NOTRECOMMENDED: Any KINDLE or ebook “purchased” from AMAZON

Monday, October 6, 2025

https://www.androidauthority.com/amazon-kindle-e-books-drm-harder-to-backup-3601341/

Your Kindle e-books just got locked down even tighter
With stricter DRM in place, your Kindle library is now even harder to back up.
By Matt Horne aka @SalvaCash
September 25, 2025

*** begin quote ***

For Kindle owners, this continues a pattern of losing personal control over purchased books. Earlier this year, Amazon removed the ability to download titles for local transfer via USB. Old versions of the Kindle Android app also no longer support downloads, which cut off another method people used for saving e-books. With this latest move, the company has tightened its grip on Kindle e-books even further.

*** end quote ***

As much as I linked my old Kindle, which I have misplaced, I can’t understand why AMAZON has locked it down even more.

Until the Gooferment cracks down on AMAZON for its FRAUDULENT practice of “SELLING” books when it’s really just delivering a “LICENSE” to you, we’re stuck with a BIG BROTHER “librarian”.

I’m tired of what I call “CONTENT FRAUD”.  I don’t know how many times in the past I’ve had to rebuy content.  Paper books, books on cassette tapes, books on CDs, and “audio” books are all the same content that we’re stuck buying and rebuying,

Never mind that Disney and Amazon do a big business in “SELLING” streaming content that you don’t have control over.

Maybe I’m just an old curmudgeon, but I’m now at the point where I’m not BUYING content where I don’t control the MEDIA that I’ve purchased.

I want my CONTENT without DRM so I can put it in CALIBRE and enjoy it anywhere anytime.  I want to burn that into a MEDIA that is virtually eternal and that I control.

Sorry, but I’m not LICENSING anything anymore.

# – # – # – # – #

P.S.: While on the topic of really free “BOOKS” I use:

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Don’t buy “gift cards” throught zillionsgift offers on gift card racks in Walgreens

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Don’t buy “gift cards” throught zillionsgift offers on gift card racks in Walgreens.

They are counting on you to become frustrated trying to transform them into a useable gift card for so site you like.

My experience:

  • The fine print says the card can only be redeemed at their website
  • Took several tries to get to the website “zillionsgift.com”; the fine print isn’t easy to read; mistakes take you to cyber squatters waiting for you to fall into their trap
  • Getting the card info in and verifying your humanity took three tries
  • After getting thru that hurdle, you need to select values for your favorite destination site that work (i.e., 40$ gift card must be taken as two 20$ Amazon gift cards)
  • Then it says “tilt” and an obscure error message
  • Try that twice, then give up at call their 1-833 (?) number
  • After a brief hold, you get a call center fellow (Philippines?) who makes your repeat all your info and then tells you to try a mobile or another browser (Hey, I’m an IT pro. Already did that!  Argh!)
  • Then he graciously agrees to send you a paper check to your home address in 3 or 4 weeks
  • Argh!  I’m saving all the papers and card in an envelope with 8/15/25 on it

Feel free to check back for my update.  Argh!

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Liberty Mutual Insurance — tech support

Monday, June 30, 2025

Couldn’t logon for several days.

First call into them; they changed UserIds to emails. Argh!

Second call into them; send us a screen shot.

Sent it in and then they said: “three to five business days”.

Argh!

I fail to understand how they are going to diagnose and fix this. And, five days, someone must be INSANE!

Nevermind that no one is interested in WHY I need to get on their website.

Argh! Argh!

Maybe I need to change?

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NOTRECOMMENDED: LASTPASS no longer recommended; Use BITWARDEN instead

Sunday, April 6, 2025

LASTPASS has dropped support for Mac OSX application.  

No appologies; just dropped.

Sigh!

I’m testing BITWARDEN and Apple’s PASSWORD app.

Not that I’m an “influencer”, but I have RECOMMENDED LASTPASS for a long time.  Removing it’s availability from a key computer platform is short sighted at best and dumb at worst.

IMHO

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Apple AirPods2Pro for the hearing test

Saturday, December 28, 2024

After a very frustrating day of “escalations”, broken return calls promised, and countless connect / disconnect / in case / out of case / reconnect, I gave up.

This product is not ready for prime time,  I felt like an alpha tester.

Argh! ** 3

They hyped the “hearing test” so much I really wanted it to work. 

Frustrated to the full extent.

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POLITICAL: Eliminate DOEd, FEMA, and the FBI

Monday, November 25, 2024

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/11/d_o_g_e_is_a_wonderful_concept_and_here_are_some_ideas_to_get_it_started.html

D.O.G.E. Is A Wonderful Concept, And Here Are Some Ideas To Get It Started
By Gregory McCants

*** begin quote ***

With Donald Trump’s election win now a few days behind us and the GOP all but confirmed to have swept both houses of congress as well it would appear that at least for two years we should have a truly unique and remarkable opportunity to make meaningful change in a variety of areas. Of highest priorities would be the economy and border security, both of which were clearly the major issues the American people looked to when deciding their next government.

Within that discussion of economic improvements, Trump has now tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head an informal operation to be known as the Department Of Governmental Efficiency (with the excellent acronym of D.O.G.E.)

*** and ***

FEMA probably just wrote its own obituary with the revelation that a FEMA official in Florida told workers to “avoid houses with Trump signs” in the wake of Hurricane Milton, leading to loud calls for defunding the agency. The truth is that emergency disaster relief should not be handled by yet another agency with large layers of bureaucracy.

Instead, states should be able to request emergency disaster relief funds directly from Congress, with the appropriations then used to purchase necessary resources and materials, ideally from private vendors who can compete for the contracts. This would lead to increased efficiency and better prices for the taxpayer. This would also allow the government to engage in strict accounting to ensure federal funds go where they are supposed to go.

*** and ***

The DOE is on Donald Trump’s list of agencies that should be removed, and it’s been on Republican lists back to the Rick Perry days. The Department of Education (“DOE”) has long been a target of many who feel the government’s meddling in education, and its one-size-fits-all approach is ultimately detrimental. To quote Reason, “Take, for example, federal grants to state education departments. Federal aid incentivizes schools to shift their priorities to meet federal grant requirements rather than local educational needs.”

*** and ***

The FBI, originally created as an “emergency agency” in response to organized crime during the Prohibition era, has become a bloated, redundant, and ultimately useless organization that essentially serves as the outdated grandfather of other agencies conducting operations on the ground, such as the U.S. Marshalls or the Drug Enforcement Agency. One of my personal favorite YouTube commentators did an excellent video on the topic. 

*** end quote ***

As always, the Gooferment “Swamp” is a “target rich environment”.

But I hope that DOGE doesn’t get confused and jump from target to target.

Best focus on these three and drive to completion.

Don’t just trim around the edges; axe them.

If, for example, the FBI’s labs are “valuable”, then transfer them to some “technical organization” like NIST,

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Putting a child on an andriod phone

Monday, November 18, 2024

Tried to put him on two different android phones.

Apparently, “FAMILY LINK” doesn’t work.

I wind up with a device that constantly reboots.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — attributed to Einstein, Ben Franklin, and Rita Mae Brown

I now have two devices that just reboot over and over again.

Maybe I’ll just buy him an obsolete iPhone.

Argh!

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: LULU open source firewall

Thursday, October 24, 2024

While I like the idea of having a firewall to protect me from the likes of ISPs and Applications, I tried LULU and could get through the install.  Maybe I’ll try again when I have time to waste.

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Napoleon (2023)

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Napoleon (2023)

# – # – # – # – # 

Save your money and wait for it on free tv.

The only thing good was the costumes.

And, if you weren’t anti-war before the movie, you would be after it.  Marching lines of people into cannons is the height of stupidity.  And, why would Joe Grunt do it?

Argh!

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: DRIZLY is unreliable

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Took my order and never delivered. I had to make three phone calls and two emails to find out.

Argh!

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Facebook’s Portal product

Friday, July 16, 2021

I need a YouTubeKids app and the portal to interoperate with non-messenger contacts.

# – # – # – # – #

It’s great for an old relative but imho it’s too tightly tied to Facebook Messenger ands very limited apps.

With a toddler, it’s too hard to restrict him to YouTubeKids. 

Argh!

—30—

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TECHNOLOGY: WHAT3WORDS may not be suitable for the task? NOT-RECOMMENDED!

Saturday, May 8, 2021

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/21/05/03/1538256/what3words-sends-legal-threat-to-a-security-researcher-for-sharing-an-open-source-alternative

What3Words Sends Legal Threat To a Security Researcher For Sharing an Open-Source Alternative (techcrunch.com) 133
Posted by msmash on Monday May 03, 2021 @11:38AM from the how-about-that dept.

*** begin quote ***

A U.K. company behind digital addressing system What3Words has sent a legal threat to a security researcher for offering to share an open-source software project with other researchers, which What3Words claims violate its copyright.

*** and ***

But security researcher Andrew Tierney recently discovered that What3Words would sometimes have two similarly-named squares less than a mile apart, potentially causing confusion about a person’s true whereabouts. In a later write-up, Tierney said What3Words was not adequate for use in safety-critical cases.

*** end quote ***

Maybe Google’s system is better?

40.48453468598731, -74.42346811440515

As opposed to:

safety freed solo

AKA https://w3w.co/safety.freed.solo

WhatFreeWords should NOT be suppressed.

—30—

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210430/22510246716/what3words-sends-ridiculous-legal-threat-to-security-researcher-over-open-source-alternative.shtml

What3Words Sends Ridiculous Legal Threat To Security Researcher Over Open Source Alternative
(Mis)Uses of Technology
from the never-use-what3words dept
Mon, May 3rd 2021 10:47am — Mike Masnick

*** begin quote ***

The only proper response to this is never, ever use What3Words for anything that matters. Beyond not giving in to censorial, abusive bullies, their legal reaction to a security researcher doing reverse engineering work to help find potentially dangerous problems with What3Words screams loudly to the world that What3Words has no confidence that it’s products are safe. They’re scared to death of security researchers being able to really test their work.

Both of these reasons means that What3Words should be remembered as little more than a failed.dumpster.fire rather than the cool.mapping.idea it could have been.

*** end quote ***

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: HOME DEPOT online purchase

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

FROM HOME DEPOT

# – # – # – # – #

How many stars would you give your recent online purchase?
View as web page
 
RATE & REVIEW
YOUR HOME DEPOT PURCHASE
 
Ferdinand, How many stars would you give Kidde Pro 340 3-A:40-B:C Fire Extinguisher?

# – # – # – # – #

A used old and discharged one was delivered. Of course, it was returned and I will not be ordering online from Home Depot again!

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Google Pay

Friday, March 12, 2021

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/the-new-google-pay-repeats-all-the-same-mistakes-of-google-allo/

PLEASE STOP —
The new Google Pay repeats all the same mistakes of Google Allo
For P2P users, the new app has fewer features, is less convenient, and has more fees.
RON AMADEO – 3/7/2021, 9:30 AM
 

*** begin quote ***

For long-term Google users, the new Google Pay is yet another annoying transition they’ll have to explain to friends and family. This is an occurrence that’s getting more frequent and more annoying in recent years, thanks to similar Google shutdowns of Google Play Music, Cloud Print, Inbox, Works with Nest, the ongoing Hangouts situation, and many others. That’s to say nothing of the crazy history of this payment service, which used to be Google Wallet, then Android Pay, then Google Pay, and now it’s a totally different Google Pay. Just like we’ve been through a million times now, some people won’t think this is a big deal because their use case is supported on the new product, while for other people, the new Google Pay will be a much bigger deal, because their use cases will be ripped-out from under them and no longer supported.

The worst part of it all is that, like the move from Google Music to YouTube Music, there is no reward at the end of this transition. Google is blowing stuff up and making users switch apps and set things up again only because of internal politics and infrastructure concerns. There aren’t any great new features to sell people on—it’s just Google’s constantly shifting priorities reaching into your life to remind you, “This is what being a Google user is like now. You’d better keep up!” It gets exhausting.

There is one new feature in the new Google Pay. I swear I’m not making this up: new Google Pay is yet another Google messaging app! Once you add someone via their phone number, the three options are “Pay,” “Request,” and “Message.” The “Message” option will bring up a full messaging app with the usual back and forth replies, push notifications, and emoji support. You can even start a group chat!

*** end quote ***

Luckily, I never got into Google Pay. And, I dropped Google Fi for Altice’s unlimited mobile offering.

YMMV

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Paytrust sucks

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Just nuked my paytrust account!

… … due to the lousy Use interface.

And they don’t forward the mail.

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: EBAY, PAYPAL, SquareTrade, and @amazing-wireless

Monday, August 17, 2020

Order #26-05258-77719

BlackBerry Keyone – BBB100-1 32GB – Black (AT&T + GSM Unlocked) – MINT INBOX

# – # – #

Except it’s locked!

And it’s no one’s problem but mine!

They all suck!

I am about ready to cancel my PayPal account over this.

And, obtw, you can leave negative feedback because the Ebay system is screwed up.

Argh!

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Toyota Financial Services

Thursday, February 1, 2018

@ToyotaFinancial

Your “customer service” needs work. Your technology is archaic. The process to transfer a title is opaque. And, the turnaround times of interactions is measured in weeks. And, you force everyone to call in. Argh!

#ToyotaFinancialServices #ToyotaFinancial #Toyota

# – # – # – # – #

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NOTRECOMMENDED: LIMA, a personal cloud server and service

Sunday, May 14, 2017

http://meetlima.com

This does NOT live up to the hype. I read the articles, some from reputable tech journals, and bought in.

After trying to install it, and could not, I find out there are all sorts of problems.

* Doesn’t work with CHROMEBOOKS (No one mentioned that.)

* Doesn’t support shared Users on a computer.

* Doesn’t install easily

And there support site has many pages of questions form Users globally.

I was looking for a POGOPLUG replacement and I think I’ve bought a pig.

More to follow.

# – # – # – # – # 

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NOTRECOMMENDED: DYMO label makers

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

http://www.dymo.com/en-US

My LabelManager® Rechargeable Battery – 500TS, WPnP, XTL 300, MobileLabeler— died.

I suspect that the Lithium battery went bad. 

It was an expensive purchase. And the battery is “out of stock”.

Hence I don’t recommend this COMPANY.

This is the same company that dumped the CARDSCAN product, its software, and databases on short notice after acquisition.

Fool me once … … 

So the next one I buy, won’t be from them. 

Argh!

# – # – # – # – # 

 

 

 

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Logitech Webcam c615 on MAC OSX

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Despite what the fine print says, it doesn’t work.

MAC OS X 10.12.6 (16D32) doesn’t recognize the camera. 

I have it docked and it’s a bust.

I’ve had ticket #0465 9146 open since the end of January.

Argh!

# – # – # – # – # 

2017-Feb-17

After numerous email, I finally got some specific help. 

*** begin quote ***


 		  
 
 

Dear Ferdinand,

Good day!

To further isolate the issue, please try to do the following:
1. Re-seat to another USB port. Bypass the use of KVM switch boxes, port replicators, docking stations, and USB hubs if any
2. Prefer using USB 2.0 rather than USB 3.0 ports. For additional reference, refer to https://support.logitech.com/en_us/article/38032
3. Download and install the Logitech Webcam Software. 
https://download01.logi.com/web/ftp/pub/video/quickcam/lws220.dmg
4. Test it on a different computer.

Please let us know the result of these recommended steps.

For future reference your case reference number is 04659146. This will allow us to quickly find the contact history when you need additional help. If we do not receive a reply, your support request will eventually be closed and set to “solved”. A survey will be sent to you to gather your feedback.

To contact us by phone or obtain additional information (FAQ’s, Forum, Manuals, etc.) please visit support.logitech.com

Best regards,

Angelica
Logitech Customer Care
support.logitech.com

 

*** end quote ***

So fresh this morning, I took the cover off the big monitor.

I moved the Logitech camera usb directly to the computer. It worked. 

I reattached it to the same USB slot on my monitor. It worked.

Rebooted and it still works.

Explanation?

“Magic”?

Argh!

So ends a 20 day outage?

# – # – # – # – #  2017-Feb-17 @ 09:39  


 		  
 
  Dear Ferdinand,

Good day!

Its good to hear that the webcam is now working.

There may be several reasons (or no reason) for USB ports ceasing to function with no cause. There might be a chance that the webcam was not plugged in properly before. But the good thing is, the device is now working again.

For future reference your case reference number is 04659146. This will allow us to quickly find the contact history when you need additional help. If we do not receive a reply, your support request will eventually be closed and set to “solved”. A survey will be sent to you to gather your feedback.

To contact us by phone or obtain additional information (FAQ’s, Forum, Manuals, etc.) please visit support.logitech.com

Best regards,

Angelica
Logitech Customer Care
support.logitech.com

 

# – # – # – # – #  2017-Feb-17 @ 11:02  

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NOTRECOMMENDED: HP Instant Ink

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Who knew that this is another “trap”?

Bad enough when they try to use copyright and chips to keep you locked in.

Wonder if they will “turn off” my new printer?

Argh!

Everything is a hassle these days.

*** begin quote ***

 
Re:  Printer model: ENVY 5540 All-in-One Printer series
   Printer email: reinkefj@hpeprint.com
 

Dear Ferdinand,

We hope you are enjoying your HP Instant Ink service. Below is a billing summary for your HP Instant Ink service and should be referenced if you have any questions regarding your account billing.

Billing date: 02.07.2017

Billing Summary:
 

Item
Unit Price
Quantity
Price
HP Instant Ink Service 15 Page Plan $0.00 1 $0.00
Additional page sets of 10 pages $1.00 3 $3.00
Subtotal:  $3.00
Tax:  $0.21
Total Charged:  $3.21

To view and print your invoice:

*** end quote ***

# – # – # – # – # 

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Google pixel — factory reset

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Sorry but I had to do a factory reset on my Google pixel phone.

It forgot my pin. I remember it. But it was lost.

Argh!

# – # – # – # – # 

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NOTRECOMMENDED: QuikCheck sub

Friday, December 16, 2016

Last night, for dinner, because I’d stopped at Quik Chek #quickchek http://quickchek.com/StoreHome/89 for some Half & Half, I bought a ham sandwich with lettuce and russian dressing. It was almost inedible. In comparison to the sandwich I usually get at Wawa (#wawa Wawa #912), there was no comparison. Wawa allows you to get just the bread toasted. Quick Chek toasts something but I couldn’t figure out what; it was cold. The meat on the Quik Chek sandwich was just plopped on it as a mass; Wawa places individual slices. In fairness, Quik Chek does offer russian dressing; I don’t think Wawa does. I know Quik Chek charged me more than Wawa does, but I don’t have the receipts from each. Sigh! So FWIW, I won’t be buying subs from Quik Chek again. YMMV!

# – # – # – # – # 

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NOTRECOMMENDED: MAILCHIMP free no good

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Sorry, but MAILCHIP snagged my alumni news letter for some type of spam. It’s been months since I replied to their support about it. No response. 

But plenty of sales emails.

Be forewarned. “Free” isn’t; “paid” may be treated just as bad.

Argh!

# – # – # – # – # 

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NOTRECOMMENDED: BounceBack drive

Sunday, August 24, 2014

CMS Products <http://www.cmsproducts.com/>

A new post has been created in the topic “Bought new BounceBack drive” <http://www.cmsproducts.com/boards/topic/712/bought-new-bounceback-drive#1910> at “All Issues (Current Versions)” <http://www.cmsproducts.com/boards/forum/28/all-issues-current-versions> forum.

Click here <http://www.cmsproducts.com/boards/topic/712/bought-new-bounceback-drive#1910> for more info.

Post author: Support
Post body: Unfortunately we no longer sell or support BounceBack software for Mac. The only products available for download are only supported in Windows.

# – # – # – # – #   

Maybe that might have been mentioned BEFORE I bought it.

Guess I’ll send it to the College “young lady” who has my WINDOZE laptop. 

ARGH!

# – # – # – # – #   


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NOTRECOMMENDED: LIVESCRIBE

Monday, August 4, 2014

The products — livescribe3 and sky wifi — are both “interesting”!

My use of them was “disappointing”.

And, the “customer service” is 1 for 3 in successful uses.

Also, the “technical support” was slow to respond and very formulaic.

I will be consigning these to the “dust bin”.

Yell, if you want to borrow or buy them.

# – # – # – # – #   

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