” I’ve worked on so many different computing projects, different kinds of hardware and software, I usually have a little experience with just about anything.”
Marv
Enter your question on computer issues in the Leave a Reply section below. I’m here to help.
I’m open to just about anything computer related:
- Frustrated by your email? Often a simple setting change will help.
- Wondering about how to set up an online business? I have some experience with this. I might have some useful pointers.
- Something on your computer bugging you? Maybe I can help.
- App problems? I look at applications, like word processors, spreadsheets, etc. as both a developer and a user. I’ve used Word, Excel, and PowerPoint since the 1980s. Before that, I used a word processor I coded myself.
- Problems with network connected devices like surveillance cameras or smartphone controlled thermostats? I once helped General Electric with remote instrumentation in a jet engine manufacturing plant.
- Problems with your smart phone? I’ve written programs for tuning the radios on cell towers.
- Designing an app? I’ve designed hundreds. Glad to offer comments.
- Worried about home computer security? So am I.
I wrote my first program in 1967 and I’ve been in the software industry for many decades. I’ve worked on so many different computing projects, different kinds of hardware and software, I usually have a little experience with just about anything. And I have contacts in the industry to call on when I’m stumped.
My greatest resource is my grandson, Christopher Waschke, a true digital native who has experience with a lot of contemporary stuff that I could probably refactor and rewire if I had to, but he often knows the answers faster than I can begin to think about them.
I’ll either reply in the comments to your question, or I might write up a post if I think your subject has broad enough interest.
Marv – When moving a large number of files to another drive using a file manager GUI in Linux, my Raspberry Pi 4 B – 8 Gb RAM computer seems to give up after a couple dozen gigabytes and the file transfer grinds to a halt. From what I can see, the computer’s CPUs are processing the command without red-lining and RAM usage seems to be steady during the operation. What’s going wrong?
Is it more efficient to use the MV command in a Bash Terminal session? Aren’t the two methods – GUI or Bash – executing the same instructions under the hood?
Thanks
Charlie–
Hard to say exactly, but there is a good chance when the transfer starts, data is copied from disk to ram rapidly and simultaneously written to the destination disk. The writes to the destination disk are almost certainly slower than the writes to RAM, so eventually, RAM fills up. Then the whole process slows down to the rate of the writes to the destination disk. The snap solution is a faster destination disk, but that’s not always possible.
If you are transfering a large number of smaller files, using the tar command to put them in a single file and zipping the file might help. I’m rusty on tar syntax, but you could gather the files together, compress them, and move them to another disk with one command. Just do a “man tar” to get the flags.
Good to hear from you! Best, Marv
Marv – Often when I’m trying to access a webpage thru a public internet connection, such as at the branch libraries, or using one of the library’s mobile hotspots, the browser on my Android tablet raises an error that reports the connection is not private and the page fails to load, or if it does load, the connection gets dropped after a short interval and the error message page pops up.
I can’t find a way around the issue thru the browser settings. What do I need to do to surf the web? Thanks
Good to hear from you Charlie!
I’m only guessing on this because there are several possible factors.
First, some background. The browser is telling you that the site you are trying to connect with is using plain old HyperText Transmission Protocol (http) instead of the secure version, Secure HyperText Transmission Protocol (https).
https does two things for you: First it encrypts the data sent over the wire. This makes it difficult for miscreants to snoop on your messages. Second, https insists that the site you are communicating with provide a certificate that proves it is the site it purports to be. Without https, a crook could spoof a site you trust (like your bank) and do all sorts of mischief.
Neither of these security measures are invulnerable, but they are far safer than naked http. In the old days when cpu cycles and network bandwidth were scarce and expensive, we only used https when we had to, like during logging in or when authorizing a credit card payment because https was a performance killer. Now, and for at least the last decade, you can barely detect the difference.
With rising cybercrime, Google decided that it would place sites using naked http lower down in their search results. As a result, naked http is becoming rare. The ISP I use to host this site automatically switched my sites to https a few years ago, but they still support naked http if a user specifies it in their URL.
The place where naked http is most vulnerable is free public internet, like the library. There’s even a free add-on to FireFox that displays the naked http sessions going on around you.
Browsers have started warning you that a site is using naked http. It would even be reasonable to me for sites like WCLS to set up blocks on free connections to prevent users from mistakenly exposing themselves. I don’t know if WCLS is actively blocking, but I sent a question to library IT and I’ll get back to you on that.
I believe there are also browser add-ons that force https. I use one called “HTTPS Everywhere” that forces https, but I’ve never seen it block a site. You might have an add-on installed and not realize it. (I do that all the time… getting old I guess.)
Now what to do? Sites that won’t accept https are very rare now. Today, even the crooks use https , so it isn’t the assurance of safety it once was. If I were blocked, I would explicitly type https:// into my browser URL field. (For example “https://example.com” ) In most cases that will get you through.
Hope this helps,
Marv
I just exchanged with library IT. They don’t block http. That narrows it down a little.
If explicitly typing https doesn’t get you through, you might try clearing your browser cache. That clears up a lot of strange browser behavior.
Marv
Hi Marv, I have a Samsung Nook. I watch a ton of Utube and my memory is low and I can’t figure out how to empty that cache without it deleting the app. Can you guide me thru fixing this.
Thank you
Hi Becky! I can’t walk you through it because I’ve never owned a Nook, but I think I can help. Whenever I run into a problem like this that I really don’t know much about, I go to Google. In this case, I searched on “clear samsung nook cache” and I found this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWiLYVtpJ5Q It does a nice clear job of showing you how to clear the cache. When you reach the final step, look at the dropdown carefully. One of the options is “clear cache” That’s the one you want. Hope this helps.
Oh my, so much to read about. Really fascinating stuff, I’ll be back when it’s not so late and my brain isn’t so fuzzy. Wanted to read your 6 things about on line security but the link was broken. I know I am woefully inadequate with that.
Good to see you on the next door neighbohood site. I’d love to chat with Rebecca if she has time. Tina
Hi Tina! Good to hear from you. I have fond memories of you singing at Dos Padres. I’m sure Rebecca would love to chat. I’m not aware of any bad links to Six Rules, but this one should be good. https://marvinwaschke.com/six-rules-for-online-security/
Hi Marv,
I recently bought a new laptop, used my Carbonite backup to populate it with the files from my old machine, and am running Windows 10.
I can search the new computer for “My Documents” and the folder and its contents are found. The goofy thing, and what I’d like to correct, is the folder’s absence from my desktop.
Can you tell me how to make it appear?
Thanks.
Windows handling of My Documents is a little confusing. Microsoft tries so hard to make it easy, they sometimes make it harder if you don’t do exactly what some developer in Redmond thinks you are most likely to do.
I’m not familiar with the exact way that Carbonite restores files to a new machine, but my guess is that the restore did not put it in the place that the Microsoft engineers expected them to. I see two solutions. First, Carbonite probably does know what they are doing– they have a good reputation– so you might go to Carbonite support and ask them what to do. They will probably give you instructions on how to rerun the restore to put My Documents where Microsoft wants them. My guess is that they give out this advice a dozen times a day.
A rough and ready solution, probably what I would do, is to find your My Documents directory in File Explorer, probably somewhere under This PC, Windows C: drive, and place a link to it on your desktop. That would be quick and easy, but it might give you a somewhat non-standard configuration, which is not ideal, but it will work.
If we were at the library in person, I would poke around with File Explorer. My guess is that Carbonite plopped your documents under some other user than the one you use on your new laptop. Then you could move the contents of your old My Documents to the one you now use.
Thank you.
Thanks for your posts! I always learn something, or at least generate a smile. I, too, am a programmer/analyst/designer. MANY apps, and a lot of database management (DBA) work. Appreciate your willingness to help.
Pete A
Hi Pete– Glad to have a fellow technologist reading. Don’t hesitate to comment on anything. Right now, I stewing over the Microsoft Exchange hack, working on a post on the subject.