upgrading with your ISP. - Don't use WIFI. Use Ethernet. Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments.

I'm not the only older gamer According to Statista, gaming is not only enjoyed by the younger crowd like it once was.The distribution of gamers in the United States by age shows: 38% of gamers are in the 18 to 34 year age range, 14% in the 35 to 44 year old, 12% in the 45 to 54 age. For the younger gamers, under 18, they only make up 20% Statista source link: https://www.statista.com/statistics/189582/age-of-us-video-game-players/ Some similar year stats, but for the UK: https://ukiepedia.ukie.org.uk/index.php/Player_Diversity_%26_Demographics $68.7B is what Microsoft paid to acquire Activision. In short, they own almost everything. Deals like this one show just how big the video game industry really is. More insight on the Microsoft/Activision deal: https://www.polygon.com/22890012/microsoft-buys-activision-owns-franchises-ips-call-of-duty-blizzard Sony and Microsoft currently make the most-powerful consoles, both capable of 4k gaming, and also Ray Tracing technology. They both also support game streaming and cloud gaming. It doesn't necessarily matter how powerful and modern your gaming console is, though. For instance, Nintendo entered this new decade still sell the same platform they have been since early 2017 Do you want the most powerful system? Nintendo Switch's graphics would be what I'd called "Diet HD"The Nintendo Switch does 720p graphics. Your phone likely has a much higher resolution than that. 720p is 1280 x 720 resolution. The Sony Playstation and the Xbox Series X can do Ultra HD Resolutions. 3840 x 2160 (4k) is the resolution you're dealing with here. Additionally, the PlayStation and Xbox can often do 120Hz refresh rate. This means that you'll notice a drastically smoother motion in your gaming. I've you seen 120Hz in motion on your screen, you'll notice that it's silky smooth. https://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-one-120hz Today, these screens are totally affordable too. you can get 65" Sony 4k, 120Hz television for $800 (The Sony X85j) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WJMSS8H/ref=twister_B095C5FPKM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 If you're not in a hurry to buy a system, but really want a great console, such as the PlayStation 5, I recommend you sign up for their waiting list. You basically create a free PlayStation account and then get in line. https://www.playstation.com/en-us/ps5/register-to-buy/ If you're impatient like me and don't mind paying a little bit more, you can look online on places such as Craigslist, and can buy it from someone there. They'll usually be hiking the price up around $100 bucks, but keep in mind they they're going to charge you sales tax that you'd pay from a retailer - $499 + tax. We have 6% sales tax in Michigan, so you'd add another $30 on top of that price.If you're buying from someone that can provide proof of purchase, and hand you a sealed product, maybe it's worth your while to buy if.

In this first episode of 2022, Randy gives you 10 reasons to start your podcast 1. Freedom of Speech - Many platforms will nuke your content if it goes against their guidelines, or even just their ideology. One example would be YouTube nuking episodes of the Joe Rogan Podcast, where he interviewed a co-inventor of mRNA technology, Robert Malone - [Youtube scraps Joe Rogan podcast episode over Nazi comparison (nypost.com)](https://nypost.com/2022/01/04/youtube-scraps-joe-rogan-podcast-episode-over-nazi-comparison/) 2. So much easier than editing/rendering video. - Maybe it's because I'm a permanent noob when it comes to editing video. I just don't like it or really ever do it; And that's just HD 1080p video. Now that everything is moving to 4k and even 8k, you'll want to close your eyes when you realize how much computing power and time it takes to edit such big files. Editing audio, is still the same in 2022, as I remember it 20 years ago. A WAV or FLAC audio file will sounds totally adequate with the highest-quality video file. 3. Much less expensive than video equipment. - I'd like to buy a 4k video camcorder, or a least a good 4k mirrorless Camera. When you start to get into the "good" ones (prosumer or higher), they easily jump over 2 grand, with lots of sellers on Amazon gouging on the price, by adding crappy gizmos as a bundle, then jacking the price of the camera up. I'm not exaggerating at all. It's not as bad as buying an NVIDIA card on Amazon though. Just . . . buyer beware. - Audio Equipment is much less expensive. You could even start with just your phone if you'd wish, although it's much more worth you and your listeners' while to have a quality, tried and true mic, such as the Shure SM7b, and a simple recording interface. Just buy it, and be done with it: iPhone and USB Microphone quality cannot compare. Think of it as comparing an iPhone camera to a professional mirrorless camera - We're getting close, but not there yet. 4. The computer you already own is "good enough". 5. You can add video anytime. Audio, alone, is a good way to test the water. 6. Uploads take much-less time with audio than video. 7. Interviews = Less setup for the person you're interviewing. 8. Monetize when you're ready. - You don't have to wait for YouTube's ridiculous requirements for the ability to monetize your "video" channel. You need at least 1,000 subscribers, and 4,000 watch hours in the last 12 months. With your podcast, as soon as you feel like your show is getting some traction and has some listeners, you can start reaching out to potential sponsors. 9. It's easy to cross-post your episodes with podcasting. 10. Backups are a breeze. I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. - Follow [Randrums](https://twitter.com/randrums) on twitter

Intro Randy mentions 5 Open-Source Applications that you need to check out right now. Open Source Alternatives to Paid Software Dark Table is free alternative to Adobe Lightroom. Site: features | darktableOn their website, they describe it as a "virtual light table and darkroom for photographers". It allows for non-destructive editing throughout its complete workflow, and also has GPU-accelerated imaged processing. It runs fast as heck in my demoing of the software. It runs on MacOS/Linux/Windows. I have no experience with photography touch-ups. I grabbed a photo off the internet and used Dark Table to tweak the brightness and a bunch of other settings and ended up making the photo look better than the original. This software made it very easy! Audacity is an open source cross-platform audio software. Site: Audacity ® | Free, open source, cross-platform audio software for multi-track recording and editing. (audacityteam.org)In a recent update to Audacity, they improved project loading time, making it 50x's faster! What can you do in Audacity? You can record audio through a microphone that you have plugged into your computer. You can import, export, and edit audio. Audacity even supports plugins such as VST, which could introduce pro-level effects if you purchased them and them enable them in Audacity. When you edit audio in Audacity, you have a unlimited sequential "undo" and "redo". This program is a beast and is worth installing on any computer. Blender 3.0 is a free and open source 3D creation suite that supports the modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering compositing, motion-tracking, video editing and game creation portions of the 3D pipeline; Everything, as far as I understand. Like the other software I've listed above, it runs on MacOS/Windows/LinuxI understand nothing about 3D animation or modeling ,etc. However, if I were to want to learn about it, I could look up some of the many YouTube tutorials and try it at least find out if the passion for this was truly in my soul. I wouldn't feel like a fool that's out of $100s of dollars after buying an expensive software, to later learn that I'm not into it. They have some cool show off videos on their YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=92&v=QRqY_20ti9A&feature=emb_title Krita is a free/open source application that allows users to create digital art files from scratch. Site: Krita | Digital Painting. Creative Freedom. Krita runs on MacOS, Windows, and Linux. Some notable features are that it allows you to import videos and GIFs as Krita animations. It's a really nice-looking application in my opinion, and sometimes has a Photoshop vibe in my opinion. It even has a built-in recorder to create video clips out of your painting progress. Obsidian is a free knowledge base on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files. Site: Obsidian I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. Follow Randrums on twitter

Randy talks about some the rip-offs that are seemingly becoming the norm, and also why your mobile phone is never as secure as you may think. YouTube TV Cuts Price this time, only ecause they have to. - YouTube failed to reach a deal with Disney (ABC News Live, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, SEC Network, and ACC Network.) This according to Ars Technica's write-up. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/12/youtube-tv-loses-espn-abc-and-all-other-disney-owned-channels/ - Long story short: Google wants networks to treat YouTube TV like a bigger network and give them good price. - One user, Sterlingdax, commented something interesting regarding the price change: `Not a subscriber, but if one can get Disney for $14, but YouTube is knocking $15 off current bills, doesn't it make sense to subscribe direct, or am I missing something?` - SolomonRex wrote: `This is why I've stuck with sling. $30 with ESPN, hgtv, food network, TNT, etc, and I have an antenna for ABC, etc. works great for me.` Toyota making users pay $8/month for an unconnected service (remote start) if they want to continue using it. - Even Toyota wants a piece of that subscription service pie, even without really providing a service. Absolute bullshit. Hopefully, people think and speak with their wallets and don't encourase this bad business practice. This makes me think of the idea of the "Great Reset" that has been floating around and muttered but the World Economic Forum: "You will own nothing and you will be happy". No, that's incorrect and that sounds like some sort of neo Feudalism. I don't rent. I own. People need to stop empowering tyrants. Ars Technical source article: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/12/toyota-owners-have-to-pay-8-mo-to-keep-using-their-key-fob-for-remote-start/?comments=1 Stop supporting "Fill-in-the-blank-As-A-Service" ### # Reuters reveals U.S. State Department phones hacked with Israeli company spyware From Reuters - "NSO software is capable of not only capturing encrypted messages, photos and other sensitive information from infected phones, but also turning them into recording devices to monitor surroundings, based on product manuals reviewed by Reuters."" - There was a graphics processing vulnerability that Apple fixed in September. But, before that, people's smartphones could easily be infected. Since prior to February iPhone were able to be taken over by receiving a deceptive iMessage request to the device (it was invisible!). That mean the user had no chance to accept or deny anything. The NSO surveillance software, known as Pegasus, could be installed. I'm glad that Apple at least sued them. Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-us-state-department-phones-hacked-with-israeli-company-spyware-sources-2021-12-03/?utm_campaign=Reuters%20Best%20Weekly_NWSLTR_NEW_GLOB_B2B_2112&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&utm_content=B2B%20211209%20NEWS%20GLOB%20REUTERS%20BEST%20AWARE%20NWSLTR%20WEEKLY

Randy talks about a Google Pixel repair nightmare and also about the negatives of Amazon's continuing world domination. This News Edition Episode was recorded on Sunday, December 5th, 2021 Meta, The train wreck formerly known as Facebook isn't happy about having to undo a deal and sell off the $400 million dollar Giphy that they paid for, 19 months later. Meta's failed Giphy deal could end Big Tech's spending spree | Ars Technica $400 Million is a massive amount of money, but compare that to the $19 Billion they paid for WhatsApp, $2Billion for Oculus VR, and $ 715Million for Instagram. When people send GIFS, it's likely they're either using Giphy, or Tenor (a platform owned by another monopoly, Google - Is Google a Monopoly? (marketrealist.com). ) How was the purchase stopped? The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) rules the they must sell all the GIFS, according to ARS Technica. Usually these big purchases don't get fully-stopped like this, and they're asked to just pay some fine and asked to be good, etc. My opinion? I think it's great to bring any attention to big tech trying to grow even larger than the cancer it has already become. Amazon is avoiding the supply chain mess by using their own ships and long-haul planes. Amazon has been investing into these private ships and planes, behind the scenes, for a few years nowEven with their shipping powers, Amazon has encountered a 14% rise in items that are out of stock, with 25% average price increase. In 2020, amazon spent $61 Billion on shipping, compared to $38 Billion in 2019. Source: How Amazon beats supply chain chaos with ships and long-haul planes (cnbc.com) Google Pixel repairs have allegedly started a privacy nightmare. A video game designer sent in her Pixel 5a to be repaired by Google at a facility in Texas, only to find out that someone allegedly hacked her device. Google told her they never received the phone, where she was then charged for a replacement device. The woman mentioned having FedEx tracking information showing it arrived, and she received the refund.Here's where things got weird, though. Somehow, it seems someone began to clear her two-factor authentication checks (which could only be done from the old phone), and logged into her Dropbox, Gmail, and more. Photos were stored in those accounts of her in bathing suits, dresses, and having stitches after surgery. If you've used Google accounts, you'll know that when you log into a device on a different machine, you'll get a security alert to your Gmail. Well, the person using her email deleted those. If this is all true, it's alarming and disgusting. Google Pixel repairs resulted in leaked pics and a privacy nightmare - The Verge Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. Follow Randrums on twitter

Randy's first "News" Episode discussing Italian guy with the fake vaccine arm Man wearing fake arm for the wrong reason. - A man in Italy put on a fake arm and got the vaccine. I mean, religious exemption bro? That's taking it a bit far, wouldn't you say? - He paid 100's of euros for the silicone prosthetic. - The person giving the shot said, "initially the arm looked similar to skin" But after taking a closer look, they asked him to remove his shirt, in which the man then tried to "persuade the health worker to turn a blind eye" He did comment that it was well-made. - Source article for above: [Italian man tries to dodge Covid vaccine wearing fake arm | Italy | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/03/italian-man-tries-to-dodge-covid-vaccine-wearing-fake-arm) Megadeth Launches Crypto Coin - It's trading at 53 cents as of Friday and it's traded as $MEGA - Megadeth's plan for the cryptocurrency is that fans will have premium benefits when using it, such as unlocking exclusive content, special tour access, Q&A's, hangouts with the band, and special items. - Source is on their website! [Megadeth Megadeth Coin Is Here](https://megadeth.com/news/2021/mega-coin-is-here/) Closing Remarks I'd like to thank you for putting time aside to listen to the podcast. Follow our Podcast - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Send me an email with any questions or comments. - Follow [Randrums](https://twitter.com/randrums) on twitter

Intro When it comes to the internet, Randy describes areas of security and privacy that you need to know about. - Privacy and Security on the Internet - What's the Difference? - Security - Think of it as keeping your data safe. In IT, there are many different areas of security such as Newtwork/Endpoint/Application/Computer security. I have a rather short and simple opinion on security. You don't need paid antivirus software anymore. You just need a brain. - If you're regularly downloading malicious files online, needing a virus message alert preventing a potentially harmful piece of software from executing on your computer - you probably could just benefit from a few intro videos to internet security / cyber saftey. It really makes a world of difference. I am fortunate to have worked for companies and IT departments that ONLY survive on saftey and ensuring customer and internal data is locked up tight. You lose that data, you lose the confidence of the people you're contracted under, people you work with internally, and maybe even in your own abilities. "You Should be Ashamed!" Privacy, Think of it of kind of an on of off thing. Your ability to reveal only the data that you want. If more data about you is revealed than you would like, then that means you don't have as much privacy as you probably should have. - Maybe you don't want full transparency to strangers, anyone outside your family. Maybe you don't have to be on social media that makes all of it's money selling your data. - Source: [Difference between Security and Privacy - javatpoint](https://www.javatpoint.com/security-vs-privacy#:~:text=Difference%20between%20Security%20and%20Privacy%20%20%20,free%20%20...%20%204%20more%20rows%20) Ring doorbell? This has been coming up as the tech gift question every year. Terrible It's feeding the mesh network of Amazon spy devices. I won't get into the details on this episode, as I talked about Amazon sidewalk a ways back. Short answer, don't buy the damn thing and opt out.. Opt out from not buying it in the first place. - Nextdoor.com? Delete your account. It's not worth it. I tried it a few years back when it was fresh. To me, it just seems like a honeypot for more accurately-targeted marketing. - In their Privacy and Safety policy section within the "[Privacy and safety on Nextdoor](https://help.nextdoor.com/s/article/privacy-and-safety-on-nextdoor?language=en_US#:~:text=Nextdoor%20does%20not%20tolerate%20violations%20of%20privacy%20or,call%20911%20or%20contact%20the%20relevant%20local%20authorities.)", they state that "don't tolerate violations of privacy or threats to someone's physical safety" You know who else doesn't? The police. You dont' need a next door account. Sign up if you're bored and need more things to look at though. (sarcasm) Last week I sort of covered a good way to clean up some lingering data, and improve your online privacy. [[E23-Things-Will-Not-Get-Betta-with-Meta#^ef9bd0]]

Facebook will fail. You Meta belive it Facebook has an absolutely pathetic past with respect to data and privacy.Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal - Wikipedia Facebook apologises for psychological experiments on users | Facebook | The Guardian I keep seeing things online about the "Meta-Verse" and "Seeing your world in the meta-verse". I can't see myself ever "seeing my world through" a company that regularly censors facts. Examples? You can basically do a wildcard Google search and find endless cases that have been either archived or screenshot to show where Facebook prevents the search of topics they find "dangerous" or some bullshit they'll use to defend their censorship.What do I think about Censorship? Sure there are bat-shit crazy people out there and they're probably wrong. But, let people decide on their own to not listen to them, that's what I want, anyway. I think the real danger is a company like Facebook, aka Instagram, aka Messenger, aka WhatsApp, aka Meta. There is an interesting site you can check out that can give you a good idea of your digital footprint. It's called Mine - The Future of Data Ownership (saymine.com) I plugged in my gmail address that I used as my primary email address for about 15 years and found (according to their search) that 468 companies are holding some sort of data on me.You can then have the results drill down a b it and list all of those sites that "have your data" and display the date in which you joined their service. Even my MySpace account was on there. Next, you can drill a bit deeper and then request they remove your personal data - very cool! I recommend you going through all of the results and then only removing the ones you haven't used in a long time and don't plan on using. There are obviously going to be ones on there that you will want to keep. For instance, USPS shows up on there, because that's a site I intentionally registered for with that email address, years ago. MINE works by scanning your email's subject lines to find companies of which they've previously studied the privacy policy of. Yes, it's companies you signed up for. So almost all of the companies that have your data are just the ones you signed up for with your email. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com

Intro Randy talks about how he is dropping his life-long habit of inhaling abnormal amounts of caffeine. Why I drink so much caffeine: - It's a stimulant and feels very good to help focus while in front of a computer, for often 12 hours a day. The problem with the caffeine amount that I drink is that coffee is often 3 x's the amount found in a soda. For example: an 8-ouce cup of coffee has between 95-200mg of caffeine. - For comparison, a 12 ounce can of soda has 34-45mg - 8-ounce energy drink: 70-100mg - 8-ounce cup of tea: 14-60mg Why I'm cutting Caffeine - Increases blood pressure - Increases release of acid in your stomach - It may interfere with the absorption of calcium in the body - Apparently there is synthetic caffeine that's added to some medicines, foods, and drinks. I did not know this. I probably just assumed that those companies were just finding the natural caffeine and then extracting it and adding it to different things. - Source for all of that above information - [Caffeine: MedlinePlus](https://medlineplus.gov/caffeine.html#:~:text=What%20are%20caffeine%27s%20effects%20on%20the%20body%3F%201,in%20the%20body%205%20Increases%20your%20blood%20pressure) - The side effects kind of concern me. There are the obvious side effects like staying awake, but there are others such as anxiety, dehydration, and rapid or abnormal heart rhythm. - When looking on Mayo Clinic's site, they write a "TLDR" version that says you may want to cut back if you're drinking more than 4 cups of caffeinated coffee a day and have side effects such as headache, insomnia, nervousness, irritability, fast heartbeat, muscle tremors. Don't take it with Ephedrine (commonly found in decongestants), may increase risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, or seizure. - If you drink caffeinated tea, you can cut down on the brew time to lessen the caffeine content. - Mayo Clinic source for above info: [Caffeine: How much is too much? - Mayo Clinic](https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-20045678?p=1) Follow our Podcast - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com

Intro Randy recommends software that doesn't lock you in. Software That you can install and feel that you somewhat have control over. not babysitting you. If you've listened to this podcast for the last year or so, you'll probably know by now that I'm not a fan of software with a shut-off switch: e.g., All Adobe Software, Windows (yeah, you can enter your product key, but it always wants to speak to the manager on the internet.) Here are a few that I recommend. 7zip - can extract so many different types of compressed archives, and does it much faster than the built-in Windows zip compression. GIMP - (GNU Image Manipulation Program). This program has been around for 25 years, is powerful, and completely free. It doesn't need a resource-hogging update service in the background like Adobe uses to make sure you're paying the Adobe recurring monthly tax. Syncthing - It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time. Greenshot or ksnip - Both receive regular updates and are open source. I personally like the annotation features of ksnip much better, especially how fast the blur tool works where you can blur out sensitive information in a screenshot. Greenshot is by far more popular, but ksnip is solid and I think I may like it better. Obsidian - I should have mentioned this as my episode announcement because it was a big move for me that I finally accomplished. I was able to trash OneNote at last. Paired with Syncthing, I've never had as good of a syncing experience as I have with my Obsidian notes. I can open and instantly sync my notes on Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS. This already beats OneNote for syncing capabilities. For people that are big into graphing things, thoughts, ideas, Obsidian has an amazing ability to graph out the thoughts and knowledge. You can easily find out how one subject relates to another. Picture these Atom-looking nodes on your screen, where you can highlight over any node to see it's connections. Something that the Obsidian team mentions on their website that really caught my attention was sort of hidden at the bottom. They mention something that I've sort of felt all along regarding proprietary data, and how it compares to data that has the freedom inherited from being open and or open sourced. They mention "In our age when cloud services can shut down, get bought, or change privacy policy any day, the last thing you want is proprietary format and data lock-in." mRemoteNG - Multi-Remote Next Generation. I love this tool. If you have machines that you remote in to regularly, you should give mRemoteNG a try. Think of it as a remote desktop tool all within one window, sort of like modern, tabbed web browsers, except each tab is a different remote connection within mRemoteNG. The protocols that mRemoteNG supports are RDP, VNC, SSH, Telnet, HTTP, rlogin, Raw socket connections, and PowerShell remoting. It's open source and you can trust it. I've been using for nearly 10 years. Free software make me feel like my computer is much less dirty and further from being corrupted from greedy software vendors.

Randy explains why your smartphone is not smart Think of what your smartphone can do when you remove it's connection to the internet. - Not much. Were made to rely on cloud services. This puts the real power in big businesses' hands. I believe a smartphone could be renamed to something like "Only-as-smart as the internet Phone". - When's the last time you remember downloading your actual music file to your phone or music player storage? You probably don't. You most-likely use a music "SERVICE" to basically rent a listen from your overlords. If their server goes down, you don't have much, or even nothing at all. Your smartphone is just a tote controller to whatever subscription you currently have. - Most smartphones do not come with an SD card slot, just like laptops no longer include a DVD writer or Blu Ray drive. You will own nothing, bit if you want to, you can try to find a store that will still sell you physical goods or a downloadable file. Respect to the services out there that still let you download music file. I'm not sure If it's the minimalist or environmental mindset that seems to push this trend. Hispters still like records, so who knows. - People always seem to worry about mainly "how good the camera is". Get a real camera and snap some pictures. It won't be long before you realize a dedicated camera can slaughter the one in you smartphone. - On Reddit, some users argue that phones are are not worthless at all: "Having a device that works as a camera, phone, calculator, crappy flashlight, mp3 player, alarm clock, compass, along with access to the internet and various apps that fits in your pocket is incredibly useful."...Ok, fair point, but "smart"phones have accomplished all of these items for almost 2 decades - Couldn't I just argue that one could carry around an iPod touch instead? - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com

Intro Randy weighs the options of starting your own social network, vs joining a paid operation that guarantees your privacy. The main Social Media Sites (Facebook, Twitter, TikTok) are garbage - Dumpster fires for Privacy. My solution that has worked well is to not use them, while experimenting with my own! You don't necessarily have to have a home server setup like I do Find a super-affordable web host (I've done that for this week) because I've tried about half a dozen. A2 Hosting is my now favorite, killer choice. I know a lot of techies out there would probably recommend against shared hosting, but it doesn't hurt to try it out. It's the best shared hosting I've seen. They office Softaculous auto installer for your websites that you host with A2. It works amazingly-well and saves you from all the steps that you'd do when hosting from your home network. Plus, you don't have to worry about network security as much as you would if you were hosting from your basement like I do. The installer has some social Media apps, notably HumHub, which is flat-out awesome. Or you don't have to host your own site at all. You could sign up for an account with something such as Zion, which is a social network built on Bitcoin. Another one is MeWe. Both Zion and MeWe have something that Facebook-Instagram, Twitter, Google, TikTok, etc ,etc don't: The ability to guarantee that your data isn't being sold. My conclusion is going to be that, while those privacy-centric networks I've mentioned are awesome and worth trying, the person that you likely trust the most is yourself. It's just a matter of whether or not you'd like to get your hands dirty with this kind of work. In my opinion, privacy with a side of learning is worth it! Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com

Hello everyone and welcome to the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover. I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax. This Episode was recorded on Monday, September 6th, 2021 Reasons you need to ditch Google Chrome now. It is a privacy nightmare. "52 companies in the world have access to up to 91% of the average user's web traffic. That's an absolutely sickening figure and it's entirely unacceptable. And FLoC was poised to make it even worse!"Source: (11) Chrome is a privacy NIGHTMARE. - YouTube FLoC is going sell to you as Interest-based advertising. No matter how they pitch this to you, it's going to equal a corporation obtaining more information about you. Google has already admitted to tracking. Why You Should Delete Google Chrome After New Tracking Admission (forbes.com) Chrome has 2.6 Billion users. Another reason Google has more data on people than any company, government, medical entity. Bottom line is: Google Chrome does not prevent cross-site tracking and could easily do it if they really gave a shit about your privacy. Google is a greedy, terribly company. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com

Intro Randy talks about how one video game forever changed his computing journey. This Episode was recorded on Sunday, August 22nd, 2021. Why I named this episode around Quake It's an important video game to me. It's really one of main reason I started learning about computers. A team of 4 people started a Software company called id Software - John Romero is a designer and and created development tools/editors for id Software. He is even credited for coining the term "Deathmatch". Something freakishly-amazing about John Romero, from Wikipedia: "In his keynote speech at WeAreDevelopers Conference 2017, Romero named this period Turbo Mode, in which he emphasizes having created 28 games, in 5.5 years with a team consisting of fewer than 10 developers".[ John Carmack is the lead programmer. At 25, he programmed this miracle of a game, Quake. He wrote other games before that - successful ones. There is a huge sale going on at Steam, where I recommend you buy Quake. As of Sunday, the 22nd of August, 2021, some games are up to 80% off. I paid $10 for quake. Sure, I know I could get it cheaper, for like $3 or $4, and then Steam would possibly upgrade it to the 2021 improved version, but I just wanted to buy it and support the hard work of the devs. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com

Intro Randy discusses proprietary things that he will be cutting out of his life in order to save a few extra bucks. I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax. This Episode was recorded on Sunday, August 8th, 2021 Cord-Cutting Anything Proprietary That I Can - Adobe - Credit Cards - Operating System - Try Linux! - Be Your Own Cloud - Don't throw away CD's - I feel so foolish for getting rid of 100's of CD's. It was only after I reflected back on the times where I remember learning an album, reading the lyrics, feeling like I could learn a bit about the band. - If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. [Visit our website](https://randyhanley.com/) and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com

Intro Randy mentions how it feels like 2006 all over again in the tech world, when it comes to Linux. Is it 2006 all over again? I've been hearing this for close to 15 years My first time diving into Linux was probably around 2006 when I witnessed how terribly Microsoft handled Windows Vista. It felt like a bloated carcass on top of most computer hardware. It has so many hardware incompatibilities. It sucked! There are already a ton of videos up ahead of the Windows 11 launch talking about upgrading to Linux instead of Windows 11. For as big of a company as Microsoft is, you'd think they could handle things better. It's kind of embarrassing - Mentioning that it's a repeat of the “Windows 8 Disaster”. I think of it as more of the Vista disaster. I don't think 8 was all that terrible. What Linux distributions do I recommend? After running Linux Mint solid https://linuxmint.com/ for a few years, I cannot pass up recommending it. Pop!_OS by System76 - Rock solid, supports systems with NVIDIA chips if needed, but will run find on most systems. It's a lighter install, and allows you to browse their shop to determine the extras you want to install. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com. Follow Randrums on twitter

Randy shares some of his most-favorite tech Vloggers / content creators! Tech Vloggers I follow Naomi Brockwell She is a machine of putting useful information on blast. I check into her channel every couple of weeks, and I'm always learning something new, particularly her coverage on Bitcoin. I am not a person to give any recommendations on cryptocurrency, but I would say that she's highly qualified. Mental Outlaw Brilliant tech personality that knows his stuff, and is very blunt about what's happening with security on the internet. Also talks about Crypto. BitHead 1000 I would not consider him a tech content creator, but a multi-talented one. From sawing out an amazing Nintendo chassis, to giving some crazy life advice to his listeners, his channel is entertaining. Chris Titus Tech His channel is described as covering “Linux/Servers/Storage”, but I think it's so much more. He has great how-to videos, and really is able to relate things to being a former Windows users. DistroTube Even though he won't really call himself a Linux expert, Derek is a Linux expert that shares his knowledge with the world. He releases very informative videos so often, I'm not sure if the guy ever rests. His audio setup is premium, he speaks clearly, and is easy to follow one some of the most technical computer tutorials. Flossy Carter I love this guy's no BS approach to doing mobile and general technology reviews. You can tell he' has reviewed so many devices and he will get you the answer to what you're looking for, quickly, when on the fence on a tech gadget purchase. Techno Tim Friendly, awesome, and informative tech personality that I would credit for my entry into my home lab/NAS setup. If you're thinking about getting into setting up a home lab, but don't know where to start, watch a few of his videos, and it will help you come up with great ideas! He's super-responsive in the comments and one of the most helpful people I've chat with in a comment section! Lawrence Systems A guy from the Detroit area like myself, but has extremely valuable knowledge of networks, security, administration, and shares it with the world. He's timely in releasing videos and commentary on fresh exploits that have been discovered in networks and systems. You will learn something from listening to him within a few minutes, guaranteed. Hak5 Like a cool TV Station (YouTube channel) that covers so many tech topics. You'll find something interesting very quickly here if you'd like to learn about security.

Intro We discuss the importance of off-site backups.doIntro Privacy segment- Awesome Extension for Chromium-based browsers and Firefox called “Watch on Odysee”. If you're on YouTube, it looks to see if that YouTube has uploaded the same video to Odysee. This is much better for your privacy, and can help support the creator on a site that is much more respectful of its users than Google is. Backups are critical This isn't just for your computer, but for your NAS or any data storage devices in your possession that have important data. You don't have to go with Amazon, although their affordability is extremely tempting. I just don't feel good about trusting them with data like do from a smaller company, such as BackBlaze. Is the 3-2-1 Backup Rule Necessary for Personal Use? It doesn't hurt, if you have that luxury. It's very likely that the cost or pain of losing all of your data is greater than the cost of a reliable backup solution, such as BackBlaze. You can never get those memories back when they're gone, but you can get the 2 or 3 dollars per month back as you work to pay your bills - this is a necessary expense and is still cheaper than Google Photos, Dropbox, etc. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com. Follow Randrums on twitter

Intro A few privacy-focused news articles, some opinions on censorship, and celebrities opening their mouths. Surveillance has been spreading since the coronavirus pandemic Apple and Google contact tracing Since April 2020 Pointed out by Fee.org: Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution - right to “be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”. Australia wants vaccine-hesitant FB posts sent to the police. Apparently there is a clip online of Zuckerberg - Celebrities never mattered Unless you're looking for a career in acting and aspire to be the same, there really is no point to listening to celebrities. During the pandemic, it's like their egos shined bright and amplified who they really are https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/03/celebrities-have-never-been-less-entertaining-coronavirus/608452/: attention-seeking, uninteresting people. Maybe they were just interesting, post lens, from how the editing studio had you portray them. I'll admit I'm biased toward musicians and think that it's great that many perform live concerts, because that's what they love doing - it feels good to perform and their fans will feel the same. Of course, everything I've said is just a complaint, and one can simply chose to not follow those people. Most people probably haven't been to the movies in over a year and, somehow, survived. I feel the same about Social Media - I haven't been on Facebook for a while and I've survived - no withdrawals. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com. Follow Randrums on twitter

Intro Here are some things that Randy has learned over the last couple of years since starting his podcast. Learn from these experiences to save yourself time and money. What are some things people may look over when starting their podcast? Use tools that are easily transferable . Record in WAV or any uncompressed audio format in general. This will serve as your source file that you'll archive and backup. Think of this as the studio master of your album - how the record industry stores musical art. Backup your show notes and each episode's cover art. These backups don't have to be tricky at all - I don't think I've ever mentioned how I back up my episodes, but the episode are mainly like a Word document style (Rich Text Format), they consist of one Square cover art image relevant to the current episode, and then the audio file that was recorded. Those are placed into a folder, then I ZIP/Compress that folder and name it S:X:EX and I put them in a folder of the Season name, back it up to my NAS and then in One Drive. This way, if i change hosts or for some reason stop podcasting, I don't have to think twice if my host will delete me for inactivity, because I can always just resurrect any episode at a later date and re-upload a fresh copy. What audio gear do I use and have my recommendations changed? Better products are coming out all of the time, so I have a couple more audio recommendations that I can throw out there to produce your podcast in the most efficient way possible. I am still using my solid PreSonus Series III mixer - this thing is a beast and has never let me down. USB microphones are still great and I can highly recommend the PreSonus Revelator USB-C Microphone. This thing has a built-in mixer and voice effects that don't actually sound like crap. To be completely honest, I probably would've purchased this first before going all-out on a mixer when starting this podcast, had the Revelator existed them. This thing is outstanding for the money - $150 There are similar competitors, such as the Shure MV7, ($250) and this mic sounds great as well. However, for the price, and hearing a side-by-side comparison, I think the Revelator wins. This is coming from Shure fan, meets a PreSonus fan - I use Shure mics on all of my drums. I still think the Revelator is the better of the two. Luckily for PreSonus Revelator users, it includes my all-time favorite DAW, StudioOne 5 Artist (which retails for $99), from which you can produce your podcast episodes, as well as music if you wanted. Do you need the host with the most? On average, I've changed hosts each year. I'm on my third host, and it's one of the big dogs - Spotify's Anchor.fm platform. It's free, but does it give me the most? In my situation, yes I believe it does - it's free and I use it in the exact manner I used my previous, paid-hosts. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com. Follow Randrums on twitter

Intro Throughout my IT career, I've seen many thousands of technology challenges. I would estimate that most of those challenges are more common than not. Today we'll talk about some of those challenges. Announcements Happy Mother's Day to all mothers. Tech challenges that trick smart people Allowing a browser notification that ended up being from an untrustworthy site, later getting virus notifications (from their browser). Plugging in a monitor and not knowing that HDMI often tries to take over as your audio device. If they're on the corporate network, corporate computers are ready to lock you out. Not setting up an expiration for their out of the office message - not remembering to turn it off after returning to the office. Working on an unplugged laptop, not realizing that power-saving settings often decrease performance, such as WiFi or USB suspending and much more. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com. Follow Randrums on twitter

Intro Hello everyone and welcome to the Manly Hanley Podcast. This is the Podcast with no limits on what we'll cover. I'm your host, Randy. Have a snack, sit back, and relax. This Episode was recorded on Sunday, April 25th, 2021 Announcements Things I returned to using because they work Beer. Fine, this one doesn't count. But, beer. Tiny Tiny RSS. (Went to Fresh RSS, but I realized I don't have to host EVERYTHING on my NAS, even though I still prefer to) This is just one tool that I did NOT have to host on my NAS because my web hosting provider happens to have a TTRSS install script that sets it up for me on a server that's easily made public, so it's one less thing I have to open my server up to the internet for. MeWe Linux (I feel like this happens twice a year, like every Ubuntu Release). In particular, I really like The Linux Experiment YouTube channel, which I will link. Desktop Computer - I worry that they're going to get “dumber” one day or cloud-centric, just like everything in technology seemingly is. Companies want to loan you something so that they have more control. Call me crazy, or think about it for a bit. The things that bring me hope for this paranoid thought I often have is the gamers and people that love to build powerhouse PCs - It's really cool. These new iMacs are beautiful and everything, but please, you're not going to limit my RAM. Don't turn my computer into a mobile phone so you can blur the lines between your smartphones and laptops/iMacs. To be fair, Apple is gearing this computer toward student / basic home usehttps://www.cnet.com/news/apple-new-imac-proves-its-an-m1-world-and-we-just-live-in-it/. Rob Braxman's channel on Odysee. He's all about privacy and, even tech-savvy users will learn things they didn't know from him. He tends to cover mobile phones often, but what's cool is that he doesn't hold back on exposing the crappy things companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook do. Stupid reaction videos. To me, those videos are about as useful as an unboxing video. I don't go into a movie theater and look to each side to see how the people around me are enjoying it. I either like it or I don't. But…I'm guilty. I watch quite a few Drum reaction videos. I can't help it. It's a habit. I want to stop doing what dislike about others. I'm projecting! Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com. Follow Randrums on twitter

Intro Randy discusses how you can host up to 100 websites under one account, easily and affordably! This is a test post to try it with no Post-production compression. No theme song this time. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com. Follow Randrums on twitter

Intro Randy discusses how things can be so much easier when down-sizing. Announcements Moved everything back over to one desk. This is mostly the setup from Season 1, and worked the best for the show. Switching to mounted arms for the monitors. Desk is big enough to now hold the mixer, which is great for having guests and quick control over audio levels. Different computer - purchased a Xeon workstation - Lenovo P500. Throw away, sell, or donate what is not needed Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist Post high - room to chop off the price - take lower offers - it's worth your time to get rid of things. Owning a lot of tech was a good way for me to realize what I didn't need. If you're having trouble getting rid of things, think about what things that you currently own that are future proof and what will lose value in the near future. Those are things that are worth your time and energy to sell. Fine-tune what you have! Once you've narrowed things down to what you really need and what is going to hold it's value - it's time to master those things. The are where I've completely failed this area is my PreSonus mixer. This is an amazing piece of audio gear and I haven't set aside a day, even a few hours, to master it. This is the heart of the audio for this show and allows me to produce this great-sounding recording. It could be better - and I could even work harder on learning how to make music for the show in the program so I can get rid of this outdated theme song! :-D Now that you likely have more room to work (and probably breathe), you can potentially feel less anxious about having all of those “things” staring you in the face. You can focus. Maybe you don't have trouble focusing if there is a lot of junk around you, but I do and I've really learned that it helps to feel focused. Sure, there are “time-out” apps that allow you to freeze you browser, background active tabs, have a message that tells you to stand up. That stuff doesn't work for me. Physically moving things around and making space available does. I hope this episode helped to inspire you in any minuscule way - or ,even better, in a big way. I like to share anything I that helps someone else do something easier or more-efficiently; This is why I mainly started this show. I love hearing from some that said they tried something and it really helped them do something to increase their productivity. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. Feel free to send me an email to randy@randyhanley.com Follow Randrums on twitter

Randy talks about why RSS is one of his necessities. RSS Can Mean More Freedom from Google and Facebook Stop getting your news from Google and Facebook. The hate you and they hate themselves while trying take over the world. RSS App / Server Combination Fluent Reader If you're downloading it for Windows, be sure to get it from their GitHub page and not from the Windows Store, as they charge $4.99 there. Then you can just donate to them directly if you wanted to by contacting them outside of the Microsoft Store. Why does Microsoft deserve some of their cut when they made the app Free/Open Source? Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. While you're there, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter! Follow Randrums on twitter

Intro Randy will tell you why you need to get a NAS right now! Reasons you need to buy a NAS right now one Very easy to setup. I'm definitely biased toward Synology NAS's, but there other great brands out there such as Qnap and ASUSTOR. Supporting Data/Reference Case Study/Example/ Anecdote Conclusion Someone else isn't holding all of your personal data. You are. Back up your computers and smartphones at home, locally. Synology has an app called Moments that can do useful things, such as group your photos together automatically, based on face similarities, by location and more, using AI technology. For your computers, you can often use the backup program of your choice and dump that backup data directly onto the NAS. Lately, I've been using Rescuezilla and I've been loving it. Local media streaming. Your NAS can serve as the center of your multimedia universe from within your home. Take the keys back to your media collection, and get out of the habit of renting from some company that owns the data and can shut you off at any time. Take the power back for once. You could even go further and buy a TV tuner to connect to the NAS, and turn the NAS into a DVR for live TV. You have so much endless control over your data, and that's so cool! Home security system storage At this point, it is probably almost starting to sound too good to be true, but I can assure you it's not. NAS solutions like Synology have built-in, private security solution available. As far as finding compatible IP Cameras for your NAS, companies like Synology will provide you a list of ones that work with your setup. Host some websites off your NAS I'm doing 3 as we speak, including the RandyHanley.com domain where I post the link to every Podcast episode! Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. While you're there, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter! Follow Randrums on twitter

8 Reasons to Drop Windows or MacOS for Linux Linux was created “to create a new free operating system kernel. The resulting Linux kernel has been marked by constant growth throughout its history.” - Wiki link. It doesn't cost anything. Being that it's open source, if you wanted to do the work, you could find out how all of the mechanics of it work, down to the kernel. Think of the kernel as the center of everything that controls the operating system. Or if you're obsessed with food like me: A popcorn kernel is where the popcorn begins before your pop it and eat it. There are users who are skilled enough to have learned all the inner workings of Linux to contribute to the Linux community to improve the operating system. Package management Think of something like the App Store or Google Play Store on your smartphone. How often do you find yourself updating individual apps on your smartphone? Not often, likely, because they get updated as a whole. Most Linux distributions have this out of the box. The big thing about Linux, is that you can try different package managers on different distributions - there are so many choices that you don't typically have on Windows and MacOS. I'm sure some will disagree with me, but the MacOS App store sucks and the Microsoft store sucks just as bad, maybe even more. You probably don't have to buy a “supported” machine to start using Linux. This isn't something I can say about most operating systems. Windows is pretty good about installing on different hardware. Chances are, Linux will run on more machines though. If you have a PC at home that you are planning on either erasing or factory restoring soon, Linux will almost certainly run on it. Dual Boot If you're just planning on using MacOS or Windows because it “comes with your computer”, maybe you could consider buying a used PC to install Linux on. Additionally, you can still keep Windows and Dual Boot (that means to install Linux alongside Windows). This way you can keep Windows for compatibility purposes and PC gaming if you're a gamer - PC still wins in this category over MacOS and Linux (for when you absolutely can't avoid using Windows). And then you can just use Linux most of the time. This is actually my preferred setup. Linux takes the best from both worlds. When I was MacOS user for a few months, I immediately began to miss things that were present in Windows, such as Window snapping/tiling. in MacOS, you can install programs to add that functionality, but Linux distributions, such as Linux Mint Cinnamon or Pop!_OS, have their own window snapping or tiling capabilities out of the box and it works amazingly well. Distro Hopping. USB Stick - Multiple ISOs. Ventoy. The thing I love about Ventoy is that you can make a little Swiss army knife of operating systems and choose to boot from however many ISOs your USB drive can hold. For example, my Ventoy USB has Windows, many different LInux distributions, and Rescuezilla. Rescuezilla itself is a very valuable tool in my arsenal. It's based on Linux that includes a browser, tool to recover deleted images and, most importantly, backup and recovery abilities - do local storage, or a server. This tool is nothing short of amazing. Not locked into stupid limitations set by greedy companies. For example, It's 2021 and the latest models of the Macbook Pro/Air max out at 16GB of RAM. That's enough RAM for most people. But I thought these are supposed to be creative powerhouse machines. I could grab an older Intel PC and slap in more RAM and Linux will work with it just fine. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. While you're there, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter! Follow @randrums on Twitter!

Intro Randy talks about a balance of open source vs paid software Announcements - Website has been migrated. I fired Bluehost. How much of your tech capabilities do you own? Do you rent or own? Examples of renting vs owning would be having a server in your basement, running Ubuntu, hosting your own web server, or something along those lines - that is owning. Renting would be having a web host such as Bluehost, HostGator. Both renting and owning are very similar for the most part. The difference comes if you stop paying the company you're renting from, things will stop working. Unfortunately, the same goes for renting when it comes to desktop software. Think of the subscription model. You own nothing. You can use Photoshop all you want on your computer, until you stop paying. That's when the software will “phone home” and let their money machine know that you're no long a good customer, and that software that is on your machine will not work - because that software is not yours. Is there an easy solution? Open source. Check out some sites that point out some well-known open source alternatives to paid software. OpenSource.com has a list of popular ones. Alternative To has some great crowd sourced recommendations My recommendation is to try to use Open Source software whenever possible, and then use the paid software if you absolutely must. Follow our Podcast If you're a new listener to the Manly Hanley Podcast, we would love to hear from you. Visit our website and leave a comment. While you're there, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter! Follow @Randrums on twitter

With Randy's interest in privacy from Big Tech growing lately, in this episode he provides a more-detailed list on the tools he's landed on; Non-Evil hosting solutions, basically. The Self-hosted Tools Synology NAS (Hear of the Operation)https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/feature/drive Synology Drive with Synology Office enabled. Synology Moments, soon to be Photos. https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/feature/moments Synology Note Station and the Synology Web Clipper https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/feature/note_station FreshRSS - Great Google Reader alternative. https://freshrss.org/ Ghost - Website / Publication. They are pretty awesome, with public company metrics. https://ghost.org/ They are very transparent! https://ghost.org/about/ Open Source CCTC Solution (Anything other than Ring, Nest, etc). Shinobi is one that I've been casually reading about. https://shinobi.video/ Apparently, Dahua cameras are superior as far as the camera sensors go. https://us.dahuasecurity.com/ For best value for the price, I seemingly can't avoid recommending Ubiquity/UniFi products. They offer UniFi Protect, and that's likely what I'll be going with, but I'll probably start light to see how one camera performs on my porch. Bottom line, I need to get away from Ring. https://unifi-network.ui.com/ https://unifi-network.ui.com/camera-security