August 2023 - Talk - lists.gtalug.org

Tuesday Meeting Reminder
by Alan Heighway 05 Aug '23

05 Aug '23

Round table <https://gtalug.org/meeting/2023-08/> with Everyone <https://gtalug.org/> 08 August, 2023 at 07:30 PM We will be having a round table so bring your questions for the group. We're going to use Big BLue Button for this meeting: https://blue.lpi.org/b/eva-zjc-gjy-kgl *Time:* August 08, 2023 7:30 PM Eastern Time *Join us on Big Blue Button:* https://blue.lpi.org/b/eva-zjc-gjy-kgl. *A*lan *H*eighway <http://heighway.ca/> heighway.ca VA3WAH / VA3YKZ [image: Please consider the environment before printing]

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tues aug 8 & beyond
by bitmap 04 Aug '23

04 Aug '23

My calendar says there is a meeting tuesday august 8 2023. Is it so? In any case, are there any topics in the works for this or further ahead dates? Are the meetings ever IRL or always online?

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OLD Thinkpads, free
by Giles Orr 04 Aug '23

04 Aug '23

2 x T60, 1 x T42 I have somewhat involuntarily acquired these three exceptionally old Thinkpads. None of them are fully operational although all do something resembling booting. None have HDs, and they have other minor ailments as well. No power supplies. My inclination is to rip them apart (I collect old CPUs), but if someone has an actual use for them, we can talk ... You would probably have to come to North York to collect them: I nearly broke my back carrying all three home in my backpack on the TTC. They are not light. These should be considered for parts: they sorta-maybe run, but when I give up on installing Linux on them, you can rest assured they're either badly underpowered or problematic or both. I only ask because I know a lot of people on this list (myself included) really like Thinkpads. If no answer in a week, I'll gut them (and that's fine too). -- Giles https://www.gilesorr.com/ gilesorr(a)gmail.com

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serial and parallel ports [was nice deal on ThinkPad E16]
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 03 Aug '23

03 Aug '23

Do you want a desktop computer or a laptop? By "Yamaha ThinkPad", I think you meant "Lenovo ThinkPad". All ThinkPads are notebooks (or tablets). So I'll assume that you are looking for a notebook. Are you requiring it to run MSDOS? I think that it has been a long long time since notebooks had parallel ports. Is a USB-to-parallel dongle OK? I guess that a USB-to-serial dongle would be OK. Do you need both of these interfaces for your Kurzweil? Or is there some other device that is adding to the requirements? | From: Karen Lewellen via talk <talk(a)gtalug.org> | | Speaking of hardware, | Where is the best resource for older items these days? | Ones that still have an on board serial and parallel port? | Getting mine repaired is becoming more and more challenging with the Yamaha | thinkpad I hoped to use as a fall back apparently in worse shape than I | believed.

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[offtopic] Opinions on Freedom Mobile, please
by Evan Leibovitch 03 Aug '23

03 Aug '23

Hi all. I was more than a little ticked off to discover that Telus has no plans to offer 5G to its mid-brand Koodo customers, even though its flagship Telus and low-end Public Mobile brands already have it. Now that Freedom Mobile is owned by Videotron, perhaps Canada's least-awful telco, I had another look. They have a 5G plan for the same money that I'm paying Koodo for 4G with 10GB more per month. Furthermore Freedom is the only telco usable in the Toronto subway, with service in all stations and two Line-1 tunnel sections (Vaughan to Wilson and St.George to Yonge/Bloor). Pretty well everywhere I usually go these days is within Freedom's 5G coverage area. with 4G elsewhere (including the non-Freedom "nationwide" network coverage). I don't care about international roaming, I have a different SIM for that. And as it turns out the cell tower closest to my home is a Freedom one. Still, I have a few concerns. Reviews for Freedom on Trustpilot are plentiful and almost universally vicious. So long as everything Just Works my customer service interactions tend to be limited to initial setup. Does anyone here have any real-life data points to offer? Thanks! Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada @evanleibovitch / @el56

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Lenovo Canada’s ‘Doorbuster’ sale offers up to 63 percent off on laptops
by James Knott 03 Aug '23

03 Aug '23

There was a recent thread about a Lenovo ThinkPad. This might be of interest. https://mobilesyrup.com/2023/08/02/lenovo-canadas-doorbuster-sale-offers-up…

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nice deal on ThinkPad E16
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 01 Aug '23

01 Aug '23

<https://forums.redflagdeals.com/lenovo-canada-thinkpad-e16-g1-ryzen-5-7530u…> - 16" - carefully customize (as outlined) - choose the excellent display option (3560x1500, 400 nits - AMD CPU. Current gen number but 2 generations behind; still good. Note: Rakuten cashback is 12% today, making this an especially good day for this deal.

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Favorite desktop manager?
by mwilson＠Vex.Net 01 Aug '23

01 Aug '23

I just installed Debian 12 on a new laptop and took Gnome as desktop/window manager. I really insist on something more Xerox PARC style. I had been using Xfce, and liked it until (following Debian 10 software updates) it began to act strangely. A few months ago it started to kick up a huge fuss about difficulties starting the Panel after a restart. About 2 weeks back, following an upgrade, the Desktop area stopped displaying anything -- no wallpaper, no icons from the Desktop folder -- just gray. That prompted this move to Debian 12. I might go back to Xfce, and assume my troubles just resulted from being 2 major releases back, but before that, what do other people use and like?

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