Atop the Regina MarisTop-level computer solutions (photo by Jill Miller, 100' aloft on the barkentine Regina Maris

Miller Microcomputer Services
61 Lake Shore Road, Natick MA 01760-2099, U.S.A.
(508/653-6136, 9am-9pm Eastern time zone)

179482 visits since 970131; last updated 130521. Other pages last updated 130523.


Lake Cochituate     Welcome to MMS, on Lake Cochituate in Natick, Massachusetts! We empower our clients and the community in which we live. If you live near us, visit the monthly FOSS User Group that we lead in Natick.

This is not a one-topic web site; it's more like the stacks of your library, with a guide desk (below). We offer you hundreds of links, Techie and Otherwise, including our Events Calendar, our Photo Gallery and our updated-twice-monthly MMS Extra Feature. Search, browse, and enjoy!

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Jump to a stack

Techie links from Miller Microcomputer Services:
Who are we?
"MMS, Forth, Linux, and Fotoxx" (October 2011 talk)
MMS offers cost-effective alternative Software Solutions for your needs
Why GNU/Linux/FOSS?
Linux/Unix/FOSS Resources
Subscribe to the MMS FOSS/Linux e-mail list!
MMS FOSS (Free, Open-Source Software) talk
FOSS User Group at Natick Community/Senior Center
On-Line Tour of Ubuntu Linux
MMS offers Custom Applications in MS-Access (Windows) and MySQL (Windows and Linux).
MMS offers Website design and development.
MMS offers cost-effective PC Hardware selection and maintenance.
MMS Client Messages - Killer shopping deals and more, for $25/year.
MMSFORTH and Forth books, Forth Links for programmers
Ordering: Shipping/Handling, Payment, etc.
Internet Resources and Threats
And Other Threatening Computer Technologies
Computer History
Computer Tidbits
Techie Comics/Humor

Otherwise links from Dick and Jill Miller:
Bicycle and Pedestrian
Environment
Getting Personal
Folk Songs
General Look-Up
Jill Knits
Nature
Opinion
Language
The Printed Word
Science
Weather
Where are we?
And when?
E-mail Lists, Addresses and URL change information, Web-site corrections, etc.

Or just browse our stacks

Techie links from Miller Microcomputer Services:
Who are we? Including MMSFORTH, DATAHANDLER-PLUS and RapidFile
"MMS, Forth, Linux, and Fotoxx" (October 2011 MIT talk to Boston Linux & Unix User Group; 0:00-0:30 MMS and computer history; 0:34 FOSS User Group; 0:37 Fotoxx design and use)
MMS offers cost-effective alternative Software Solutions for your needs, in Windows, Linux, and both. Datamation's Ultimate List of Open Source Software
Why GNU/Linux/FOSS? Get GNU/Linux!, The Story of Linux (video), How Linux Is Built (video), Goodbye, Microsoft, Close Windows, Open Doors, My Government Is Software-Stupid, Avoid Microsoft, Why Linux Is Better, Ten Reasons For Businesses To Dump Windows And Use Linux, Security: Linux, OS X, Unix and Malware (Viruses), SchNEWS intro to GNU/Linux, Why A Devout Capitalist Loves Free Software, Using Linux is Like Having a Beard and a Pipe, IBM's Billion-Dollar Bet (2001), The Impact of Open Source on Business and Social Good, IP protection hurting, not helping, US and UK (Matt Asay, 2013), Open source in higher education: how far have we come?, After The Software Wars (free book download), Who Uses Linux?94 Percent of the World's Top 500 Supercomputers Run Linux, The Cathedral and the Bazaar (Eric Raymond, 1997), Open Source And Economics, Family Guide to Digital Freedom, Linux Base, Unix As Literature, Why Open Source misses the point of Free Software (Richard Stallman. 2007), Interview with Linus Torvalds (2008), Interview with Linus Torvalds (2011), Interview with Richard Stallman (2011), Collaboration, Innovation, and Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (Bob Young, founder of Red Hat Linux, 2011), Why (and How) Google's Corporate Desktops Use Ubuntu Linux (2012), Why your company should contribute to open source, Mozilla "Get Involved!" video, UK Government Service Design Manual prefers Open-Source Software (2013), Thoughts on Open Innovation (Openforum Academy e-Book, 2013), Teaser for SOFTWAREWARS
Linux/Unix/FOSS Resources:  Linux (Wikipedia), Meet Ubuntu LinuxFirefox/New Features, LibreOffice/New Features, "History of FOSS", The GNU Project, A Technical History of Linux, Memorable Linux Milestones, The early days of Linux, The "Who Wrote Linux" Kerfuffle (Andrew Tannenbaum, 2004), Who Writes Linux (2012 report by The Linux Foundation), The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix (Warren Toomey, 2011), GNU/Linux  Distribution Timeline, What's In A Linux Name?, Unix and Linux Search Tool, Ubuntu Search Tool, Cheat Sheets, Getting Starting With Ubuntu 13.04, Intro to Ubuntu Unity 12.10 (and Dream Studio; 10-min. video), NoobsLab.com, GetDeb (repository for independent Ubuntu apps), Easy Linux Tips Project, Psychocat's Ubuntu Linux Resources, Ubuntu for Developers, Encourage PC vendors to distribute a usable free operating system (Consumers International, 2012), Linux System Administration, LPI Certification Level 1 manual, GrokLaw, Standards and Open-Source Software, the Linux Command Line, Mastering the Linux Shell, Evolution of shells in Linux, Linux Group Tests, LXer Linux NewsLinux Weather Forecast, Handy Tutorial (for Ubuntu and Win7), FreeCode.com (was Freshmeat.net), FOSS Podcasts (on-line radio), FLOSS Manuals (Free Manuals for Free Software)
Subscribe to the MMS FOSS/Linux e-mail list!
MMS FOSS (Free, Open-Source Software) talk (Soon in .odp; can read .odp files with LibreOffice et al). MMS can present to your group!
FOSS User Group at Natick Community/Senior Center (with Dick and Jill Miller of MMS) and Archive
On-Line Tour of Ubuntu Linux
MMS offers Custom Applications in MS-Access (Windows) and MySQL (Windows and Linux).
MMS offers Website design and development. (See sample site).
MMS offers cost-effective PC Hardware selection and maintenance.
MMS Client Messages - Killer shopping deals and more, for $25/year.
MMSFORTH and Forth books, Forth Links for programmers
Ordering: Shipping/Handling, Payment, etc.
Internet Resources and Threats: Free Wi-Fi Hotspots, A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community, The End of the Internet?How Jimmy Wales’ Wikipedia Harnessed the Web as a Force for Good, Long Live the Web: A Call for Continued Open Standards and Neutrality, by Tim Berners-Lee (Sci.Am., Dec. 2010), Holding Broadband Providers to Account: A Consumer Advocacy Manual (Consumers International, 2012; free eBook), Capping the Nation’s Broadband Future? Dwindling competition fuels rise of costly and restrictive Internet usage caps, Internet Public LibraryRefDeskGoogle Guide, Alexa Top 500 Global Web Sites, Google Ultimate InterfaceISPs, Privacy, Test your IPv6 connectivity, Slowest Link, Internet Speed Test (RCN, "Connect directly to cable modem."), Internet Speed Test (Speedtest.net), Internet Pingtest.net, Internet Speed Test (AuditMyPC), Internet Speed Test (Toast.net)Internet Web Server Monitoring Tool, TCP/IP Optimization Test, ShieldsUp! Probes Your Internet Firewall, Google Search-Patterns Report, Traffic Report (world Internet health), Traffic Report (US Internet health), Akamai's State of the Internet Report, Security: Linux, OS X, Unix and Malware (Viruses), Readily-available tools crack WiFi passwords, Password Reuse (xkcd), OnGuardOnline.gov, IP Number Space Animation, Internet Topology, Atlas of Cyberspaces, Spam Report, Spyware, Crimeware and Phishing MapAttacks Report, Internet Storm Center, McAfee Virus Info, ZombieMeterTrends in Badware 2007, The Best of Strangers: Context Dependent Willingness to Divulge Personal Information, Microsoft admits to being hacked, too, A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (John Perry Barlow, 1996), The Year Data Went Worldwide (Tim Berners-Lee, 2010), The Open-Data Handbook, Long Live the Web: A Call for Continued Open Standards and Neutrality (Tim Berners-Lee, 2010), Freedom on the Net (2011), Beware Online Filter Bubbles (Eli Pariser, TED Talk, 2011), Internet Privacy: Resist the Temptations of the Cloud! (Richard Stallman, 2011),  The SPI Show (U.S. Dept. of Defense), Traveling Light in a Time of Digital Thievery (Nicole Perlroth, NY Times, 2012), Don't be a Petraeus: A Tutorial on Anonymous Email Accounts (EFF, 2012), How to Surf the Web Anonymously (How Stuff Works), How Google Dominates Us (2011), The Personal Computer Is Dead (Jonathan Zittrain, 2011), Learning, Freedom and the Web (Mozilla eBook, 2012), Lawmakers Release Information About How Data Brokers Handle Consumers’ Personal Information (US Rep. Ed Markey et al, 2012), The Real Story of Stuxnet (IEEE Spectrum, 2013), The Internet Is A Surveillance State (Bruce Schneier, 2013), The Devil’s in the Cloud: Our Headlong Rush into Ultimate Cybersecurity Vulnerability, by Andy Updegrove (2013), Skype with care - Microsoft is reading everything you write (2013)
s And Other Threatening Computer Technologies:  Know Your Digital Rights (EFF), Access To Knowledge (A2K) In The Age Of Intellectual Property (MIT Press, 2010; free eBook), Over-writing won't sanitize your hard drive, Readily-available tools crack WiFi passwords, 10 Ways We Are Being Tracked, Traced, and Databased (2010), Five Ways the Government Spies on You, Are all telephone calls recorded and accessible to the US government?, Are Drones Watching You?, Stratfor emails reveal secret, widespread TrapWire surveillance system, The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say), Denying domestic spying & dossiers on Americans: Does NSA Chief play word games?, Judge disarms Patriot Act proviso (2004), ISP Would Shield Users From Government Surveillance, Who's Tracking Your Reading Habits? An E-Book Buyer's Guide to Privacy, 2012 Edition, Eavesdropping Antennas Can Steal Your Smart Phone's Secrets, 1 million iOS device IDs leaked after alleged FBI laptop hack; hackers claim they have 11M more, The Dark Side of 'Smart' Meters (and Cell Towers), Travelling Internationally with Encrypted Data, Don't Break the Internet (Stanford Law Review, Dec. 2011) and the preceding "Napolitano letter" (Sandia National Laboratories, Nov. 2011), 3 Ways Facebook Plans to Exploit Users (Feb. 2012), Why I'm quitting Facebook (2013), Lockdown: The Coming War on General-Purpose Computing (Cory Doctorow, 2012), Microsoft makes it hard with UEFI/"Secure Boot", Coreboot: the Solution to the UEFI/"Secure Boot" Fiasco, Secure Boot and Restricted Boot, Re-examining Dropbox and its alternatives, U.S. Patent Office helps Apple force Google, Samsung to downgrade Galaxy Nexus, The Case Against Patents (Research Division, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2012), Meet the nice-guy lawyers who want $1,000 per worker for using scanners, Is This the End of Anonymity? (Google Glass), MIT releases open-source software that reveals invisible motion and detail in video (Eulerian Video Magnification/EVM), Awesome 3D Printers for Everyone, The Era of the Open Source Gun.
Computer History: The history-making Radio Shack TRS-80 microcomputer (25th Anniversary: August 3rd, 2002), Augmenting Human Intellect (1962), A History of the GUI (2005), The Story of Touch (An Interactive Timeline), History of FOSS, The Origins of Linux (Linus Torvalds, 2001, 85-min. video), The GNU Project, 30 Years of PC Operating Systems (2011), Platform Wars, A History Of Personal Computing (The Economist daily chart, 2012), Windows has fallen behind Apple iOS and Google Android (2012; with graphs), Internet Trends (Mary Meeker slideshow, 2012), Spacewar; Fanatic Life and Symbolic Death Among the Space Bums (Steward Brand, Rolling Stone, 1972), The Origin of Spacewar (J.M.Graetz 1981), Willy Crowther's original Adventure game.
Computer Tidbits: Ten Time-Saving Tech Tips, by David Pogue (TED Talk),  Why Learn To Program? (video), Sub-Pixel Font Rendering Technology, Optimizing Linux for Cheap Flash Drives
Techie Comics/Humor: Dilbert, UserFriendly.Org, xkcd, How A Computer Works - à la Rube Goldberg, Internet Simplified, April Fool's Day RFCs, The Zen of Python, The Tao Of Programming, MIT Gangnam Dancing.

Otherwise links from Dick and Jill Miller:
Bicycle and Pedestrian: MassDOT's "Go By Bike" brochure, Greater Boston Cycling and Walking Map, "Dangerous By Design" (with Pedestrian Fatalities map), The Cochituate Rail TrailNatick Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (NBPAC), Massachusetts Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board (MABPAB), Massachusetts Recreational Trail Advisory Board (MARTAB), Commonwealth Connections initiative, Survey of Bicycle Transportation Routes in the Boston Metrowest Area (John Allen, 1993), Natick Open Space Plan (and map), Natick Walking Tours Planning Livable Communities (Framingham blog), Road Hazards for Bicyclists and Pedestrians, Designing Cities for People: The Return of Bicycles (Chap. 6 of Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, by Les Brown); Conversation With An Engineer, Street Project (also, full NIMBY version)
Environment: They didn’t have the Green thing back then, Natick Natural Science Park (1955)Rain Gardens, Cochituate State Park, the Lake Cochituate Watershed, Pegan Cove Park, Henry Wilson History Trail, Eurasian Water-Milfoil, Framingham Wellfield Proposal May Harm Lake Cochituate and Sudbury River, Boston’s water: public or private?, Cancer-Incidence studies, MassPike Tolls, Light Pollution, The Future of Lighting, Energy-Saving, Carbon-Footprint Calculators, Noise Pollution (Boston Scientific helipad), Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (Les Brown; free eBook), Unsustainable Energy Future (International Energy Agency, Nov. 2011), The Ultimate Zombie Litmus Test (Limits-To-Growth video), The Myth Of Smart Growth, How Many People Should The Earth Support? (Ross McCluney, 2004), Enough is Enough (report of the Steady State Economic Conference, June 19th, 2010), Seven Billion and Growing: A 21st Century Perspective on Population (Global Agenda Council on Population Growth, 2011), Getting to Zero Waste, The Death of Recycling (Paul Palmer, 2007), The Story Of Stuff (Annie Leonard, 2007), The Story Of Bottled Water (Annie Leonard, 2010), Population, Porous Pavement, Precautionary Principle, Rachel's Democracy & Health News, Recycling a Carling Brewery), Tracking the Gulf Oil Spill, Plenty More Fish in the Sea?, Interactive Map of Coastal Eutrophication & Hypoxia, Understanding public complacency about climate change (MIT, 2007), Climate Hot Map (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2011), The Last Great Global Warming (Scientific American, 2011), Global Warming's Terrifying New Math (Bill McKibben; Rolling Stone, July 2012), Climate Change statement (American Meteorological Society, August 2012), The Next President’s Inaugural Speech (If Only…) (CASSE, Sept. 2012; Dick Miller's comment), Global Warming Deniers and Their Proven Strategy of Doubt, The Fossil Fuel Resistance (Bill McKibben; Rolling Stone, April 2013)
Getting Personal: Fun with Dick and Jill, Family History, 1960 Songfests, 2012 Raphaels Visit Boston, Photo Gallery, Sunnyside, "Remember When"Hunter College Elementary School Class of 1947, T.V. State Of Maine, and Morgan the Wonder Cat
Folk Songs: Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, Mudcat Cafe/Digital Tradition, The Contemplator's Folk Music Site (and more!)Folk Music Index, Taylor's Traditional TunebookThe Traditional Ballad Index, Traditional Music Library, Music of the American Revolution, Musica International, NEFFADavid Ingle Obituary
General Look-Up: RefDeskNewspapers, Wikipedia, The Internet Archive and Wayback Machine, Encyclopedia of the Earth, How Stuff Works, Stack Exchange, Khan Academy
Jill Knits
Nature: Bird SongsBird Watching, The Crows Project, American Society of Crows and Ravens, Hawk Watch (including Mount Wachusett), Bryozoa, Chipmunk Patrol, Giant CockroachesKettle Ponds, Walden and Thoreau, Knowing Our Place (Ron McAdow)
Opinion: Money Is Not Wealth, 46 Trillion Reasons To  Evolve Society Right Now, TED Talks, Senseless Census 2010, FactCheck.org, The Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense, Snow RemovalWe're Monkeys, Cooking Up Quite A Story (Richard Wrangham, 2002), The Coming Technological Singularity; How To Survive In The Post-Human Era (Vernor Vinge, 1993), A Singularity In Time (Peter Russell, 2006), Eco-Apocalypse: A Class Act (Michael Parenti, 1996), Why The Future Doesn't Need Us (Bill Joy; Wired, April 2000), Corporate Personhood, The Three Tasks: YHWH’s Answer To Environmentalist Critics? (Ferren MacIntyre, 1998); Church of the Pristine Rock: Genesis (Buzz Bloom, 2003), On Believing (and Science; Paul Lutus, 2005), Zeitgeist: The Movie (Peter Joseph, 2007), The Symmetry Principle (Paul Lutus, 2008), Measuring Progress (including remarks by Robert Kennedy, 1968),  A Time-Lapse Map of Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945, Beyond Conspiracy Theory: Patterns of High Crime in American Government (Lance deHaven-Smith; American Behavioral Scientist, Feb. 2010), OccupyNatick.org, Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote The Way They Do (Andrew Gelman, 2009), Pull The Plug On E-Voting (Bruce O'Dell, 2006), The Triumph Of Ignorance (George Monbiot. 2008), On Newspapers and Google (Groklaw, 2009), Is American Nonviolence Possible?, Towards A Philosophy Of Love (Mary Scriver/"PrairieMary", 2010), Theory of the Origin, Evolution, and Nature of Life (Erik Andrulis, 2011), America's Deficit Attention Disorder (David Korten, 2012), Crime and Privacy (Scott Adams, 2013)
Language: Esperanto, Libera Esperanto-Libro (Free Esperanto Book), Komputeko (Computer Terminology Collection), Phrasebooks, Google Translate (word, text, URL), Yahoo Translation, Medieval Writing, Web Design Is 95% Typography, Omniglot (writing systems and languages of the world), Strunk's "The Elements Of Style"Common English-Language Usage Misconceptions, On-line Etymology Dictionary, The alt.usage.english FAQ, Urban Dictionary, Wordnik. Internet Anagram Server
The Printed Word: The Book of Boston (free eBook), The British Library, US Library of Congress. The Devil's Dictionary, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long (from "Time Enough For Love", 1973, by Robert Heinlein), Poems, Rudyard Kipling, Zarathushtra (Ardeshir Mehta; free eBook), Incunabula, Sacred Texts, World Digital Library, RefDesk, Bartleby.com, Project Gutenberg
Science: Boston-Area Science Lectures, Mandelbrot Fractals, The Best Mind Since Einstein (Richard Feynman Physics Lectures and Videos), The Oil We Eat; Following the food chain back to IraqThermodynamics of the Corn-Ethanol Biofuel Cycle (Tad Patzek, 2005), The Imminent Crash Of The Oil Supply, We're still on the slippery slope to peak oil, Peak, What Peak? (Tad Patzek, 2012), The Great Food Crisis of 2011 (Les Brown), How The Human Population Explosion Defies Nature (Gail Tverberg, 2012), Is Sugar Toxic?, Toxicology Of Chemical Mixtures (Emily Monosson, 2005), A Fuller ExplanationNanotechnology: Engines of CreationThe Engines of Our IngenuityLavender Mist II, Lakes and Oceans (xkcd), Ocean Trench, Gravity Wells (xkcd), Mission To Mars
Weather, Local: (Natick Current/10-Day/Hourly/Radar, Very Local (press Play to animate), NWS Northeast RadarHazeCam (north from Blue Hill, including Natick and Boston), Natick NWS 7-Day ForecastNatick NWS Weather Forecast GraphEastern Mass. NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (River Flooding), New England Radar Loop, Northeast Radar Loop, Northeast Lightning Loop, Northeast Foliage Report, Eastern Mass. Storm Watch; East Coast Hurricane Radar Loop; NSTAR: Report an Electrical Outage
USA:  NWS USA Radar Loop, NWS monthly archives, NWS Home, TVWeather USA, Intellicast USA Radar LoopIntellicast USA Surface Analysis Loop, Weather Channel USA Short-term Forecast, Wundermap, USA Lightning; US Radiation Network (with links for Alaska/Hawaii/Japan)
Beyond: Atlantic IR Loop (summer hurricanes), Total Precipitable Water - North Atlantic, Worldwide Hurricanes Since 1851, Google Crisis Response, Worldwide Average Weather Data, NASA Global Climate, World Temps and Clouds, World Infrared Satellite Loop, World Earthquakes Map (this week), World Earthquakes Map (past century), NASA ISWA (Integrated Space Weather Analysis system), Mars, Space, Aurora PredictorLinks
Where are we? About Natick, About Massachusetts, MapMetroWest Transit (realtime bus map), Boston Bus MapMetro-Boston Traffic Map, Metro-Boston Train Map, FlightRadar24, FlightAware, Photomapping of  The Millers';
Where are others? National Geographic MapMachine, Google Maps, NASA Earth Observatory, Moon
And when? NIST Time Widget, Official U.S. TimeNakamura Block ClockOther Fun Clocks, USNO Atomic Time Clock, Sun/Moon Data (you correct for daylight time; for Natick, enter "Wayland"), Daylight zone on Earth, Phase of MoonTonight's SkySolar System LiveReunite Gondwanaland!, US Census Bureau's World Population ClockPeter Russell's World ClockWorldmapperBreathing EarthUS EPA Personal Emissions Calculator, US National Population ClockUS National Debt Clock, US Debt Clock, Money Poster (xkcd.com #980; November, 2011), Measuring Worth, On-Going Wars
E-mail Lists, Addresses and URL change information, Web-site corrections, etc. backhome


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MMS uses and recommends Free Open-Source Software (FOSS), Linux, and:

Click for info re Kompozer
Photo gallery Click for info re Fotoxx
Click for info re Scroogle Click for info re PowWeb
Firefox 3
Get Thunderbird
Use LibreOffice.org
MMS uses Ubuntu Linux.

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