NAPS2 (Not Another PDF Scanner.) Free versions for Linux, Windows, and Mac are available for download. Simple interface but fully featured, NAPS2 is much better than the overly bloated proprietary software that comes with most document scanners. Compatible with many devices.

If you plug a USB drive into Microsoft Windows, in many cases it will try to do things "for you" with the drive. Not a great idea. There could be malware lurking on that USB drive.

There are a couple of things you can do to help mitigate the issue. These tips assume Windows 11.

Turn off Autoplay

• Open Settings. Press Windows + I to open the Settings app.
• Go to Bluetooth & devices. In the left sidebar, click on "Bluetooth & devices."
• Select Autoplay. Scroll down and click on "Autoplay."
• Turn Off Autoplay. You'll see a toggle switch labeled "Use Autoplay for all media and devices." Turn this off.

This will turn it off completely. You can, if you want, make individual settings for different types of devices.

Deny Execute Access (Pro or Enterprise versions of Windows 11)

• Open Group Policy Editor. Press Windows + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
• Navigate to the Removable Storage Access Policies. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Removable Storage Access.
• Modify Policies. You can enable the policy "Removable Disks: Deny execute access" to prevent execution from removable drives.
• Apply and Reboot.

Note, there are some cases where you may want to execute scripts or programs from a removable drive. If that's the case, you may not want to do this, or make a note of it so you can re-enable if needed.

This is not an anti-Kindle rant. I have purchased (rented?) several Kindle titles myself.

However, YSK that you are only licensing access to the book from Amazon, you don't own it like a physical book.

There have been cases where Amazon deletes a title from all devices. (Ironically, one version of "1984" was one such title).

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html

There have also been cases where a customer violated Amazon's terms of service and lost access to all of their Kindle e-books. Amazon has all the power in this relationship. They can and do change the rules on us lowly peasants from time to time.

Here are the terms of use:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201014950

Note, there are indeed ways to download your books and import them into something like Calibre (and remove the DRM from the books). If you do some web searches (and/or search YouTube) you can probably figure it out.

I feel like an idiot for not knowing about these.

Every 2-3 months I have to snake out our shower drain with a 25' snake. Giant PITA.

After some web searches, I stumbled across these hair trap devices. They come in both external and internal configurations. Many different types to choose from.

I purchased an internal one, installed it, and am going to give it a try. In theory I can just pop it out and clean it instead of snaking the pipes. Folks tell me they work well. If this one doesn't work I'll try another type. They are fairly inexpensive.