A Privacy Schizo’s Guide to the Internet, Part Zero

by | Oct 31, 2022 | Privacy | 193 comments

 

Part Zero: Introduction

 

Without privacy, you can’t have anything for yourself. Saying you don’t care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is like saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say. –Edward Snowden

 

The modern world being what it is – a public-private partnership surveillance state – it behooves us to be mindful of our digital privacy and security. Unfortunately, few people are. How often have you signed up for a new online service or installed a piece of software and clicked “I Accept” on a user or license agreement you didn’t read? If you’re like most people, probably the majority or entirety of the time. Contained within those rarely-examined agreements are the terms under which you may use a service or software, spelling out what you must give up in exchange. If you’re not paying any money, odds are very good you’re paying with your data and your privacy. Even if you are paying money, you are very often giving up your data and privacy in some measure. The amount and type of data and privacy you are exchanging for the goods or services you receive may range from trivial and innocuous, to extremely invasive and chilling. Everyone must decide for himself if that exchange is a good value. Enter the privacy schizo.

The privacy schizo is the type of fellow who values his data and his privacy highly and is unwilling, or at least far less willing than most, to exchange it for convenience and/or gratis services. “Normies” – the type of people who click “I Accept” without reading – often deride the privacy schizo for his paranoia and pedantry. “Why should I care if Google knows what kind of porn I like?” “I want Amazon to know what products I buy so they can recommend me new products and give me good deals!” “I’m not a criminal, I have nothing to hide!” Being on the autism libertarian spectrum, this audience will likely be cautious about government surveillance, but even many libertarians are worryingly comfortable with private surveillance. However, living in a panopticon has its downsides, even if it is an ostensibly private one. What you are giving away in data and privacy is valuable, and worth considering carefully.

That’s the end of the lecture as such. On the Normie-Privacy Schizo continuum, you will find me further towards the privacy schizo end, although the more fanatical privacy schizo would likely consider me too normie. As in any fringe community, performative extremism abounds. As I said, each of us must decide for himself if what he receives in exchange for his data and privacy is worth the bargain. What works for me and my workflow may not work for you. There are some things that you just have to live with in order to function in a job, for example, or certain conveniences that, for you, may be too good to give up. Perfect privacy is an unrealistic expectation unless and until you’re ready for the Kaczynski shack innawoods, but it is possible to at least mitigate some of the worst excesses of surveillance capitalism without becoming a total hermit. What will follow are some basic and non-exhaustive examinations of mainstream software and services that are not privacy-respecting, and recommendations of alternative software and services that I use, or have used, that are more privacy respecting. Whatever part of the continuum you occupy, I hope you find something useful in these recommendations, and that you will be inspired to pay closer attention to your privacy and digital hygiene. Feel free to roast me for my choices and add some of your own as well in the comments. Lastly, while this audience comprises mostly very tech-savvy readers – many of you far more so than I – I have endeavored to make this article accessible to the less tech-savvy as well. I hope it will not be received as oversimplified, arrogant, or condescending because of that. I am no sort of an expert, this is just a collection of what’s worked for me based on my own experiences and observations. At the end of each section will be a very brief TL;DR rundown of the software and/or services recommended in case you want to skip the admittedly long-winded expository.

 

A Brief Note On Proprietary vs. Free and Open Source Software

Before we begin, I should advise the reader that I will not be recommending any proprietary software. In brief, there are three basic software licensing and distribution models: proprietary, open source and free/libre. Proprietary software is software whose source code is not made public. Only the developer has access to the source code. Open source software is software whose source code is made public. This doesn’t always mean that you as a user will receive a copy of the source code along with the program executable, or that you are free to modify the source code to your liking, but the source code is public and can, at a minimum, be examined and audited by anyone. Free software, sometimes called “libre” software in order to better capture the nuance of “free as in freedom” vs. “free as in beer”, is a narrower subset of open source software that must additionally comply with the four freedoms defined by the Free Software Foundation. All free/libre software is open source, but not all open source software is free/libre. I prefer to use free and/or open source software everywhere possible, for both ethical and practical reasons.

Editor’s Note: There are seven parts to follow. Next week, “Part 1: Desktop Operating Systems.”

About The Author

Pat

Pat

193 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    I’m probably way more on the schizo side than most people, but I’m not very good at it. So I look forward to the rest of it.

    • rhywun

      #metoo

      I’m probably too much on the opposite end. I do like my conveniences.

      I have a pretty fair idea what most of the recommendations are going to be. I’ve tried many of them, and given up on most of them out of frustration. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

    • Swiss Servator

      Dude…I edited (minimally) and scheduled all of the upcoming pieces….you all are in for a treat!!!!

  2. Count Potato

    “Next week, “Part 1: Desktop Operating Systems.”

    On that not I plan on doing a Manjaro build in a week or so, if I’m not too busy. What’s a good lightweight desktop? Xfce?

    • Count Potato

      *On that note

      Stupid haunted keyboard.

    • Grummun

      My limited experience, xfce has very low requirements for number of required packages to get a minimally functional desktop.

    • rhywun

      Yeah, that was the lightest one I can remember from back in the day. I wonder if Enlightenment is still around – I remember digging that one.

      • Pat

        Enlightenment is still around, but badly showing its age.

    • Pat

      LXQt has largely displaced LXDE as the go-to lightweight desktop, but Xfce is still a great choice. Because of GTK it’s becoming a bit more Gnome-ified though.

  3. R.J.

    I am looking forward to this. Nice start, Pat!

    • Grummun

      Ditto.

      • MikeS

        Ditto+

    • Swiss Servator

      As well you should! *cheese eating editor grin*

  4. UnCivilServant

    the more fanatical privacy schizo would likely consider me too normie

    You’re on the internet, you’ve already given away too much of your information to get here.

  5. The Hyperbole

    I hope it will not be received as oversimplified, arrogant, or condescending because of that

    Speaking as an extreme Tech smart deficient Normie, I appreciate whatever dumbing down you do. In fact I probably still won’t understand some of it.

    • Fourscore

      You? I’m still a kindergarten trainee. I won’t understand anything beyond the “Good Evening”

    • Swiss Servator

      You and me both, boss.

  6. Timeloose

    I’m really paranoid schizo in comparison to my peers. I don’t have as much knowledge as I should. I’m looking forward to the rest. Thanks.

  7. juris imprudent

    many libertarians are worryingly comfortable with private surveillance

    I was once one of those. Then the scales fell from my eyes.

    • DEG

      I liked “Oath of Fealty”, but it seemed a bit sugarcoated concerning the arcology and surveillance.

    • mikey

      Do I really care that COSTCO knows we really like their cheese.cake – or anyone else for that matter?
      I do know that I’m glad the state trooper that stopped me for gioing 80 in a 70 zone didn’t know how fast I was going five minutes before he stopped me. For sure I wouldn’t have just gotten a warning then.
      I’m actually reluctant to say how fast I was going here. Or where or when.
      Interesting – Apple changed my fat fingering of “that” into “Tarth”

      • juris imprudent

        I care about the data brokers that assemble what COSTCO knows with what other corporations know and proceed to sell it to people that will only fucking annoy me. But that isn’t as big an issue as the govt saying they can access any and all of that on a whim. Well sir, you have no privacy interests in any of this extensive data about you, it is the corporation’s data to decide what to do with as they please. And it pleases them to give to us whatever we want.

      • Chafed

        It’s the government part that worries me.

      • MikeS

        This. And so many companies today are enthusiastically handing it over.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, I don’t give a shit about advertising because I block that shit. My concern is BigCorp gladly handing over your data to BigGov.

      • Swiss Servator

        The Department of Health has noted your love of cheesecake, citizen. Repent…NOW.

  8. DEG

    Perfect privacy is an unrealistic expectation unless and until you’re ready for the Kaczynski shack innawoods

    Reminds me of a poster a former coworker had up on his cube wall back when I worked on a firewall product.

    “If you want perfect network security” was the caption underneath a scissors cutting a computer’s network cable.

    • rhywun

      So say we all.

  9. Stinky Wizzleteats

    I always use Chrome’s incognito mode so I’ve got the privacy stuff covered.

    • pistoffnick

      Ummm, about that…

      • Fourscore

        Stop by if you can. You left too early to get a jar.

  10. mikey

    Looking forward to this. My schizo needle bounces around a lot . Looking for a level of care that makes me feel “comfortable” whatever that means.
    I figure if someone powerful Really wants to know about my midget porn fetish they’ll be able to find out no matter what I do. On the other hand, I don’t think i’m important enough for anyone to care enough to find out. On the other other hand I’m not so sure about that.

    • rhywun

      All over that map is pretty much where I am.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      It’s only for if you ever become important and go against the grain so you’re probably good. It’s not so much whatever someone’s particular fetish is, within reason of course, but the fact that the laws are so convoluted that everyone has a few felonies under their belt whether they know it or not.

      • pistoffnick

        +3 felonies a day

  11. robodruid

    Also looking forward to this.
    I have also been intrigued by the encrypted thumb drives (ironman?) that supposedly was secure.

  12. CPRM

    As for ‘Open Source’ there are a couple of things I’ve been meaning to link for anyone interested in public domain media.

    Online Library of Liberty– “The OLL is a curated collection of scholarly works that engage with vital questions of liberty.”

    • DEG

      Thanks!

    • Chafed

      Cool. Thanks for sharing CPRM.

  13. CPRM

    LibriVox– Free audio book readings of public domain works.

    • R.J.

      That must be amusing. I want recordings of books read by an old New York native. Tarzan, etc…

  14. CPRM

    Archive.org– “Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.”

  15. Ownbestenemy

    Tundra….why no pass on a 3 on 0?

    • Tundra

      Lol.

      Adrenaline, most likely. Still, almost always the wrong decision.

      What game?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Blues Kings…thought you were Blues fan…

      • Tundra

        Lol.

        By fan do you mean that I hate then with the heat of a million suns?

        Then yes! 😁

  16. Not an Economist

    Speaking of being paranoid (as in not paranoid enough) … The feds work with the social media companies is far more extensive and than previously reported.

    It wasn’t just COVID that DHS wanted to make sure “official” information was the only information the public got.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      That’s a huge story. I’m a cynical and paranoid bastard so none of that surprises me but maybe the normies will get something out of it.

    • rhywun

      I had several comments in mind but in the end I can only admit that there is no way to solve this. It is decades too late to do anything.

    • Chafed

      I’ll bet Alex Berenson and/or his lawyers are combing through those documents.

  17. slumbrew

    Looking forward to this series, Pat. Thanks!

  18. DEG

    OT: Project Veritas Action latest, something that should not surprise anyone:

    NYPD Whistleblower Claims Mayor’s Office Ignoring Court Order that Reinstates Unvaccinated Officers with Back Pay, Continues to Fire Employees Even with Valid Claims of Religious Exemption … Says City Officials Fear ‘Lawsuits’ if They Reverse Course

    • Ownbestenemy

      They should fear lawsuits. However, I am sure ignoring the court order will just bring more lawsuits….

      If I were a city worker fired for not being vaccinated why would I want to go back? The city already shown what they think about you

      • Sean

        Back pay and sabotage.

    • Chafed

      Now they can fear lawsuits from the fired workers and a contempt hearing from the court.

    • rhywun

      The court order – if it’s the same one that was discussed a few days ago – only applies to 16 (17?) garbagemen.

      And we all know what they think of religious exemptions.

      • Chafed

        Religion is the opiate of the masses. You can only use opiates on our streets.

        /Eric Adams

  19. Sensei

    Essentially I made the decision to give into the Borg (aka Google), but very few others. So if Google has a shitty third rate version of a service I use that rather than start a new relationship with a vendor that does it better.

    Also the next time Brandon and the green lobby tell you go “electric” just point out these production numbers.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/yikmbx/a_visual_illustration_of_teslas_head_start/

    Overall passenger car sales were 14m for same period. The supply isn’t there even if they were a perfect substitute.

    • UnCivilServant

      The raw materials aren’t there to meet any reasonable goal.

    • Don escaped Texas

      I’m not an electric car guy, but here are Tesla’s annual unit sales:
      2018 197,517
      2019 195,125
      2020 292,902
      2021 301,998
      2022 396,069

      for reference, here are top models: Camry US sales are typically 400k, F150 are 800k; Tesla is extremely solid

      • UnCivilServant

        The numbers are solid as a compeditive brand.

        The numbers are laughable for any of the attmepts to replace real cars. So either the greenies are lying to themselves, or their real goal is still the elimination of private transport. That is what the numbers are saying. Especially given the states banning real cars from future sales.

      • juris imprudent

        They are only going to eliminate private transport for people that aren’t important.

      • Don escaped Texas

        attmepts to replace real cars

        “I’m not an electric car guy” is how you know that wasn’t a point I was trying to make. @Sensei gets the point: industrializing a car is a massive undertaking, and to do it with only fractional IP and from zero infrastructure is quite impressive. Take it from someone who has considerable automotive experience: it’s an achievement worthy of acknowledgement even if for no other reason.

        Not everything has to be an identity-politics potboiler.

      • The Hyperbole

        Not everything has to be an identity-politics potboiler.

        But that’s no fun at all. “I wanna be outraged” He outraged.

      • UnCivilServant

        I take it your states haven’t banned the sale of internal combustion engines by the end of the decade. It’s already been done here, which is why the supply impossibility comes up so often – it’s not some theoretical problem to be handwaved at with a ‘to each his own’.

      • Sensei

        Tesla finally has true volume production. Also it finally matches their cost structure.

        Kia and VW with Ford third are the only other people putting out much volume.

        But Tesla can’t fill all demand. Also if BYD ever comes to the US it should be really interesting.

        I’ve no idea how their cars hold up in a crash or quality. Domestic Chinese brands ain’t know for either.

      • Chafed

        But they are excellent at delivering user data to the CCP.

    • rhywun

      Essentially I made the decision to give into the Borg (aka Google),

      Similar but I chose Microsoft as the slightly lesser of multiple evils.

      • MikeS

        #metoo

    • Q Continuum

      If people want battery cars, it’s no skin off my nose; just stop trying to mandate them and/or price ICE cars/fuels out of the market.

      • hayeksplosives

        As an avid Tesla driver, I couldn’t agree more. To each his own!

      • dbleagle

        Also don’t use my tax dollars to build charging stations. If a company can find a way to make a profit without reaching having the government reach into my pocket, I have no issues. You want my money? FY!

  20. straffinrun

    At this point I wonder if taking privacy measures would be like telling my proctologist to look away while I get dressed.

    • rhywun

      Pretty much. I just assume everything I do can be discovered by anyone who really wants to know. It might matter some day… but not quite just yet.

  21. kinnath

    My first trip to Moscow, we were in a conference room as a meeting was breaking up for lunch. We were the last to leave.

    My coworker and I were packing up our gear and deciding where to go to eat. The back of my chair broke (all the office furniture looked like it had been salvaged from dumpsters). My coworker said we need to tell someone, and I said nah don’t bother. It’ll be fixed when we got back. He gave me a puzzled look. So I gave him a short version of a standard joke:

    A business man checks in to hotel in Moscow. He was jet lagged and grumpy because he had shitty flight. He popped into the bathroom and noticed there weren’t any towels. The businessman made several derogatory remarks about the service at the hotel, then headed out for dinner. When he got back, the bathroom was well stocked with towels. Moral of the story, you are always being watched.

    I chuckled at my own story, then we went out for lunch.

    Of course, when we got back, the chair was fixed.

    Russia, China, Europe, the US . . . . . Doesn’t matter . . . . .

    You

    Are

    Always

    Being

    Watched.

    • straffinrun

      My guardian angel is no longer a fan.

    • CPRM

      So you’re saying The Pee Tapes are real?

    • rhywun

      LOL but I can guarandamntee you that if and when I bitch about office equipment before lunch in New Jersey, it will NOT be fixed when I get back.

  22. Tres Cool

    I use a VPN, always private browsing, and scrub everything with BleachBit routinely.

    Am I schizo ?

    • Rat on a train

      Don’t forget to wipe with a cloth.

  23. Tonio

    This is the type of highly informed, totally tinfoil, article which this site is happy to publish.

    You should see the “Miss OS/360” illo which Pat dug out for the next installment. Think of a fan dance performed with punch cards.

    Hubba, hubba.

    • juris imprudent

      Aw just a little before my time. I cut my teeth on System 370 – MVS and VM.

    • R.J.

      Needs to be a Glibs tattoo shirt.

  24. Chafed

    MNF needs to retire those yellow jackets. They look fugly, not retro.

    Also, did I hear Ace of Spades as they came back from a commercial?

    • rhywun

      OMG my mostly Cleveland-based co-workers are going to be insufferable tomorrow.

      JK, rooting for the dopes.

      • straffinrun

        3-5 and they’ll brag?

      • rhywun

        Heh I didn’t know they were doing that bad. First time I’ve seen them this year.

        But it’s an institution there, in a way that, say, the Jets and Giants never will be where I live.

    • hayeksplosives

      Yes, it’s for Miller Lite. “I saw the sign” in reference to signs saying Miller lite has only 1 more calorie than some other beer.

      • Chafed

        I don’t get it but I fully support any reason to play Motörhead in a stadium.

    • rhywun

      They can be pretty clever with the music.

      I heard 10,000 Maniacs during the Buffalo match yesterday. They were a “local band” before they moved to… Boston?

      • Chafed

        I don’t remember them relocating. I listened to enough Boston radio to tell you it wasn’t there if they did relocate.

  25. pistoffnick

    Very good start, Pat. I eagerly await the rest.

  26. WebDom

    I fully applaud this post. Thank you for taking this project on. Privacy and cybersecurity is one of my most passionate topics. I’ve wanted to see a series like this on the site but I haven’t had the bandwidth to take it on. THANK YOU and your series has my full support.

    • Chafed

      Good to see you here WedDom. I eagerly await your pictorial of OMWC dressed for Halloween.

      • WebDom

        He didn’t dress up. He’s lame.

      • Chafed

        He could have at least stripped down to his tighty whiteys before answering the door.

  27. Chafed

    I can’t believe no one linked Halloween music. Here you go. You’re welcome.

    https://youtu.be/vFwYJYl5GUQ

    • MikeS

      I’ve been preoccupied today. 🤘🏻 My fav creepy metal tune.

      • rhywun

        I don’t know them at all other than I like being type O- myself.

      • MikeS

        Is that the type that any other type can take in an emergency?

      • Chafed

        If you mean type O negative is the universal donor, then yes. The Red Cross won’t let me forget.

      • Chafed

        I’m surprised. I thought you enjoyed goth music as one of your phases.

        https://youtu.be/NJ3aiM8K6D0

      • rhywun

        That’s more rawk than the circles I hung out in.

        Not bad, tho.

      • Chafed

        It can’t all be Bauhaus.

      • MikeS

        Wow. That one hits home. My aunt, my Mom’s youngest sister, has gone into renal failure and hospice. Going to say goodbye tomorrow.

        That was hard to type.

      • Chafed

        Sorry Mike. That’s terrible news.

      • Chafed

        FWIW, the backstory to that song may help connect you with other people who experienced loss.

      • MikeS

        Thanks. After losing Mom in January, and my aunt soon, Christmas this year is gonna suck bad. She’s been coming to Christmas Eve at our house for 20-30 years. fuck

      • CPRM

        Sorry to hear that little buddy.

      • MikeS

        Thanks, Jimmy John.

      • Chafed

        🤘🤘

    • straffinrun

      That’s good. Never heard it before. I’d push bass up higher in the mix. Make it sound less Meatloafish.

      • Chafed

        That’s fantastic. I had seen some homemade videos cutting in pieces of Nosferatu to Black No. 1 but that doesn’t compare to this. Thanks for sharing.

  28. hayeksplosives

    Looking forward to this, Pat.

    I figure I’m completely watched at all times as a cleared fed employee/contractor. Still would like to protect against greedy advertising and such.

    Also, now I know why Pat won’t meet up even though we live in the same town. I’m a security risk. 🙁

    • Ownbestenemy

      Your post is noted. We will contact you soon.

    • Pat

      Also, now I know why Pat won’t meet up even though we live in the same town. I’m a security risk. 🙁

      It’s not you, it’s me! I keep meaning to message you and then forgetting. We’ll set something up at some point before I leave for sure.

  29. straffinrun

    Never had a tweet go over 1000 likes before. It’s weird what hits a nerve and what doesn’t.

    • Chafed

      ?

    • CPRM

      Did Elon reinstate you or did you just make a different account again?

      It’s weird what hits a nerve and what doesn’t.

      Nothing I do, that’s for sure.

      • MikeS

        I noticed your YouTube channel recently went over 10,000 views. Movin’ on up!

      • CPRM

        You are more observant than I.

      • straffinrun

        I served my suspension like a good little boy.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Red rum! Red rum! Red rum!

    • MikeS

      “The dinosaurs became extinct because they couldn’t withstand the massive climate changes. The same threatens us,” Caris Connell, one of the women, said. “Unlike the dinosaurs, we hold our fate in our own hands. Do we want to go extinct like the dinosaurs, or do we want to survive?

      Ask me again after this winter.

      • CPRM

        Meteors, CO2, they really are the same if you don’t think about it.

      • dbleagle

        Leave them attached and provide them no food or water. If the museum wants to fund raise, sell tickets for people to whack the idiots with pool noodles, for days.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Off yourselves first, fuckheads.

      • dbleagle

        Thank you, Gustave. By AOC’s count we’ll all be dead in six years. Show us your dedication and off yourselves since the global Cthulthu won’t eat you last.

      • one true athena

        Honestly I’m still a bit surprised some vaguely charismatic nutball hasn’t taken over a cell of Extinction Rebellion and gotten them to kill themselves. It seems so perfectly culty that it doesn’t seem like it would be that hard.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Somebody dig up Manson.

  30. Pat

    Belated thanks to you all for the warm welcome.

  31. Sean

    Mornin’ y’all.

      • Sean

        How’s things behind enemy lines?

      • UnCivilServant

        I had wicked insomnia. So now I’m drawing visio diagrams of the changes we made to fix the problem over the past week (culminating with yesterday)

      • straffinrun

        You guys waking up at the crack dusk. Weirdos!

      • Sean

        Yeah…that’s what makes me weird… 😉

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Cinnamon is excellent when used sparingly and not so excellent when it’s not.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Yeesh, it’s a cruel world.

  32. Tres Cool

    suh fam
    whats goody

    • UnCivilServant

      Don’t ask me, my sleep was really off kilter last night.

    • UnCivilServant

      You are too kind.

      I’d lock them in a lab with their creations. Either the virus or dehydration will take them.

  33. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Speaking of privacy, this site has begun shitting on my VPN. If it’s on it just spins and spins; cut it off and it works just fine.

    • UnCivilServant

      For me, this site keeps spinning ‘waiting for fonts.gstatic.com’ on any article page. I don’t know what it wants from there or why it refuses to serve it up, but it’s a mild annoyance, as that is the last thing it trys to load.

      Do you ever see the page proper?

      • UnCivilServant

        Sorry, I should read more thoroughly. I guess my question should have been – does the page show up properly before you stop the spinning?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Sometimes yes, sometimes times out. If I cut off the VPN it works as normal though.

      • UnCivilServant

        Any other symptoms? I’m not coming up with a good approach to try to narrow down the cause.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Now it seems to be working fine. Go figure…

  34. Gender Traitor

    Good morning, U, Stinky, homey, Sean, and (somewhere up-thread) RoaT, and good…evening?…straff!

    First of the month, so it’s time for month-end reports. At least I have a head start on a couple of them, and the draft of last month’s Board meeting minutes is done. On the down side, we have a quarterly financial meeting this afternoon that I DO have to attend and take minutes for. 😒 On the up side, I have water “aerobics” after work! 😁🏊🏼‍♀️

  35. Rat on a train

    3 organizations accepting donations of unwanted Halloween candy in DC area
    With WFH, leaving it in the break room isn’t an option.

    In exchange for the sweets, donators will get a prize — which varies depending on location but could be a toothbrush or stickers

    Drop off your candy at participating local businesses in exchange for toothbrushes, coupons or even cash.

    If you have one of those houses in your neighborhood you already received a toothbrush.

  36. Grosspatzer

    Mornin’, reprobates!

    Looking forward to the rest of Pat’s series. I have one claim to “fame” in this realm – a single line of code in a wireless driver which I tested back in the days when it was sometimes necessary to compile things like device drivers. My patch is still in the Linux kernel (introduced in 2.6.23)

    I’m predicting a crushing sweep for the pachyderms today. The last time I had a kidney stone I spent the night of election day 2016 in the ER, watching the live results on CNN which along with morphine made the pain go away. Renal calculi have more predictive value than polls.

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, ‘patzie! I hope this year you can spend Election Night at home in greater comfort and watch the election results…not come in. (Funny how all the early voting and whiz bang fancy schmancy new electronical voting machines are apparently making it take longer to count the votes. Hmmm… 🤔)

      • Gender Traitor

        (BTW, unless things are very different in NJ, you DO know today isn’t Election Day, right?)

      • Grosspatzer

        We have early voting here, I voted at the senior center yesterday. Also, I may be confused because it is Election Day in Israel, where they are closed. I had to take care of an issue at 5:30 this morning because they are not around and the support team didn’t t bother to assign someone here to cover. I stand by my prediction, the stones know all.

      • Gender Traitor

        I do, indeed, trust your renal rocks more than most pollsters and pundits.

        Also of potential significance, if one lends any credence to that sort of thing: Election Day this year coincides with the full moon. 😳

      • Gender Traitor

        (Now I’m imagining tossing kidney stones I Ching-style to divine the outcome of the election…)

    • rhywun

      Nerd.

      • Grosspatzer

        Why, thank you. Thank you very much.

    • Rat on a train

      VRE August 2022 forum

      Brad from Fredericksburg, VA asks
      Any chance we could have “mask cars” for those attempting to avoid COVID exposure? (In theory, this wouldn’t be any different than the concept of a Quiet Car.)

      VRE Response
      Brad, we do not have plans at this time for “mask cars,” but for those with flexibility in travel times we have a page which shows the ridership levels. Check Train Utilization Trends – vre to find the trains with the most available seating.

      Covidians asked for the same thing on the VRE.

    • rhywun

      A Karen-car. I like it.

      Then they could leave the rest of us alone.

      • Rat on a train

        Nosophobia should be treated not reinforced.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Don’t coddle them, they’ll only push for more.

  37. UnCivilServant

    How do I go to the store for Apple Fritters and come back with Taco Fixings (and no fritters)?

    • Gender Traitor

      You’re forward thinking and jumped ahead to lunch, overlooking breakfast entirely?

      Now I want apple fritters! I wonder if Tim Horton’s ever has them…

      • UnCivilServant

        Oh, now I remember. The store was out of fritters.

        I’m now sad again.

      • Gender Traitor

        I’ll probably have to settle for apples & cinnamon instant oatmeal when I get to work. 😞

      • UnCivilServant

        I had to settle for cold leftover chicken dipped in honey mustard.

    • Grosspatzer

      Sounds like one of my typical shopping excursions. Mrs. Patzer asks similar questions when I return.

      • UnCivilServant

        How is she doing by the way?

      • Grosspatzer

        A bit better, thanks for asking. No horrible episodes yesterday.

      • UnCivilServant

        Good to hear. I hope things keep improving, even if it’s just a little each day.

  38. robodruid

    Good Morning crew.
    Started cooking lasagna sauce this AM. Anybody coming to chicken show in Norman this weekend?

    • UnCivilServant

      This weekend? I’m afraid not.

      Don’t forget the clocks change sunday.