GEEK OUT: ACROBAT READER WITHOUT THE SALES PITCH

 PDF is a good portable format and by default Adobe Acrobat Reader is the tool to read PDF files.  Unfortunately, Adobe has ruined the experience by constantly pushing for the purchase of Adobe Acrobat Pro or similar, to allow the users to edit, combine, make changes to PDF files.  Most users are perfectly happy with the reader, at most they need to fill out some forms or sign the document, things the reader fully capable of doing.  Thanks to the following articles, the PDF experience can be made not so unpleasant.

Disable New Interface

Disable Upsell

Hide Tools

The first one is simplest, as it involves using the Acrobat Reader menu.  Just pick the menu item as indicated and you see fewer upsell stuff.

The second link involves adding a key to the registry.  You may need to use an admin account to do it.  As all things with the registry, proceed with caution.  Once you have it done, no more "Try Acrobat Pro!" or such hawking!

The third one involves creating a folder in a critcal spot and moving three files into said folder.  It really provides a clean interface, without all the tools that do not work fully but are constantly shoved into your face.

GEEK OUT: WINDOWS 11 START MENU PINNED ITEMS

 

By default, Windows 11's Pinned Items, shown above in the Start Menu looks very busy.  The items got there because Microsoft thought they would be useful, or whatever.  You don't have to live with it.  I prefer a cleaner list of Pinned Items.  I am just trying to get some work done, I don't need to look at an airplane cockpit full of buttons.  I would remove the icons that I don't need and end up with something like this:

Now it is a lot cleaner, simpler.  But what if I have a bunch of computers to setup and want them all to have the same list of Pinned Items.  Just the useful stuff, nothing to distract the users.  That's where an article like

Backup and Restore Pinned Items on Start Menu in Windows 11

comes in handy.  Technically, when I apply the tip in the article it is not backing up but rather copying settings from one machine to another.  On computer #1, just remove icons to your heart's content, save the file in some place, move on to the computer #2 and replace the file in the same location, done!  Onward to computer #3 etc.  In my case, the file is called start2.bin, so don't follow the article to a tee.  Windows changes all the time, use the article as a guide.

FAUX LFL RE-SURFACED

 According to my son, my faux little free library went out of commission in April this year.  I cannot seem to remember these little things.  It was held up by two keyring hooks attached to an I.V. pole.  My Mother one time had a nurse come to the house to administer some fluid injection and when the work was done we were left with two I.V. poles, one of which became the support for my faux lfl.  I think one time I had too many books in the milk crate and the wind was strong, the hooks, or at least one, got twisted out of shape.  Somehow I never have the time to fix it, until recently, some four months later.  This time I use zip ties and so far the lfl is holding up.  Come patronize, take a book, share a book.  On Bay 40th Street in Brooklyn NY, near 86th Street.  I still have the cello-shaped magazine rack that also serves as an lfl.  It is chained to the fence with a lock but this past weekend I found it laying face down, luckily still chained.  Someone either wanted to take it for their use, or just want a piece of metal to sell to some junkyard.  Sad, that is why we cannot have nice things.

NHS '85 40TH REUNION - SEPT 4 DEADLINE

The 40th Reunion of Class of 1985 at Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens NY now has a deadline of September 4, 2025.  That's one month ahead of the actual reunion date of October 4, 2025.  The event will be at the Marriott LaGuardia Airport, 7 P.M. to midnight.  Payment of $150 per person is to be done through BillHighway.com .  Contact me at linusly@mac.com to have your BillHighway account created.  I believe we already reached all interested parties and some are just waiting for a deadline to act, so now you have the deadline.  Event is open to all 1980s so bring friends and families!

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

I used to carry a small pouch to hold coins.  One after another became unuseable so after a while I don't carry coins any more.  But I get coins when I pay for things with cash.  Slowly the coins built up.  I thought of using one of those coin machines but they charge a fee.  Or you get a gift card but it's not the same as cash.  When you buy something, your money is already de-valued.  My son came up with the wonderful idea of paying for train rides with coins.  In New York City, subway and buses take MetroCard, a thin plastic that one swipes at the turnstile to get into the transit system.  I normally pay for it with a credit card, occasionally with bills, but never thought of using coins.  I recently put the idea to work, even though it was for the MetroCard's replacement, OMNY card, comes January 1, 2026.  It was a bit of a hassle, but I was able to spend $3.00+ to get an OMNY card.  It costs $1.00 to get the card, probably just to discourage people from just throwing empty ones away.  Yeah, humans suck, that's why we cannot have nice things.  I recall when the MetroCard didn't cost $1.00 to buy, spent ones were littered all over the subway station.  Anyway, back to the OMNY card, the coins had to be dropped just right in order for them to be registered.  If not done right, they travel down some separate path and come out in the tray where the cards would come out.  Still, it's the best way to use coins.

HAVING ECLAIRS AND VERY SHY

The ColdPlay couple, there are so many re-enactments but the audio stayed the same.  Over and over I heard "They either are having an affair or they are very shy..."  My punny mind twisted it to say "They are having eclairs and they are very shy" and came up with the drawing.  By hand, on a dry-erase board.  Not a work of AI, which I poked fun at by drawing extra arms on the people in the picture.  Maybe AI will be perfect in the future but for now it cannot handle fingers and appendages.  Most humans have only  five fingers, two arms, and two legs, but AI often gives them extra fingers, or longish fingers, or feet where hands should be.

I LOVE ICE

Tuesday, July 15, 2025, new fridge arrived and installed.  While my early childhood took place in some small town in Saigon, without luxuries like refrigerator, I don't remember much of that.  I do remember living on the third floor of a big building, with a refrigerator.  What a luxury!  Ever since living in the U.S., I appreciate refrigerators even more.  I just love cold drinks.  For a few years, my anemia caused me to have nasty bouts of sneezing whenever I didn't have enough sleep.  The day would start with frequent sneezes then by the end of the day the headache would come.  I just had to drop everything and go straight to bed, then the next day I was good again.  Tried a few doctors, one was a Chinese herbal doctor and he told me I would have to give up drinking cold stuff.  Good thing I decided to get to do more physical exercises, namely long-distance running, and continued to drink cold stuff.  What a sacrifice in life that would be, no cold drinks.  When the previous refrigerator was installed, we decided not to bother to have ice made.  Drinks were still cold, if left in the fridge long enough, but at times I sorely missed having ice ready made.  With the new fridge, I made sure they hooked up the water hose, voila, ice available all the time.  After the few days without a decent fridge, I love my ice.  Yes, the real ice, not those January 6th thugs who go around kidnapping people, no accountability, probably already promised by King Rump that whatever they do they would be pardoned again.  Go, South Park!

A FRIDGE TOO WARM

Thursday July 10th, almost end of the work day, Wife texted me if I did anything to the fridge in the kitchen.  The freezer stopped working!  I cannot remember why I wanted to do it, but I thought about moving the fridge out enough to get to the back and Swiff it.  Clean it, gather up some dust.  Not long ago Wife started stacking these plastic boxes bought from Temu or such to better organize things but I think they choke the fridge.  There just isn't enough circulation of air.  Thought I did but didn't do anything, that's why Wife asked, maybe to blame me for somehow killing the freezer.  The time has come, but alas Swiffing didn't do much.  There were some grills so I used a hand vacuum to pull out dirt bunnies.  Using a vacuum designed specifically for computer keyboards got some more bunnies, but nothing changed.  I cannot recall the exact sequence of events, but I think I unplugged the unit, unscrewed the cover, there is so much dust to remove.  Over fifteen years, the fridge was not cleaned once.  Note to self: treat the next fridge better.  Once a year it should be cleaned.  For this current fridge, while much dust was removed from the fan and it started to spin again, nothing changed.  Maybe the compressor is dead.  Sadly, it costs too much to repair, so fifteen years is a good run, we will shop for a new one on the weekend.

EARN IT OFF

I don't care much about the Apple Watch but I recently discovered that my health insurance, UnitedHealth, offers a rewards program that can get me a free Watch.  Up to $300, that is.  You need to install the UnitedHealth app and let it connect to a tracker app, such as Apple's built-in Health program, so that UH can track the number of steps you make in a given day, how many hours of sleep you have, etc.  You earn a few dollars here, 50 cents there, take a health survey, participate in some weekly challenges, basically doing healthy stuff.  Ideally, you do enough to earn $20+ a month, but if you don't then the difference will be charged to your credit card and the "free" Apple Watch isn't free any more.  So far, for the first month I have a few extra dollars earned.  They will help me pay off the watch sooner than July 2026.  Here's to healthier living!