939. Puzzled re Contempt of Senate Proceedings

I'm puzzled why Senators can openly lie on the Senate floor or before any Senate managed function without some kind of penalty. Isn't this Contempt = willful disobedience to or open disrespect for the rules or orders of a court (contempt of court) or legislative body. They take an oath to  truthful and to support the Constitution don't they? Yet Independent organizations, such as Politico, call their lies and nothing is ever done to correct them. So, as we have seen with the Impeachment Trials and almost all Dem initiated witch hunts, the Dem continue to lie to Congress to make their false cases. I really think someone in the legal areas of the government, such as the Department of Justice or the Supreme Court Court member selected to oversee the Impeachment trial, should prosecute these liars. It's challenging enough to understand everything being said let alone extracting facts. We the People know the facts re the Impeachment. Some just don't care about the lies and just want to proceed removing our President based on their inability to get over 2016 and the fact that the Dem Party is imploding each time they bring up these false accusations. I'm not a Dem, but it would be a shame if they destroy the Separation of Powers and continue to close their eyes to reality and facts. I'm tired of results BY PARTY LINE! Can't individual members think for themselves? I value the multiple-party system to balance the views of all America. But, I am getting real tired of the Dems misleading their contingency and sucking up the youngster "adults" who in the most part are clueless on most of the facts and simply don't care -- they just want to rebel as teenagers always do! Where are the parents who allow their children to be brought up that way? Are they also so indoctrinated with wrongdoing and lack of common sense also. I wish I could say let America be Socialist to tech them a lesson that that are too ignorant to learn by past attempts and present examples. Let's let everybody live for FREE (except, you and I who have to pay the taxes for the youngsters until they grow up and get to really suffer financial chaos as an adult). 

Thanks Dems for SEPARATING this Great Country. I can even suspect that the youngsters and a lot of people believe the Democratic Party stands for Democracy and any other party does not. I doubt they know that America is a Republic and our Republic and Democracy is the set of policies defined by the Constitution and Bill of Rights that rule America despite the political party name. The exception is Bernie Sanders and his followers who are out to upset Democracy and Capitalism with idiotic dreams that youngsters BELIEVE! I sometimes wonder whether every voter should pass a course on Democracy, Capitalism, and what a Republic is BEFORE they can vote! Just can't believe We the People are sitting here without correcting the inevitable catastrophes in the future. 

I guess I got off the topic a little. But the match on the gasoline spread by the Dems these last 3+ years has already been lit.

938. Hopper 1 USB setup

I upgraded an older Dish receiver to the Hopper 1 (first generation) assuming the 2 USB ports on the back were enough for an OTA (Over-the-Air Antenna), and Internet Connection (to give be On Demand). However, when installed the installer put some device into the top USB port that he claimed was to reduce noise and interference. Well that was wrong. It was a Snap Device from Dish to accelerate performance. The Snap Device is a micro processor + Memory add-on functioning with the Hopper via the TOP (must be) USB port. I also learned that the OTA must also be directly connected to the Hopper to its own USB port, i.e., not a separate USB splitter). Thus both top and bottom USB ports on the back of the hopper we filled leaving no place to plug in the Dish Wi-Fi Adapter for Internet connection (on demand function and other things). I was surprised to find a third USB port on the front of the Hopper box! This worked fine for the Wi-Fi Adapter. Voil

Summarizing:
The Hopper 1 comes with 3 USB ports (2 on back, 1 on front) but the top back port MUST be SNAP Device. OTA Adapter needs a direct USB connection (BOTTOM Back port). Use the front USB port for Internet Wireless Wi-FI (or use an Ethernet port to cable to router).

.

937. Thank You Microsoft for version 1909

Microsoft has been doing a stellar job with its new version installations.  I was surprised that they do NOT automatically force you to update to new version until near your level end support date (May 2020 in my case). I had version 1809 and today put on version 1909 without a glitch. Took about 3 hours and 20 minutes on this old Dell Inspiron 1440. Thing is, ALL installed programs were transferred transparently except, again, the old Microsoft Windows 7 games. I have posted previously how to install them, but this time I ensured I had a backup of the card game .exe files (...exe,bak) in each game folder under folder Micorsoft games. I needed only to copy it and rename it just ....exe and each game was active except for chess which needed "chess.dll" in the chess game folder. The install saved all old folders and files in  its "windows.old" folder folder and copying it to the active chess game folder was a no brainer.

Kudos to Microsoft for a great installation experience.

May I add that I am still using Office 2003 after the upgrade. But if you visit Post 906 here re installation where it was not preinstalled on my new Lenovo, you will see that I could no longer install it on that version 1903 system and had to get a new version (also documented in the post). I was afraid I'd have to do that again, but no, the upgrade did everything with the older programs.

936 "Prince of Spies" by Alex Gerlis – 5 Stars

Prince of Spies by Alex Gerlis – 5 Stars

Publisher: Canelo

ISBN: 9781788638722

Captivating! I was surprised by the content in this book given it was in the Spies category. I was expecting just action after action with just high intensity events and an already seasoned super-hero agent as in so many other spy books. But instead was given a well-constructed and complete story: how during WW II Richard Prince was recruited, quickly trained for am emanate mission, constant situations that highlighted the high risk and precautionary steps needed, the loneliness and despair in his and other agent’s lives, the addiction to the spy game, the intelligence and secretiveness within the spy organizations internally as well as externally, and so much more. All this with the realistic background and history of WW II, mainly focused in the Germany and Denmark arenas. Did I mention the building and actions to stop the construction of the German missiles and rockets? Or the extreme sacrifices some of the agents encountered?

Follow the main character Richard Prince from his detective days through his development into a top British Agent and his adventures to uncover the reality of German plans of destruction and menace, particularly the German actions in Denmark. This is a complete story that grips you and places you in Prince’s shoes. Extremely well done! I’m already standing in line for Book 2.

 Reviewer: Rich

 

935. "Charleston Buzz" Kill by Tom Turner – 5 Stars

Charleston Buzz Kill by Tom Turner – 5 Stars

Publisher: Tribeca Press

ISBN: 9781670793072

This is an intelligent mystery with a light side. The plot doesn’t slow. Characters are interesting, realistic and often quirky. The dialogue, especially between the lead detectives, is bright and witty. It pokes fun at the rich and pretentious citizens of Charleston without being nasty. This is the second book in the Charleston series and like the Palm Beach series by Tom Turner, is absolutely enjoyable.

Reviewer: Nancy

 

934. "Nine Lives by" Tom Barber – 2 Stars

Nine Lives by Tom Barber – 2 Stars

Publisher: BooksGoSocial

ISBN: 9781478172895

Sam Archer. Who would have guessed that Sam was the key character and foundation for the Series? Neither he nor other main characters were ever developed fully to capture your interest. Plus, with a story that read like a series of headlines, that is, event after event, all similar with same expected outcomes, and nothing around them, the result was undoubtedly a very bland novel. If you were looking for “just the facts ‘Mam”  repeated again and again, you got it. Yes, one could call this intense, but, no, one did not get a story.

This was a free book to review from Netgalley.com. Thus, I expected a copy with incomplete editing. However, this was terrible. There must have been 50+ errors where words were split or run together with other words per page. One’s mind adapts to this and reading continued on regardless. Thus, editing was not considered in the rating.

Much of the story was unrealistic and implausible. Some would view this as a requirement for intensity. For me it became a deterrent to continue. I struggled to about 50% before I began to read one sentence per page with my eyes focused on the middle of the page. Didn’t miss a thing! At 80% I gave up and could care less how it ended.

I don’t know whether this was just the first in a Series or the author’s first ever. I’m leaning toward the latter and had no interest to even look it up. Sorry, let it suffice to state that I found this novel a flop.

Reviewer: Rich

 

933. "The Heartless" by David Putnam -- 5 Stars

The Heartless by David Putnam  -- 5 Stars

Publisher: Oceanview Publishing

ISBN: 9781608093786

It is exciting to find a thriller with a great plot, well developed characters and plenty of action. The Heartless has all of these.

Bruno Johnson, the central character, does battle in the dangerous streets of Los Angeles while struggling with personal conflicts. He tries to do the right things as he juggles the responsibilities of being the single parent of an intelligent rebellious teenage daughter and working long hours as a member of an elite law enforcement unit.

The action is intense throughout the book. It never slows.

Best of all, the plot is believable. It is obvious the David Putnam knows what he is writing about. He spent years working in areas of law enforcement. Don’t miss the author’s note at the end of the story.

 I have read very many police-based novels over the years and The Heartless is among the best. This book can be enjoyed without having read the first six in the series, but I am anxious to start from the beginning. I have already purchased the first book. 

Reviewer: Nancy

 

932. Stop annoying Malwarebytes popups

Finally found a way to stop the annoying Malwarebytes popups that want you to move on to Premium license. Do the following:

1. Bring up File Explorer
2. Start with C: and ensure your View shows hidden files
3. Traverse to Progamdata > Malwarebytes > MBAMService
4. Now locate Instlrupdate folder and delete it
5. That's all folks

931. "Not Dead" by Anita Dickason – 4 Stars

Not Dead by Anita Dickason  –  4 Stars

Publisher: Mystic Circle Books

ISBN: 9780996838597  

Not Dead is a paranormal crime thriller with a lot of romance. Much of it is a police procedural to find an abducted four-year-old little girl who has a passion for dolls.

It is obvious that the sheriff and editor of the local newspaper in a small Texas town will become romantically involved as soon as they are introduced. Much of the plot centers upon their often-adversarial relationship.

There are occasional hints of paranormal activity throughout, but the spooky stuff isn’t revealed until the final 20% of the story.

Overall it was nice and a little eerie. By nice I mean there wasn’t any graphic violence, steamy sex or nasty language. It didn’t keep me up all night but the characters and plot kept me reading to find out if Mandy got home safely and how the dolls were involved in the investigation.

Reviewer: Nancy

 

930. Nameless Series of books by Dean Koontz -- 4.5 Stars

Dean Koontz wrote a series of books (Nameless Series) based on a character you somehow lost his memory of the past but received enhanced powers, such as seeing beforehand what will happen. This character takes on the responsibilities to right catastrophes before they happen and punish the intended perpetrators. All six of the books -- (1) In the Heat of the Fire, (2) Photographing the Dead, (3) The Praying Mantis, (4) Red Rain, (5) The Mercy of Snakes, (6) Memories of Tomorrow -- were very good and can be read independently of the others and in any order. However, reading them all at once was less satisfying and I started to skim the latter books because of the similar structure and themes. So, what started out as a 5 Star dragged to a 4 Star. Overall, I give the series a 4.5 Star. Koontz is always creative and the theme was indeed that; but, short novelettes should not have been the way to release these. Each plot is unique in itself and very entertaining. Enjoy.

929. Low Volume on Dell Inspiron 1440

Tired of not being able to amply hear videos, audio on your Dell Inspiron? Apparently from other articles I found, Dell limited their default volume for its speakers on these models. Try the following to get satisfactory sound -- might even have to turn the volume down:

Instructions for a Windows 10 environment:

Left-click Sound ICON
Select Sound Settings
Select Device Properties for Sound
Select Additional Device Properties
Select Enhancements tab
Check the Loudness Equalization option and uncheck others
Click OK

Now you should have sound you can hear!