Tech Help (Beyond This Forum)

[Herr Cloaca]

So then it sounds like they are not really needed and are just another income stream for companies.

Imagine a request from your computer to a server as being a letter in an envelope. Your VPN will take that envelope and stick it inside another envelope, addressed to the VPN end point. The postal service can't see the contents of the letter, nor the address on the inner envelope.
When the envelope reaches the VPN end point, it strips off the outer envelope and sticks the inner envelope in the post, to be delivered to the original destination.
All that takes effort, which takes time, which slows things down a bit.
And the whole thing has to happen on the reverse journey to get the response back to your computer.

It isn't anti-virus. It just makes traffic to and from you pop up in a place other than where it normally would, which would be your ISP.

Free and cheapass VPN providers monitor the traffic before encrypting it, and then flog that data on to aggregators and data pimps who in turn flog it to advertisers.

 

[Sid]

So then it sounds like they are not really needed and are just another income stream for companies.

Well, I suppose it's there should anyone feel that they need it, otherwise a decent 'Anti' app helps to ensure the protection and safety in systems as I understand them.

 

[escargot]

I fancy buying a GPS handheld device for when I'm out and about, mainly in cities but also on bike rides and hikes.
Knowing nothing about them, I started here with 'Amazon's Choice' -

Garmin GPS Handheld Device

This one has a small screen which I wouldn't like and the customer reviews mention buying maps from Ordnance Survey to put on it. I'd thought they were self-contained.

The one I looked at costs £218 and some are twice that, with features on elevation, weather etc. I'd pay the difference for helpful bells and whistles, or is that not worth it?

Does anyone have experience and advice to share, please?

Thank you in advance.

 

[gordonrutter]

I fancy buying a GPS handheld device for when I'm out and about, mainly in cities but also on bike rides and hikes.
Knowing nothing about them, I started here with 'Amazon's Choice' -

Garmin GPS Handheld Device

This one has a small screen which I wouldn't like and the customer reviews mention buying maps from Ordnance Survey to put on it. I'd thought they were self-contained.

The one I looked at costs £218 and some are twice that, with features on elevation, weather etc. I'd pay the difference for helpful bells and whistles, or is that not worth it?

Does anyone have experience and advice to share, please?

Thank you in advance.

As a make I've been very happy with everything I have ever had from Garmin.

Some GPS units come with small scale maps installed and you have to buy other scales as add ons. A lot of phones and tablets have GPS capabilities and whilst they might not be as weatherproof there maybe options you could use there? If I'm hiking I'll use a paper map but going around town I'll use my phone.

 

[Mythopoeika]

As a make I've been very happy with everything I have ever had from Garmin.

Some GPS units come with small scale maps installed and you have to buy other scales as add ons. A lot of phones and tablets have GPS capabilities and whilst they might not be as weatherproof there maybe options you could use there? If I'm hiking I'll use a paper map but going around town I'll use my phone.

I recommend Garmin too.
My ancient Garmin Nuvi is still going strong. Must have had it for about 20 years.

 

[escargot]

As a make I've been very happy with everything I have ever had from Garmin.

Some GPS units come with small scale maps installed and you have to buy other scales as add ons. A lot of phones and tablets have GPS capabilities and whilst they might not be as weatherproof there maybe options you could use there? If I'm hiking I'll use a paper map but going around town I'll use my phone.

I have phones/maps/tablets but want a separate, dedicated portable gadget. This is because GPS uses its own satellites and is not dependent on cellular data, unlike phones.

Navigating with phones also canes the battery: I went hiking with the Ramblers when I first had an iPhone and was fascinated by the mapping, for about an hour before the power ran out.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I have phones/maps/tablets but want a separate, dedicated portable gadget. This is because GPS uses its own satellites and is not dependent on cellular data, unlike phones.

The smart phones use GPS too.

 

[escargot]

I recommend Garmin too.
My ancient Garmin Nuvi is still going strong. Must have had it for about 20 years.

That's a car satnav, right? I have those but it's not what I want for carrying around.

Both the bike computers I've given as gifts to Techy are Garmin and he's certainly happy with them.

 

[escargot]

The smart phones use GPS too.

Saps the battery though. I have a job where it's sometimes important to know exactly where I am so I'd like that without draining the phone battery.

We both had What3Words for a while but got rid because it used too much power. Great idea, poor delivery.

 

[Mythopoeika]

That's a car satnav, right? I have those but it's not what I want for carrying around.

Both the bike computers I've given as gifts to Techy are Garmin and he's certainly happy with them.

I understood that - was just recommending the brand.
The handheld unit you require needs to have more functionality than a satnav, because you need to know about elevation data, etc.
And also data about location of the nearest pub/cake shop...

 

[Kondoru]

No idea, yet.

 

[ChasFink]

Depends on what computer or phone you're using. On a Windows machine you can hit the "print screen" key to copy what's on the screen, then paste it into Paint or another image editor, and save.

 

[Erinaceus]

In Windows 11 using Print Screen now opens the snipping tool instead of just copying the screen to the clipboard.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/12/23680002/microsoft-print-screen-key-snipping-tool-windows-11

I mostly use Windows key +shift S and select the area with the mouse since the change.

 

[Kondoru]

Got it.

Prtscr key and FN.

Thanks guys

 

[Sid]

In Windows 11 using Print Screen now opens the snipping tool instead of just copying the screen to the clipboard.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/12/23680002/microsoft-print-screen-key-snipping-tool-windows-11

I mostly use Windows key +shift S and select the area with the mouse since the change.

I normally use

plus

 

[Kondoru]

Great files, PDFs...

But I cant put them in a word document.

How do I change to something I can?

 

[JamesWhitehead]

Not all PDFs are created equal. Some consist only of page images, so they will not produce text-files. You could try online OCR sites but you may need to create JPGs* first - and that might require permissions you may or may not have. Often, for short quotes, it is easier to type what you need!

*Try Save-Export and see what options are available.

 

[Kondoru]

Its the pictures I want, actually

 

[Mythopoeika]

Its the pictures I want, actually

You could use Inkscape (free) to disassemble the PDF and do a cut and paste of the pictures you want.

This depends on whether the PDF has been locked or not. If it has been security-locked, you may be unable to break it apart with Inkscape.

Copy and paste between apps is also sometimes an issue (a problem with MS products). If you find it hard to copy the pics between Inkscape and Word, you may have to use PowerPoint as a 'middle man' - i.e. copy pics into PowerPoint, then copy and paste from PowerPoint into Word.

Another way is to save the pictures from Inkscape to .EMF format files. EMF files are a Microsoft format, but even these sometimes give issues.

Or... you could copy pics from Inkscape to a bitmap editor (such as Paint .NET or Paintshop Pro), then save as a PNG that you can insert with Word.

@Kondoru - have you got me on ignore? Because I've noticed that you never reply to any of my posts. I'm just trying to help.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Could some kind person please tell Kondoru to look at my previous post?
It might actually help.

 

[Mythopoeika]

 

[Yithian]

You could use Inkscape (free) to disassemble the PDF and do a cut and paste of the pictures you want.

This depends on whether the PDF has been locked or not. If it has been security-locked, you may be unable to break it apart with Inkscape.

Copy and paste between apps is also sometimes an issue (a problem with MS products). If you find it hard to copy the pics between Inkscape and Word, you may have to use PowerPoint as a 'middle man' - i.e. copy pics into PowerPoint, then copy and paste from PowerPoint into Word.

Another way is to save the pictures from Inkscape to .EMF format files. EMF files are a Microsoft format, but even these sometimes give issues.

Or... you could copy pics from Inkscape to a bitmap editor (such as Paint .NET or Paintshop Pro), then save as a PNG that you can insert with Word.

@Kondoru Have you read this?

 

[AgProv]

Thanks to all in the Hive Mind for previous assistance over Microsoft Word, much appreciated!

May I run the current woe past you? The "print screen" button on my keyboard seems to have packed it in and I'm not sure why. This makes screen captures and cut-and-paste extraordinarily tricky right now and none of the suggested fixes I've picked up on appear to work. Has anyone dealt with this before and how did you set it right? with thanks et c

 

[Mythopoeika]

Thanks to all in the Hive Mind for previous assistance over Microsoft Word, much appreciated!

May I run he current woe past you? The "print screen" button on my keyboard seems to have packed it in and I'm not sure why. This makes screen captures and cut-and-paste extraordinarily tricky right now and none of the suggested fixes I've picked up on appear to work. Has anyone dealt with his before and how did you set it right? with thanks et c

Is this on a laptop?
The contact under the key may have failed. Have you got a spare keyboard you could use?

 

[AgProv]

Old-fashioned PC running Microsoft OS. Tried it on another keyboard - same problem. The baffling thing is that the other function of the "print screen" key - "Insert" - is working just fine.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Old-fashioned PC running Microsoft OS. Tried it on another keyboard - same problem. The baffling thing is that the other function of the "print screen" key - "Insert" - is working just fine.

Download new drivers/update Windows?

 

[Erinaceus]

I press Fn+PrtSc and the snipping tool pops up. I mostly select the full screen option to copy the content to the clipboard.
Prior to the 'improvement' I just used FN+PrtSc to put it on the clipboard.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Have you checked to see if the keyboard nationality setting is set to a UK English layout?

Have you got it set to a French AZERTY layout?

 

[Mythopoeika]

I press Fn+PrtSc and the snipping tool pops up. I mostly select the full screen option to copy the content to the clipboard.
Prior to the 'improvement' I just used FN+PrtSc to put it on the clipboard.

Oh yes - thanks for reminding me - a snipping/screen capture tool has had new settings applied to it in a recent Windows update.
Can't remember what it was.

Edit: ClipChamp, although I've never used that.

 

[Trevp666]

snipping/screen capture tool

Hold down the 'windows' key on your keyboard, then also hold down 'shift', and then press the 'S' key.
This will enable a 'copy' tool to appear on the screen which you can then just click the cursor on the top corner of the area you want to copy, and drag it across the page to copy your selection to your clipboard automatically.
And you can get something like this;