Recent posts

#61

General Discussion / Re: Three words could save you...

Last post by Jason - March 24, 2026, 10:39:42 PM

Actually, I just discovered that I might be covered, even if no cell tower signal is available. An iPhone 14 or later can make emergency calls or texts outside of cellular range via Emergency SOS via satellite. By pointing the phone at the sky, you can connect to satellites to reach emergency services or text, provided you are in a supported region and you have a clear view of the sky. Neat eh?

Wow, I had no idea that was possible outside of a satellite phone. Is Emergency SOS what they call the feature? Wondering if that's only an iPhone feature or one that is available for other phones but called something else.

I guess soon I can't tell people that cellphones don't communicate with each other through satellites, at least not directly.

#62

Linux Applications & Android apps / Re: Income Tax programs for th...

Last post by ssfc72 - March 24, 2026, 09:23:33 AM

Yes, I can verify that MyTaxExpress does allow you to download all the Tax Slips, from the CRA, that they have received, for you.
I used the download last year and it worked fine.

Just a note, that the MyTaxExpress program file,  is an applimage, and you have to go into the settings for the file and turn on, making the file executable, to get the program to install.  The install of the program will then happen with no problems.

#63

Linux Applications & Android apps / Re: Income Tax programs for th...

Last post by fox - March 24, 2026, 07:38:48 AM

Apparently it does have direct import. According to the website: "Real CRA Tax Form/Slip Input
Directly input T3, T4, T5 and other tax slips into the tax return; Real CRA tax forms interface will help you master myTaxExpress quickly and easily." That's fantastic! I might use it next year just because it has a Linux version. And wow: a $6.99 price for one tax return is great. The $13.99 price for up to 10 returns is good too; comparable to the cost of TaxFreeway.

#64

Linux Applications & Android apps / Re: Income Tax programs for th...

Last post by fox - March 24, 2026, 07:35:09 AM

Is this program able to download and enter automatically all of your T3, T4 and T5 slips that are issued to you and filed with the government? I have a Mac program called TaxFreeway and I started to do my taxes with it yesterday. I discovered that it has the ability to important the data from all of those forms automatically. You have to have (or create) an online account with the CRA. You then download the data from there in one easy download, and import the data file into the tax program. So easy; saves time of having to enter all of the information from your slips manually. This program is inexpensive ($13-15 depending on OS), and I think it is even free if your income is below a certain amount. No Linux version unfortunately, but I would think that the PC version would run in VirtualBox or VMware. I mention this not to discourage anyone from using the Linux version of MyTaxExpress. If the program is certified, might it not have the same feature?

[Linux]

#65

Linux Applications & Android apps / Income Tax programs for the 20...

Last post by ssfc72 - March 23, 2026, 03:57:31 PM

It is that time of year again, for Filing your Canada yearly Income Taxes T1 Form.

Here is a Link to the MyTaxExpress 2025 Linux program
https://www.mytaxexpress.com/download25-in.html

Their website seems a bit messed up. Somehow I initially got to the wrong web page, a couple of times and could not find the 2025 version of the software.  But I eventually did find the correct download page.

Here is a Link to the Canada government webpage, of Certified 2025 Tax programs
https://www.mytaxexpress.com/download25-in.html

#66

General Discussion / Re: Three words could save you...

Last post by ssfc72 - March 23, 2026, 09:05:44 AM

For Amateur Radio operators like myself, I have a very small, low power, tranceiver which has a built in 12 litium battery that I could send out a Help call, on the HF bands.
I would have to be not injured too much, so that I could string up a wire for  the antennae.

#67

General Discussion / Re: Three words could save you...

Last post by fox - March 23, 2026, 07:22:17 AM

Actually, I just discovered that I might be covered, even if no cell tower signal is available. An iPhone 14 or later can make emergency calls or texts outside of cellular range via Emergency SOS via satellite. By pointing the phone at the sky, you can connect to satellites to reach emergency services or text, provided you are in a supported region and you have a clear view of the sky. Neat eh?

#68

General Discussion / Re: Three words could save you...

Last post by Jason - March 23, 2026, 03:20:08 AM

The one problem it doesn't solve if you are lost is that you have to have cell service to call for help in the first place. If you are lost or hurt in the bush somewhere and you can't call for help, What Three Words won't do you any good. And I have been hiking in places where you don't get cell service.

Yeah, good point. Although, you're probably the only one of us that is hiking that far in. Just don't get hurt or lost.  

I wonder how much it costs to have a satellite phone for that.

#69

General Discussion / Re: Three words could save you...

Last post by fox - March 22, 2026, 07:42:00 AM

The one problem it doesn't solve if you are lost is that you have to have cell service to call for help in the first place. If you are lost or hurt in the bush somewhere and you can't call for help, What Three Words won't do you any good. And I have been hiking in places where you don't get cell service.

#70

Politics, Society and News. / Re: Simple Known Dangers with ...

Last post by Jason - March 21, 2026, 01:09:17 PM

Jason
2nd paragraph in the Linked article,  "A feedback loop with no brake': how an AI doomsday report shook US markets

Thanks, Bill. Not sure how I missed it. I think maybe I was looking for it in the other article that you linked.

I ran the substack article through chatgpt asking it the probability it was written by AI. It gave a 75-80% chance for the reasons give here:

https://chatgpt.com/s/t_69bece473bb88191920c19c34463236a

It listed a number of reasons of how it came up with the conclusion. I'm listing them here but you'd have to read the link to get more details for each reason. The titles are obtuse.

• Extremely consistent rhetorical structure
• Repetitive conceptual loops (semantic recursion)
• Very broad domain fluency without friction
• Synthetic realism (plausible but unverifiable specifics)
• Length + coherence combination
• High density of polished, "quotable" lines

The irony of using AI to check if something is AI doesn't escape it. But takes one to know one.

I notice as the bottom of the article they also say that the other co-listed article came up with the idea for the post and it was partly written by them. They also list themselves as the author which isn't totally unusually but usually when you co-write an article, if you list one author, you list them both. So they're not claiming they or the co-author wrote an original piece. ChatGPT suggests that it shows the marks of having been written by AI and edited lightly by a human by replacing some common AI-constructed sentences with more humanized ones, and adding some anecodotes.