Recent posts

#21

Articles, Tutorials and Tips / Re: Review of Jolla Phone 2 an...

Last post by Jason - August 12, 2026, 12:51:11 AM

The Graphene OS, which is a de-Googled Android OS which, ironically, can only be installed on Google Pixel phones, is pretty good from what I've read. It can still run most apps from the Play Store, although they have an alternate store. But even when you use the Google store, it uses replacement APIs so that it runs in a "jail," preventing data from one app from leaking into another. Graphene OS is going to be moving to Motorola phones soon, starting with the mid-high-tier Edge model. There are other phones that Graphene runs on, but not many. Other ROMs run on more phones, but aren't quite as secure or private. Still, anything is better than the standard Android privacy-wise. Also, the ROMs tend to get all of the Android updates, not just the ones the manufacturer decides to provide.

[Searching for Greenery, City Streets, and the Crawford Rail Trail]

#22

General Discussion / Re: A Peterborough Walking Tou...

Last post by buster - August 09, 2026, 07:25:00 PM

Searching for Greenery, City Streets, and the Crawford Rail Trail

We hope to end today's trek where the Crawford Trail crosses Monaghan. This gives us a good place to drop a car for our planned end point, Lansdowne Place. And sadly this leaves us with only two days of the route to finish back to Trent, and it's not as if I can say, 'Let's do this again in five years.' My body does not keep up with my aspirations.

We dropped the endpoint car and headed northwest to where we had finished day 3, and it was a worrisome drive because it seemed much farther than I thought it was going to be. Houses and stores flashed by as we drove to the start which was a long way to reach.

In fact it proved to be a perfect length, and that may be the result of my slack body relearning how to walk. This was, after all, our fourth section.

As I write this I have to do something I'm not happy to do. I have to praise Bill publicly for the genius map reading skills he has that not only found, but linked in an almost continuous route parks, paths, woods, and lovely tree shaded sidewalks down towards Costco. His luck ran out when one of his adventures took us to a tall Frost Wire fence with barbed wire on the top. This was in fact a map error. And it wasn't ultimately inconvenient.

To this point of the morning, the unpleasantness was limited to a section of the Parkway with its traffic and noise, but we reached, unscathed, after walking through the Costco parking lot, The Crawford Rail Trail, and we headed east.

For those who don't know it, the trail is tidy, arrow straight, paved, and in some ways a bit boring. There is no chance for us to get lost, which is a favourite pastime for us, and people seemed in a hurry and uninclined to chat. But it did get us to my car, where we ate Bill's freshly baked sourdough bread with jam and continued our discussions about the ecological collapse of the world, or the fires, or the loss of insects, or the paucity of fish stocks in the ocean, or the possibility of the gulf stream altering, or the floods in St Catherines or Montreal.  Next walk we can discuss the incredible lack of water in the Colorado River, which we have both camped near, and the emptying of the world's aquifers, and the rapidity of the recent changes.

I have been surprised how much of the natural world you can find in a loop around our city, or maybe Bill can find. But you have to look for it. And on a path in the trees of a forest today we met a lovely lady from Birmingham England, who walks every day, and was happy to chat. With the leaves and branches over our heads we were encouraged to converse and share, but we were in a little island of the natural world, not, say, in a crowded city centre. The world is different in the world our ancestors inhabited. And they did it without phones in their pockets.

#23

Articles, Tutorials and Tips / Re: Review of Jolla Phone 2 an...

Last post by ssfc72 - August 09, 2026, 09:14:19 AM

As for Goggle, using it, means you have no privacy.
I have considered installing one of the alternative cellphone OS's, on a compatible brand, used phone.

#24

Articles, Tutorials and Tips / Review of Jolla Phone 2 and Sa...

Last post by Jason - August 06, 2026, 03:39:39 AM

You don't hear about them often, but there are alternatives to Android and iPhones. And with Android shutting down the ability to run non-approved Android apps, or at least making it very difficult, there's never been a better time. This phone is expensive, but it has a replaceable battery and supports memory cards. And the OS is based on Linux, but it can still run Android apps in a more privacy-oriented way. Having a hardware switch for turning off the microphone is nice, too. I should add that, at this time, the phone is only available in the European Union and a couple of other European countries. But they are planning on making it available in North America soon. The phone is already compatible with North American communication bands. So if you can get someone in Europe to buy it for you, it could work here?

What do you think? About this phone or Android in particular? Do you trust Google with your privacy? Would you use a phone with this or another Android phone alternative ROM like Graphene?

#25

General Discussion / Re: A Peterborough Walking Tou...

Last post by Jason - August 06, 2026, 03:32:31 AM

"I don't follow. You had phones or you didn't have phones? "

We have phones for emergencies, but not for finding our way. We have to find our way using the position of the sun, our instincts, or our luck, or a paper map we have, just as we did 40 years ago.

Gotcha'. Sorry, I'm one of those who likes to follow along as I read. When I'm reading fantasy or historical novels, I do the same thing. Maybe it's because I can't depend on the position of the sun, instincts or luck. If you can still find a paper map, they're good, though. I'm old enough to have used maps during long drives. But honestly, I'm glad we're beyond that, even if it's nice to get away from looking at a phone for a while. It's nice to listen to music while walking, obviously I mean when you're alone. It'd be downright rude to do that when you're with someone.

[A Day with Trees, a Wide Creek, and Few Houses]

#26

General Discussion / Re: A Peterborough Walking Tou...

Last post by buster - August 05, 2026, 11:18:39 AM

A Day with Trees, a Wide Creek, and Few Houses

Planning the end of day 3 depended on where we intended to start day 4. Day 4's route was contentious. But everything had to be decided before we dropped a car. It was a near thing, but there were no scuffles. (At our age we can't fight, so we scuffle. That ways no one gets hurt.) The route has finally been decided, so we can continue our hike.

We first had to drop a car near the end of our projected day 3, and that was a challenge in itself. As a culture, in expensive areas, we tend to avoid, wisely in my opinion, a simple grid. Roads curve and twist and finding your way is a hit or miss sort of thing. But we found the school parking lot and managed, with some heated discussion, the route out and to the Jackson Park parking lot.

We parked and headed down to the same bridge where we had seen the mother duck caring for her little ones, but instead of turning east back to my house, we headed west for what I suspect was the best part of the entire 6 day hike we planned on doing. And the reason is simple.

There were zero houses, zero roads, and no car traffic. It was all trees, path, creek, and sky. We passed also some of the most beautiful young women (for us anyone under 60) living in Peterborough, most with dogs big enough to bit you in half, or small and nasty enough to gnaw through your leg. But even those in their twenties were friendly and smiled and said hi to these ancient beings sharing the path with them. (When they directed their gaze at Bill he went all sort of gooey, and it was really embarrassing. But he has all kinds of other good qualities.)

Anyway, the trail, an ancient rail line, follows Jackson Creek most of the time, and there were always interesting things to look at. I also found out that many years ago, when we were were callow youths in our 30's, Bill had, with friends and kayaks, run Jackson Creek during the spring floods, a good but harrowing experience. He was amazing messing about in boats, and taught me most of the things I know about canoeing.

(And people who can canoe together, will be friends forever.)

So we walked west, sometimes under a tunnel of trees, and we saw the creek running along side us going east, and there were no bugs and not many birds. The lack of bugs sounds good, but it isn't. The whole ecosystem needs these little creatures, some for the simple task of fertilizing our fruit trees.

For those who know the trail we walked to the bridge where you can see Lily Lake, so on this third day we completed the route from our most northerly point, the drumlin at Trent, to our most westerly point, Lily Lake. Now it was time to head south.

We doubled back to the Jackson Creek Meadow Bridge and followed a steeply rising path that took us to civilization on Parkhill Rd. Our selection of paths unfortunately has climbed every possible hill in the direction we were going. When you walk or bike you realize what a hilly city this is.

Bill led us east on Parkhill until we came to a paved path going directly south through trees and grass. Our surroundings gradually changed to large brick houses on large lots with expensive cars on wide driveways. It looked very much like a movie set for the extremely affluent. Even the dogs (being walked by young, lovely ladies) seemed to be richer than we two are, for we looked a tad ratty, but in a handsome and debonair way.

And these lovely ladies spoke to us. They probably assumed that anyone who could find his or her way through the maze of twisting, turning streets must live here, or had been here for days trying to find a way out.

For me the last part of the trip was uncomfortable because the leg that didn't have the hip replacement was hurting. Bill sat me down on a school bench and we ate our oranges and cookies. He is a good partner. Refreshed we headed to the car and drove back to my car in the Jackson Park lot and declared the first half of the trip was complete with this 6.5 k day.

On day four we hope to do some of the Crawford Rail Trail, if we can reach it.

[A Small Lake, The Ponds, and Trees]

#27

General Discussion / Re: A Peterborough Walking Tou...

Last post by ssfc72 - August 05, 2026, 08:40:00 AM

Thanks Buster, for the excellent post and Link, about your latest walk.
When I was going through high school, we lived near Jackson Park. First on Highland Rd then on McCrea Dr, when I was going to Sir Sandford Fleming college.
I walked past and through a bit of Jackson park on my way to the college, which at that time was on Bonaccord St.
 

A Small Lake, The Ponds, and Trees

We did this section backwards, and so had to drop only one car rather than two. The only time Magellan went backwards was during heavy gales, or so I've heard. We expected about a 6 km uphill/downhill day, and when we finished that felt about right.



They had no need of me. They seemed happy. So I drove my car out of the park, and headed home.

#28

General Discussion / Re: A Peterborough Walking Tou...

Last post by buster - August 05, 2026, 08:17:26 AM

"I don't follow. You had phones or you didn't have phones? "

We have phones for emergencies, but not for finding our way. We have to find our way using the position of the sun, our instincts, or our luck, or a paper map we have, just as we did 40 years ago.

#29

General Discussion / Re: The Really Unpleasant Comp...

Last post by Jason - August 05, 2026, 04:19:39 AM

Nowadays, it's probably being used for training the AI bots.

#30

General Discussion / Re: A Peterborough Walking Tou...

Last post by Jason - August 05, 2026, 02:19:01 AM

In deep shame, I admit I haven't been to Jackson Park in many years, at least a decade, probably two, other than in passing it outside. Does it look anything like it did in the 2000s? I mean, have they changed any parts of it. I remember the Pagoda bridge. In grade 9, my geography class went to the park for orienteering. I learned that I really suck at it. No sense of direction whatsoever!