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Links 06/03/2023: LibreELEC 11 Released and Deutsche Telekom Spreads Nextcloud



  • GNU/Linux

    • 9to5Linux9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: March 5th, 20234

      This week we got lots of releases and Linux news, starting with the availability of the latest KDE Plasma 5.27 LTS desktop environment on Kubuntu 22.10, new GIMP and FFmpeg releases, new kernel security updates for Ubuntu users, and support for 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs in Ubuntu.

      New IPFire and Armbian releases arrived as well this week, along with more goodies for KDE users. Check out the hottest news of this week and access all the distro and package downloads in 9to5Linux’s Linux weekly roundup for March 5th, 2023, below.

    • Linux LinksLinux Around The World: USA – Maine

      We cover user groups that are running in the US state of Maine. This article forms part of our Linux Around The World series.

    • Linux Made SimpleLinux Weekly Roundup #225
    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Applications

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Linux BuzzHow to Install MiniKube on Rocky Linux 9 (Simple Guide)

        Minikube is a free and open-source tool that allow us to setup a single node Kubernetes cluster locally on our system. Minikube is only used for learning Kubernetes and allow developers to € build their test environment locally on their system.

      • Unix MenHow To Check An MD5 Checksum on Linux (Fast And Easy)

        A checksum value is a short data block derived from a larger one. MD5 (Message Digest 5) checksum values are used to verify the integrity of files in Linux.€ 

      • University of TorontoHow secure is merely discarding (TRIMing) all of a SSD's blocks?

        First off, any SSD you want to use today will support what's called 'Deterministic Read After TRIM (DRAT)' (sort of cf), where the SSD will always return a fixed result when you read data after a TRIM operation. Some SSDs also promise to always return zeros in this situation; this is 'Deterministic read ZEROs after TRIM', variously abbreviated as 'DZAT', 'RZAT', or 'DRZAT'. These are the (S)ATA versions, but NVMe has a similar system. All of these mean that once you TRIM the entire drive, the previous data on the drive can't be read through normal means, so someone who gets your drive and puts it in a computer will get garbage (or possibly errors on NVMe drives).

      • How to install PHP, PHP-FPM in Alpine Linux?

        PHP is a general purpose scripting language that is used mainly for web development, it is pragmatic, easy to learn and use, it is constantly evolving with a wide community of developers who are in charge of enriching this popular programming language with new features, therefore it is constantly evolving.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install iostat on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

        Iostat is a popular system monitoring and performance analysis tool widely used on Linux systems. It provides detailed information on system resources such as CPU utilization, disk I/O, and network utilization, which can help system administrators monitor and optimize their systems' performance.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install Brave Browser on Manjaro Linux

        Brave Browser is a free and open-source web browser created by Brendan Eich, the co-founder of Mozilla and the creator of JavaScript. It is designed to provide users with a fast, secure, and privacy-focused browsing experience.

      • Linux CapableSCP Command on Linux: 30 Example Commands

        Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) is a command-line tool that transfers files securely between remote servers using the SSH (Secure Shell) protocol. It is a convenient and secure way to move files between servers, particularly for system administrators who manage multiple servers.

      • Linux CapableExtract Tar Files on Linux: 30 Useful Commands

        Extracting tar files is a fundamental task in Linux and Unix-based systems. The tar utility is designed to consolidate multiple files into a single archive file. This archive file can be compressed with various algorithms such as gzip, bzip2, and xz. After compression, the archive file can be extracted using the untar command.

      • CitizixHow to Set up Prometheus Node exporter in Kubernetes

        In this guide we'll learn how to set up and configure "Node Exporter" to collect Linux system metrics like CPU load and disk I/O and expose them as Prometheus-style metrics in kubernetes. To get all the kubernetes node-level system metrics, you need to have a node-exporter running in all the kubernetes nodes.

      • ID RootHow To Install Couchbase on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Couchbase on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Couchbase is an open-source, distributed NoSQL document database that provides a flexible and scalable architecture.

      • ID RootHow To Install Synaptic Package Manager on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Synaptic Package Manager on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

      • KifarunixHow to Deploy Filebeat using Ansible

        In this tutorial, you will learn how to deploy Filebeat using Ansible. Ansible is an open-source automation tool used for configuration management, application deployment, and task automation. It is designed to simplify IT automation by providing a way to automate tasks across a large number of computers.

      • KifarunixInstall and Setup VeraCrypt on Linux Mint 21

        In this guide, we are going to learn how to install and setup VeraCrypt on Linux Mint 21. VeraCrypt, a fork of TrueCrypt, is a free and open source on-the-fly disk encryption (OTFE) tool.

      • peppe8oAdd a Touch Monitor to Raspberry PI: Reviewing the Elecrow Meteor Screen 10.1″

        In recent days, I get hands on an interesting touch monitor for my Raspberry PI: the Elecrow Meteor Screen.

      • [Repeat] Trend OceansHow to Install ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors on All Major Linux Distrbutions

        If you are looking for some alternatives to Microsoft Office that can open and create Microsoft Office documents without any problem, then ONLYOFFICE Desktop is a perfect choice.

      • XDAHow to sideload apps to a Chromebook [Ed: Quick calling install "sideload". Installing software is not a crime.]

        A significant benefit of owning a great Chromebook is that you can use all kinds of apps on it, including Linux apps, Android apps, and standard web apps. Most Android apps, in particular, can be downloaded via the Google Play Store, but what if you want to use a specific Android app that's not listed? Well, you can sideload that app.

        Just know that doing so isn't exactly easy since you'll need to switch your Chromebook to developer mode. This comes with risks of its own, but if you're up for the task, you can follow the steps below.

      • FOSSLinuxSearching and manipulating text with grep and sed

        As a programmer or system administrator, you often need to work with large text files, log files, and configuration files. These files can be difficult to read and analyze manually. In such cases, using command-line tools like grep and sed can make the job much easier. In this blog post, we will explore how to use grep and sed to search and manipulate text in a Unix/Linux environment.

      • Linux Made SimpleHow to install Shotcut video editor on Linux Lite 6.2
      • Linux Made Simple How to install Godot 4.0 on a Chromebook
      • PC LinuxConverting Between Graphics Formats, Revisited

        Back in November 2022, there was a thread in the PCLinuxOS forum where GOTHBITES was asking how to view a JXL (JPEG XL) file. Back in April 2022, the JXL format was talked about in an article on WEBP graphics. PCLinuxOS users ... heck, most users, regardless of the operating system ... are pretty much up a creek without a paddle when it comes to viewing or using JXL files. I'm doubtful that the JXL format will gain much traction, performing like most of the JPEG Group's other attempted modifications to the original JPG format. And none of them resulted in anything resembling widespread use, except among the committee members and their fanbois.

        By the second page of the aforementioned forum thread, talk had turned to the "newish" WEBP graphic format (originally announced by Google in September 2010 as an open source format, but the first stable version of its library didn't come out until April 2018, according to Wikipedia) that appears to be coming on strong with widespread adoption, at least on the web. I've even seen "reports" that the Google Chrome web browser will save images in the WEBP format when/if you select "Save Image..." from an image on a web page. However, none of the usual word processors or publishing programs known and used by Linux users (including LibreOffice and Scribus) recognize the WEBP graphics format, but all of the major web browsers and GIMP support the format.

      • PC LinuxTip Top Tips: Xfce Configuration For The CAPS-LOCK

        Do you ever look up from your keyboard to the screen, only to see that you've typed everything in CAPS, and you have to delete and retype it? You'd pressed the CAPS key in error. It happens.

        Now in the Xfce Settings Manager > Keyboard > Layout, it's possible to reassign CAPS LOCK to Compose, meaning that the worst that can happen if you accidentally hit the CAPS key is that one character has to be replaced by 2 or 3. However, if you do that, there may be times when you actually require CAPS to be LOCKed. One example here in Britain is when you get a loyalty voucher from a well-known supermarket chain, and to claim it, you have to enter a long string of characters consisting of numbers and capital letters, and you don't want to keep alternating the SHIFT key as you type. Lower case letters result in an error. It is possible to set CAPS LOCK by pressing both SHIFT keys via the KDE Control Centre, but not Xfce.

      • PC LinuxGIMP Tutorial: Time-Saving Tips

        I've been on YouTube again, looking for extra knowledge about GIMP. As I've said before, one of my faves is Davies Media Design. He outlined ten time-saving tips, which are mostly keyboard shortcuts, but they are really good, so I'll share. Some of them have two tips in the same section, so you'll end up with more than ten.

    • WINE or Emulation

      • Linux HintBest Android Emulators for Linux in 2023

        Guide on the best and reliable Android emulators in 2023 that you can use on Linux and its distros such as Ubuntu to turn your computer into an Android device.

      • GamingOnLinuxWine development release v8.3 is out now

        Wine, the translations layer that allows Windows apps and games to run on other operating systems, that forms part of Steam Play Proton has version 8.3 out now.

    • Games

      • GamingOnLinuxBase-building, tower defense and digging — Lumencraft has it all

        Lumencraft is a pretty gorgeous top-down blending of base-building, where you need to set up defensive towers and a whole lot of digging.€ Developed with full Linux and Steam Deck support using Godot Engine, it's easily one of my indie favourites from this year and it just left Early Access as a full game.

      • GamingOnLinuxRhythm mini-game collection Bits & Bops gets Linux support

        Bits & Bops looks sweet! A fun collection of rhythm mini-games, and the developer has upgraded the demo to include Linux support for this upcoming game.

      • GamingOnLinuxYour Only Move Is HUSTLE gets a Linux version

        Your Only Move Is HUSTLE, a very popular online turn-based fighting game and super-powered fight scene simulator now has Linux support. On Steam, it has an Overwhelmingly Positive rating from over 4,000 user reviews. The new Native Linux build landed on March 2nd in a short announcement, seems this was to get it working better on Steam Deck where it has a Steam Deck Playable rating with multiple issues noted.

      • GamingOnLinuxCounter-Strike 2 is reportedly a real thing and coming soon

        There's been a whole lot of rumours appearing lately that seem quite credible, with Counter-Strike 2 apparently due soon. It's not entirely clear if this is a full new game, or a big upgrade for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive but either way it's pretty exciting for FPS fans.

      • NVIDIA RTX 4080/4070 Ti Enter the List of Top 10 Most Sold GPUs on Steam, AMD Grows Linux CPU Share

        The PC market has been in a slump for quite a while now. Since GPU mining collapsed, excess inventory, falling prices, and lack of demand have plagued the graphics card market. The launch of NVIDIA’s RTX 40 series graphics cards marks the beginning of a new chapter. One where AMD isn’t doing too well. Despite being out for several months, the Radeon RX 7900 series graphics cards are yet to enter the Steam hardware database.

      • It's FOSSInstall DOSBox in Ubuntu to Play Retro Games

        The DOSbox emulator lets you use the disk operating systems of the 80s. You can also use it to play retro games on Linux.

      • PC LinuxGame Zone: X-Com: UFO Defense

        olks, where has the world gone? After all that we have been going through in the last few years, we are now having a wave of UFO sightings. Yes, unidentified objects are popping up everywhere, and if they are just Chinese balloons, we are fine. BUT what if they are not? If the aliens are really visiting us and preparing an invasion ?

        Well, to prepare for the aliens' arrival, nothing better than playing X-Com: UFO Defense, a strategy game by Microprose, released in 1994.

        [...]

        To play Openxcom on PCLinuxOS, you must have a copy of the original DOS game, X-COM: UFO Defense.

      • Boiling SteamBest Steam Deck Games Released in the Past Week, with Pizza Tower and The 25th Ward – 2023-03-05 Edition

        Between 2023-02-26 and 2023-03-05 there were 95 new games validated for the Steam Deck.

      • Boiling SteamTop 13 New Games You Can Play on Linux with Proton – March 2023 Edition

        We are back with our usual monthly update! Boiling Steam looks at the latest data dumps from ProtonDB to give you a quick list of new games that work (pretty much? see ratings) perfectly with Proton since they were released...
    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • GNOME Desktop/GTK

        • OMG UbuntuPano Clipboard Manager for GNOME Shell Updated

          We’re talking improved UI, new user-requested features, and a ton of additional configuration options. Oh yeah, and it supports GNOME 44 nice and early so you can upgrade to Ubuntu 23.04 this April without worrying about breakage – aah!

          To recap for those unfamiliar with it, Pano is a clipboard manager for GNOME Shell that uses rich previews for copied content types (e.g., image, links, images, hex codes, text, etc). Content is stored in a horizontal pop-up bar placed the bottom of the screen that you open using a keyboard shortcut or a tray icon.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • MediumTop 5 FAVORITE Linux Distros in 2023 | by TechHut | Mar, 2023 | Medium

      It’s been a while since we over-viewed some of my top Linux distributions. Creating top lists for anything is difficult to do as leaving out bias and opinion is near impossible. An actual top or best Linux distro list would probably have Debian at the top and include OpenSUSE, RHEL, and distributions like that. This list is my personal favorite. Linux distributions that I’ve actually used on physical hardware in the last year and find myself coming back.

    • 9to5LinuxNitrux 2.7 Released with Maui Shell and KDE Plasma 5.27 LTS Flavors

      Powered by the long-term supported Linux 6.1 LTS kernel series (Liquorix flavored for desktop, multimedia, and gaming workloads), Nitrux 2.7 is here to offer you a brand-new flavor of its ISO image featuring the in-house developed and long-anticipated Maui Shell desktop interface.

      Maui Shell is a convergent desktop interface for desktops and mobile devices developed by the Nitrux development team. It features a set of in-house baked apps created with the Maui Kit, called Maui Apps, which are also available in the KDE Plasma edition.

    • Computing UKAfter 20 years are developers now ready for Nix?

      Nix and NixOS promise application portability, reliability and reproducibility, but can developers be persuaded to make the switch?

    • Reviews

      • Distro WatchReview: Nemo Mobile and the PinePhone

        I started out this week looking forward to trying a new operating system, Nemo Mobile, and when it didn't work for me, I ended up going down a long series of dead-ends. What began as a week of gradually exploring one mobile platform turned into a journey through the landscape of the PinePhone ecosystem.

        What I discovered there was not encouraging.

        A year or so ago the PinePhone appeared to have a healthy and growing community. There were over 20 operating systems available for the PinePhone, people were encouraging developers to port their distributions to the original PinePhone, and it was proving to be a good test bed for mobile Linux systems. The PinePhone looked to be performing a similar role for the open source mobile community as the Raspberry Pi did for budget computing. Neither device is high powered, but they are fairly open and inexpensive. Both are great for hobbyists and people looking to polish software which might end up running on other, more formidable equipment. In other words, a new mobile operating system running on the PinePhone today where it can be tested and polished might be ported to mainstream devices next year.

    • New Releases

      • 9to5LinuxLibreELEC 11 Launches with Kodi 20, Support for NVIDIA GPUs

        LibreELEC 11 is a major update that ships with the latest Kodi 20 “Nexus” open-source media center and introduces a new Generic-Legacy image supporting NVIDIA GPUs, Chrome browser add-on, and older hardware.

        It also improves support for Raspberry Pi 4 boards by enabling the 4096×2160 resolution on 4K TVs instead of 3840×2160, and reintroduces support for older Amlogic devices, such as S905, S905X/D, and S912, enabling H264 playback and seeking, HDR for HEVC/VP9 media, HDMI multi-channel PCM and pass-through audio, and more.

    • BSD

    • PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandriva/OpenMandriva Family

      • PC LinuxExploring LXQt: A Basic Guide, Part 2

        LXQt's default file manager, PCManFM-Qt, has some handy capabilities which might enhance your workflow. A split-screen feature makes it very convenient to copy files between two different locations.

        In addition, PCManFM-Qt is able to connect to a remote server (such as an FTP server or NAS [Network Attached Storage]).

      • PC LinuxICYMI: Ransomware Operation Adds Support For Linux Devices

        PCLinuxOS users have a wide variety of interests, and it's important to keep ourselves informed about what's going on beyond the borders of our beloved PCLinuxOS playground. Sometimes, it's even good to reach out beyond our normal interests and comfort zone. It's how we discover "new things" that we like. A "roundup" article, therefore, is still warranted (in my humble opinion). So, to mark the "change," we're going to change the name of Short Topix to ICYMI (in case you missed it). The entries will be shorter, with the same links you've become accustomed to in the Short Topix column, and you can follow the links to read more about the topics that interest you.

      • PC LinuxScreenshot Showcase
      • PC LinuxFrom The Chief Editor's Desk...

        In the U.S., Daylight Savings Time is "starting" again. As in, "spring forward." That means we all advance our clocks by one hour. Bleh! I'm reminded of the supposed old American Indian quote (no one really knows if it is, but it makes the point perfectly): "Only white man thinks that cutting one foot from top of blanket and sewing to bottom of blanket makes blanket one foot longer."

    • Fedora Family / IBM

    • Debian Family

    • Canonical/Ubuntu Family

      • DebugPointXubuntu Minimal: Opportunity to Build Your Own Distro

        Afew days back, Canonical announced that an official minimal ISO installation file for the Ubuntu 23.04 "Lunar Lobster" release is in the works. While the image is not yet available as of publishing this, the Xubuntu team managed to work out their own minimal ISO installation image.

        Let's look at what you get in the minimal Xubuntu installation and a comparison with the regular desktop installer.

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Libre ArtsLibreArts Weekly recap — 5 March 2023

      Still settling in, shorter recap again. Week highlights: new releases of GIMP and Godot, new features in Krita and Inkscape.

      GIMP 2.10.34

      The GIMP team released another update in the stable series, mostly with bugfixes and some minor new features backported from the 2.99 series.

      Notable changes:

      • TIFF support improvements
      • Exporting of paths to PSD now possible
      • Exporting to JPEG XL now possible, metadata now imported
      • Transparency now handled on importing and exporting to PDF
      • The Set Image Canvas Size dialog now has a template selector
      • Fixes in the desktop color picker
    • MedevelRustdesk

      Open source virtual / remote desktop infrastructure for everyone! The open source TeamViewer alternative. Display and control your PC and Android devices from anywhere at anytime.

    • Medevel14 Best Free and Open Source Figma Kits, Elements, and UI/UX Components

      What is Figma?

      Figma is a cloud-based design tool used to create user interfaces, websites, and other digital products. It allows designers to collaborate, share, and create designs in real-time with their team members and stakeholders.

      Who uses Figma?

    • SJVNDeutsche Telekom offers Nextcloud Office to its cloud customers

      Hundreds of millions of users use Microsoft 365 or Google Docs as their office software. But, if you're not keen on using a proprietary program and keeping your files on a proprietary platform, Deutsche Telekom is now offering another approach for its German and Austrian users: Open-source, NextCloud Office.

      Nextcloud Office is a Sofware-as-a-Service (SaaS) office suite. It supports collaborative editing for groups. Based on LibreOffice and Collabora, it supports all major document, spreadsheet, and presentation file formats. You can use it via a web browser on Linux, macOS, and Windows desktop and Android and iOS mobile applications. In short, it's a complete replacement for all but the fussiest Microsoft Office and Google Docs user

    • Medevel10 Open Source Flutter UI Kits to Boost your App Development

      What is Flutter?

      Flutter is a free and open-source mobile application development framework created by Google that has been gaining popularity in recent years.

    • Connor TumblesonGrafana & Prometheus

      So as you can imagine - I can collect data via Prometheus and Grafana perfectly can ingest that data to visualize it. The challenge I had was figuring out how all this worked.

    • Openness/Sharing/Collaboration

      • Open Access/Content

        • OpenSource.comHow Wikipedia helps keep the internet open

          Overall, Wikipedia’s technology ecosystem is vast! As MediaWiki, one of the most popular software in the Wikimedia world, is available under an open source license, over four hundred thousand projects and organizations use it for hosting their content. For example, NASA uses it to organize its content around space missions and their knowledge base!

          In addition, there are many other bots, tools, desktop and mobile apps that help with content access, creation, editing, and maintenance. For example, bots in particular help drastically reduce the workload of editors by automating repetitive and tedious tasks, such as fighting vandalism, suggesting articles to newcomers, fact-checking articles, and more. InternetArchiveBot is a popular bot that frequently communicates with the Wayback Machine to fix dead links on Wikipedia.

    • Programming/Development

      • VoxHow the first chatbot predicted the dangers of AI more than 50 years ago

        In 1966, MIT computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum released ELIZA (named after the fictional Eliza Doolittle from George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion), the first program that allowed some kind of plausible conversation between humans and machines. The process was simple: Modeled after the Rogerian style of psychotherapy, ELIZA would rephrase whatever speech input it was given in the form of a question. If you told it a conversation with your friend left you angry, it might ask, “Why do you feel angry?”

        Ironically, though Weizenbaum had designed ELIZA to demonstrate how superficial the state of human-to-machine conversation was, it had the opposite effect. People were entranced, engaging in long, deep, and private conversations with a program that was only capable of reflecting users’ words back to them. Weizenbaum was so disturbed by the public response that he spent the rest of his life warning against the perils of letting computers — and, by extension, the field of AI he helped launch — play too large a role in society.

      • David ChapmanArtificial neurons considered harmful

        So-called “neural networks” are extremely expensive, poorly understood, unfixably unreliable, deceptive, data hungry, and inherently limited in capabilities.

        In short: they are bad.

      • Terence EdenAdventures in home automation - Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 2

        They say that The Best Camera Is The One That's With You - the same is true of Raspberries Pi. As much as I'd love a 4B, they seem permanently sold out.

        So I dug through my scrapheap of old tech and resurrected an ancient Pi2. It's old, outdated, slow, with limited RAM, and has a bunch of much-abused GPIO pins. But it works and - crucially - is still supported by Home Assistant OS.

        Well... ish!

      • University of TorontoAn unexciting idea: Code changes have context

        I recently read Mark Dominus's I wish people would stop insisting that Git branches are nothing but refs (via). One of my thoughts afterward is that this feels like an instance of a broader thing, which is that (code) changes have context; here, one part of that context is where they happen (ie, what branch they happen on). Of course we already know that in a sense, because Git (and pretty much every other version control system) considers it important to record both who made the change and when it was made.

      • Jussi PakkanenThe code functionality tipping point

        Software development is weirdly nonlinear. When you start working on a new project at first it does not really do much. Adding more and more code does not seem to help. The "end user visible" functionality is pretty poor and it does not seem to get visibly better. You can do something, but nothing that would be actually useful.

        This goes on for some amount of time that can't be predicted.

        And then, unexpectedly, the pieces come together and useful functionality jumps from "almost nothing" to "quite a lot, actually".

      • Ken ShirriffReverse-engineering the electronics in the Globus analog navigational computer

        In the Soyuz space missions, cosmonauts tracked their position above the Earth with a remarkable electromechanical device with a rotating globe. This navigation instrument was an analog computer that used an elaborate system of gears, cams, and differentials to compute the spacecraft's position. Officially, the unit was called a "space navigation indicator" with the Russian acronym ИНК (INK),1 but I'll use the nickname "Globus".

      • Linux HintGetcwd() Function in C Language

        Practical tutorial on how to use the getcwd() function to determine the current working directory of the calling program in C langugage and their errors.

      • Linux HintGethostbyname() Function in C Language

        Comprehensive guide on how to use the gethostbyname() function in C language to get an information about a hostname and how a “hostent” structure is composed.

      • Linux HintOpen() Function in C Language

        Tutorial on how to use the open() function to open the files, its theoretical description and input arguments, and the data type that is used in each case.

      • Python

      • Shell/Bash/Zsh/Ksh

        • Andrew JorgensenBe Careful Using tmux and Environment Variables

          What this says is that the global environment is copied over when the server is started. Each session also has an environment that is merged with the original global environment but it only has a set list of environment variables that are updated. You can see this with the following command in a tmux session: [...]

        • TecAdminHow to calculate division and remainder in Bash

          Bash is a powerful command-line interface and scripting language that offers a wide range of mathematical operations, including division and remainder. Division and remainder are fundamental operations used in various programming and mathematical applications. This article will discuss how to perform division and remainder operations in Bash and their usage.

      • Java

        • Disabling the DebugLoggerUI service app in Android

          The following notification appeared every time I switched on my Blackview Tab 10 tablet (Android 11): DebugLoggerUI DebugLoggerUI service is running I cannot remember if this notification started appearing after I upgraded the tablet's firmware last year to remove a bug in the original firmware...

    • Standards/Consortia

      • Ruben SchadeFeedback on paper sizes

        Last Friday I talked about liking the ANSI/US Letter paper size, despite living in a country that uses the far more sensible A4 for documents. I also mentioned that C Series paper also exists.



        [...]

        I’d never considered this, but it makes sense. I miss 4:3 monitors more broadly, and having it at about that ratio for paper might be pleasing for a similar reason.

      • Eric BaileyI doubled-down on RSS

        Part of mourning the communities I once had there involves figuring out how to not forget who was important to me. This means creating a way to stay abreast of what they’re doing.

        One of the most obvious ways to stay in the know is subscribe to RSS feeds.

  • Leftovers

    • IT WireEricsson pays US$207m DoJ fine over alleged bribery in Iraq

      Swedish telecommunications equipment provider Ericsson has paid a fine of US$207 million over breaches of a deferred prosecution agreement reached with the US Department of Justice in 2019, the company says.

    • FudzillaEricsson fined again over bribery case

      Networking giant Ericsson has been slapped with a fine by the US Department of Justice or breaching terms of the deferred prosecution deal it struck in 2019 in a corruption scandal.

    • France24Greek stationmaster charged over deadly rail crash as PM seeks forgiveness

      The stationmaster implicated in Greece's deadliest rail crash, which killed at least 57 people, was charged and taken into custody Sunday, hours after the prime minister asked for forgiveness for the disaster.

    • Lawrence TrattScheduling my Electricity Usage

      Modern societies function in large part thanks to our ability to use as much electricity as we want, when we want it. As renewable energy (solar, wind) plays a greater part in the electricity generation mix, our opportunities to use "cleaner" energy increase, but renewables are also fickle — sometimes the wind doesn't blow, and the sun doesn't shine. Today in the UK, for example, the weather is overcast and still: solar and wind aren't going to generate much power. In such cases, the electricity we're using is generated from much "dirtier" sources.

    • Science

    • Education

      • uni MichiganIt’s time to hit the reset button on American secondary education

        The American secondary education system is fundamentally broken. Despite federal spending on education amounting to $94 billion, the United States ranks 24th out of 71 developed nations in science and 38th in math. With only 37% of high school seniors performing at a “proficient” level in reading...

    • Hardware

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • Vox2023-03-04 Why it’s so hard to get answers on long Covid
      • International Business Times2023-03-03 British tourists warned not to travel to Ibiza as island is on dengue alert after travellers get infected
      • GizmodoToo Many Studies on Teen Social Media Use Only Look at White Kids

        Most research on teen social media use has been conducted on white teens and college students. As a result, it is unclear to what extent overlooked populations such as racial and ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities and other vulnerable adolescent populations may be using social media in different ways.

      • NYPostNew emails show Dr. Anthony Fauci commissioned scientific paper in Feb. 2020 to disprove Wuhan lab leak theory

        New€ emails€ uncovered by House Republicans probing the COVID-19 pandemic reveal the deceptive nature of Dr. Anthony Fauci.

      • NYPostNY court workers fired for refusing COVID vax must be rehired with back pay as state board scraps mandate

        Under terms of the decision issued last month, the Unified Court System must immediately "cease and desist" from enforcing policies that require all non-judicial employees to be vaccinated or undergo regular testing.

      • uni MichiganA night in isn’t always to our benefit

        When marijuana is legalized, its usage skyrockets. With dispensaries popping up on every corner and the potent smell lingering in the streets of Ann Arbor, it’s no mystery that college students are playing their part in those rising numbers.

      • YLETHL: Low risk of bird flu transmission to humans

        Avian influenza has been circulating among wild birds in Finland over the past few years.

      • The Register UKTexas mulls law forcing ISPs to block access to abortion websites

        The bill, introduced by Republican Steve Toth, a member of the state House of Representatives, would require ISPs in Texas to "make every reasonable and technologically feasible effort to block [Internet] access to information or material intended to assist or facilitate efforts to obtain an elective abortion or an abortion-inducing drug."

      • Omicron LimitedBees follow linear landmarks to find their way home, just like the first pilots

        In late summer of 2010 and 2011 near the village of Klein Lüben in Brandenburg, Menzel and colleagues caught 50 experienced forager honeybees and glued a 10.5-mg transponder on their back. They then released them in a new test area, too distant to be familiar to the bees. In the the test area was a radar, which could detect the transponders at a distance of up to 900 meters. The most notable landmark in the test area was a pair of parallel irrigation channels, running southwest to northeast.

        When honeybees find themselves in unfamiliar territory, they fly in exploratory loops in different directions and over different distances, centered on the release spot. With the radar, the researchers tracked the exact exploratory flight pattern of each bee for between 20 minutes and three hours. The bees flew at up to nine meters above the ground during the experiment.

      • uni Pennsylvania StateSeminar: Interactions between honey bees and pesticides in agriculture

        Reed got his start in research beekeeping as an undergraduate research assistant at the University of Montana. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was involved in the honey bee genome project. Reed is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology at The Ohio State University in Wooster, Ohio where he teaches two courses: one on beekeeping and the other on pesticide science. His research focuses on determining how bees are exposed to pesticides and the effects that pesticides have on the health of honey bees, with the larger goal of promoting bee health in the context of modern agriculture.

      • NatureEcological traits interact with landscape context to determine bees’ pesticide risk

        Widespread contamination of ecosystems with pesticides threatens non-target organisms. However, the extent to which life-history traits affect pesticide exposure and resulting risk in different landscape contexts remains poorly understood. We address this for bees across an agricultural land-use gradient based on pesticide assays of pollen and nectar collected by Apis mellifera, Bombus terrestris and Osmia bicornis, representing extensive, intermediate and limited foraging traits. We found that extensive foragers (A. mellifera) experienced the highest pesticide risk—additive toxicity-weighted concentrations. However, only intermediate (B. terrestris) and limited foragers (O. bicornis) responded to landscape context—experiencing lower pesticide risk with less agricultural land. Pesticide risk correlated among bee species and between food sources and was greatest in A. mellifera-collected pollen—useful information for future postapproval pesticide monitoring. We provide foraging trait- and landscape-dependent information on the occurrence, concentration and identity of pesticides that bees encounter to estimate pesticide risk, which is necessary for more realistic risk assessment and essential information for tracking policy goals to reduce pesticide risk.

    • Proprietary

      • GizmodoHall of Shame: 9 Ways Apple Makes Your Life Worse

        Apple also makes your life more annoying, more expensive, and less secure...

      • Doug BrownCustomizing the startup chime on a 1999 G3 iMac

        Before we get started, I need to provide some background info from my 2012 work on customizing the startup sound in my Power Mac G3 because a good portion of it was relevant for the iMac too. When I dumped my G3’s ROM, I imported it into Audacity as a raw file. I chose signed 16-bit PCM, big-endian, 44,100 Hz as the format. Then I played the entire 1 MB ROM as a big sound. It mostly sounded like a scratchy mess, but there were two locations that both obviously contained the startup sound data. It sounded very staticky and played way too quickly, but it was clearly the startup chime. Headphone/earbud users beware, it’s pretty loud: [...]

      • Xe's BlogWe're never getting rid of ChatGPT

        In the exact case of asking questions in my text editor, I am fairly sure that it is innocuous to have an AI model explain code bits like this. It is very easy to check if the AI model is accurate. As things get more complicated and the AI delves into topics like sociology, I fear that things aren't going to be as easy. For every innocuous use of this, there are a thousand evil uses waiting to happen. Holding this technology back doesn't help, releasing it to the public doesn't help, it's a proper quandary.

      • Data BreachesTennessee State, Southeastern Louisiana universities hit with cyberattacks [iophk: Windows TCO]

        Tennessee State University — a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville — notified its more than 8,000 students on Wednesday that its IT systems were brought down by a ransomware attack.

    • Linux Foundation

    • Security

      • Bleeping ComputerNew TPM 2.0 flaws could let hackers steal cryptographic keys [Ed: Microsoft Garrett is pushing this into Linux; fake security (lockdown, lockin, restrictions, remote controls disguised as "safety")]

        The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 specification is affected by two buffer overflow vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to access or overwrite sensitive data, such as cryptographic keys.

        TPM is a hardware-based technology that provides operating systems with tamper-resistant secure cryptographic functions. It can be used to store cryptographic keys, passwords, and other critical data, making any vulnerability in its implementation a cause for concern.

      • LinuxSecurityOpen Source Vulnerability Assessment Tools & Scanners

        Computer systems, software, applications, and other network interfaces are vulnerable to various threats. Failure to find these vulnerabilities can lead to the downfall of the company.

      • Privacy/Surveillance

        • dwaves.deWhatsApp vs Signal – centralized vs de-centralized

          both are centralized Messengers meaning: the user is in control of the device + software (to the extend that the user can understand the src) Android-Client “the client” 100% Open Source (Java 70.8% Kotlin 29.1%) iOS-Client 100% Open Source...

        • New York TimesHeads Up: A Better Movie Seat May Cost You

          “It’s a taste of what’s coming,” said Stacy Spikes, who co-founded the subscription ticketing service MoviePass, which he plans to reintroduce nationwide this summer. “The big theater chains are gaining the technology to implement variable pricing on a wide scale. This may have near-term financial benefits, but it may also reduce attendance of younger customers who are more price sensitive and key to future growth.”

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

      • NYPostFirm of NYC homeless boss Joslyn Carter’s sister lands $1.7B in shelter contracts

        The firm of NYC Homeless Service Administrator Joslyn Carter's sister has been awarded 17 contracts with her agency valued at a staggering $1.7 billion, according to data compiled by city Comptroller Brad Lander's office.

      • Michael West MediaEnding jobs for mates – Sophie Scamps’ bill for integrity, transparency in public appointments

        Sophie Scamps is introducing the ‘Ending Jobs for Mates Bill’ which intends to legislate a transparent and independent process for major Commonwealth public appointments

      • Rolling StoneInside Jim Jordan’s Disastrous Search for a ‘Deep State’ Whistleblower

        In the interview, the witness, former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst George Hill, had admitted he had little or no firsthand knowledge of alleged “deep state” scandals. Instead, he brought baggage of his own: a history of inflammatory commentary on social media. Democratic staff had found a tweet in which Hill claimed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had “blood on her hands.” In a since-deleted tweet found by Rolling Stone, Hill wrote “Cancer! GO FASTER!” in response to a tweet from Rep. Lauren Boebert claiming that President Biden had been diagnosed with cancer.

    • Environment

      • Energy/Transportation

        • New YorkerGreening the Burial of the Dead, in Brooklyn

          The historic Green-Wood Cemetery—the final resting place of Leonard Bernstein and half a million others—explores a cutting-edge method of processing human remains: electric cremation.

        • The Kent Stater#StopWillow is taking TikTok by storm. Can it actually work?

          When Elise Joshi posted a TikTok video€ about the Alaska€ oil drilling project known as Willow€ in early February, she didn’t have high hopes it would go viral. Joshi, 20, posts often about climate issues on TikTok for the account€ Gen-Z for Change, as well as her personal account.

        • New York TimesA 120-Year-Old Company Is Leaving Tesla in the Dust

          But the more I dealt with Tesla as a reporter — this was before Mr. Musk fired all the P.R. people who worked there — the more skeptical I became. Any time I spoke to anyone at Tesla, there was a sense that they were terrified to say the wrong thing, or anything at all. I wanted to know the horsepower of the Model 3 I was driving, and the result was like one of those oblique Mafia conversations where nothing’s stated explicitly, in case the Feds are listening. I ended up saying, “Well, I read that this car has 271 horsepower,” and the Tesla person replied, “I wouldn’t disagree with that.” This is not how healthy, functional companies answer simple factual questions.

          That was back in 2017. In the years since, Tesla’s become even crankier, while its competition has loosened up. Public perception hasn’t yet caught up with the reality of the situation. If you want to work for a flexible, modern company, you don’t apply to Tesla. You apply to 120-year-old Ford.

      • Wildlife/Nature

      • Overpopulation

    • Finance

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • QuartzBiden's first veto could be over an anti-ESG bill

        But that could change after the US Senate voted this week to block a US Labor Department rule that would have allowed retirement plans to consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in their investments.

      • Modern DiplomacyMacron Outlines France’s New Policy Strategy for Africa

        French President Emmanuel Macron has gained some considerable success during his trips to Africa, mostly capitalizing on the geopolitical neutrality of African leaders. And African leaders, without doubt, will benefit tremendously from this neutral position.

      • Modern DiplomacyFor first time, women represented in all parliaments of the world

        For the first time ever, there are women MPs in every single country on Earth, the Interparliamentary Union, IPU, said on Friday.In its latest annual report, the global body dedicated to promoting peace through parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue, also said that women’s participation has never been as diverse as it is in many countries today.

      • Marcy WheelerTwo of Jim Jordan’s So-Called Whistleblowers Are Under Investigation for Improper Treatment of FBI Files

        Two of the FBI Agents that Jim Jordan claims to be whistleblowers are themselves under investigation for improperly accessing -- and in one case, leaking -- FBI files. Both have been paid money that may be part of the larger Trump investigation.

      • Modern DiplomacyDemocratic backsliding: A retrospective on the Bolsonaro years

        Authors: Sahasranshu Dash and Ana Tereza Duarte Lima de Barros* The twin shocks of the 2007-09 financial crisis and the refugee crisis caused by the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring destabilised most major democracies. In subsequent years, economic and migration crises mushroomed across the globe, accelerating such trends.

      • LRTLithuania ends voting in local elections with highest turnout in 20 years

        Polling stations closed at 20:00 in Lithuania’s local elections. Slightly under half of all eligible voters cast their ballots to pick municipal councils and mayors of 60 municipalities.

      • LRT“I feel great empathy.” Ukrainian refugees build new lives in Lithuania

        The war in Ukraine, waged by Russia, has forced over 8 million people to seek refuge outside the country. Looking through the lens of people of different ages, professions, and statuses helps to understand how, persevering through personal tragedies, they return to some sense of “normality”.

      • NYPostMore than 200 protesters rally outside Chuck Schumer’s NYC home over Israel

        Last month, the Democrat, who lives in Park Slope, vowed to give Israel his “fullest support” while visiting the country with a delegation of other Senate Dems and meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Jewish Insider.

      • NYPostPolls show Trump ahead for ‘24 GOP nod, but only DeSantis beating Biden

        Former President Donald Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination — but not to beat President Joe Biden.

      • France24Estonian Prime Minister's center-right party wins general election

        Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas's centre-right Reform Party won the general election by a large margin Sunday, scoring 31.6 percent against 16 percent for the far-right EKRE, according to near complete results.

      • Off GuardianThis Week in the New Normal #57

        Our successor to This Week in the Guardian, This Week in the New Normal is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world. 1. UN agrees “historic” ocean treaty Just yesterday it was reported that after “a decade of negotiation” the UN has finally agreed on the text …

      • Off GuardianQuoth the Vultures “Evermore”

        Edward curtin On the short roof outside the bedroom window, two black vultures sit, staring in.€  They have come to remind me of something.€  I put my book down and peer back at these strange looking creatures. The book:€ Our War: What We Did in Vietnam And What It Did to Us€ by David Harris.

      • The StrategistRugby relations: Australia’s best diplomatic asset in the Pacific

        Australia’s strength in its international relations with the South Pacific rests on shared history, common values and cultural affinities for sport, family and religion. Pursuing Australia’s interests in an increasingly contested post-pandemic environment will require ...

      • Atlantic CouncilIt is time for the West to welcome Ukraine home

        Russia's full-scale invasion has strengthened Ukraine's commitment to a future as part of the Western world. Western leaders should now respond by intensifying Ukraine's further integration, writes Michael Druckman.

      • Atlantic CouncilCan Swift Retort still inspire swift reforms?

        After Operation Swift Retort four years ago, I argued that if Pakistan really wants to compete with India, it must focus on rapid economic growth. Regrettably, our national leadership has had other priorities, and we have fallen further behind.

      • France24Tunisia's anti-migrant discourse: 'A way to distract from the country’s problems'

        Hundreds of protesters rallied in Tunis on Sunday, demanding the release of€ more than 20 opposition figures who were arrested in recent weeks. The demonstration came a day after more than 3,000 joined a rally organised by the UGTT trade union against what Amnesty International has called a "politically motivated witch hunt".€ Protesters also condemned the violent attacks sub-Saharan nationals have faced in recent days, following an€ anti-immigration speech€ made by President Saïed on February 21.

      • JURISTCambodia opposition leader sentenced to 27 years in prison for treason

        A Cambodian court Friday sentenced leading opposition figure Kem Sokha to 27 years in prison for treason.€ Sokha was accused of developing a “secret plan” in cooperation with foreign organizations to overthrow Hun Sen’s government and was previously arrested in 2017 during a midnight raid involving hundreds of security personnel.

      • GannettMillions donated to Michigan campaigns last year could be tied up in [cryptocurrency] scandal

        FTX is a cryptocurrency trading and exchange platform. It declared bankruptcy in November, and in December, federal prosecutors charged its founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, with misappropriating billions in investor funds between FTX and Alameda Research, another company founded by Bankman-Fried.

        Part of the alleged misuse of funds involved making illegal political contributions, as well as real estate purchases and other venture investments, according to the SEC. Prosecutors allege that an estimated $8 billion in investor funds is missing. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty in the case.

      • India TimesSoftBank's Arm aims to raise at least $8 billion in US IPO

        Arm is expected to confidentially submit paperwork for its initial public offering in late April, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are confidential. The listing is expected to happen later this year and the exact timing will be determined by market conditions, the sources added.

      • India TimesTikTok a potential target in upcoming US bill to ban some foreign tech: Senator

        Warner, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said TikTok would be "one of the potentials" for review under the bill. The Democratic senator made the comments on Fox News Sunday.

        The bill comes at a time when TikTok is under intensifying pressure over concerns that data about U.S. users could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.

      • NDTVZoom Fires Its President Days After Company Cut 1,300 Jobs

        The businessman and a former Google employee, Mr Tomb had assumed the position in June 2022. Since then, he had actively participated in earnings calls and managed the company's sales. According to a Zoom representative, the tech company is not seeking for a replacement.

      • BBCZoom boss Greg Tomb fired ‘without cause’

        Mr Tomb reported directly to chief executive officer Eric Yuan, who started Zoom in 2011 and was at the helm as the company became one of the pandemic's biggest winners.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • Modern Diplomacy“Art is a matter of survival”: A glimpse inside the artists’ revolt in Greece

        A passerby walking outside the Ziller building, the main stage of the National Theatre of Greece, would notice a giant banner writing “Squat.”

      • ReasonDon't Just Hire 'Better Cops.' Punish the Bad Ones.

        Convincing law enforcement officers that those who do wrong will suffer consequences is by far the most powerful tool for changing police behavior in the long run.

      • Ruben SchadeLegal versus ethical

        A worrying number of IT engineers and business folk don’t consider the ethical impact of their actions, or only judge them on based on legality. I’ve noticed this with AI training, but it’s played out with blockchains, online tracking, DRM, and… well, there’s a lot!

        Suffice to say, I’m unconvinced. The law isn’t an ethical code, and we’d be in deep trouble if it was. This should be transparently obvious to anyone who spends more than a few seconds thinking about what was legal before.

        Business ethics educator Chris MacDonald put it like this: [...]

      • New York TimesThey Shared Erotic Images in a Group Chat. The Fine: $17,000.

        Two years later, a court in Singapore fined the couple $17,000, saying the video as well as other photos of Ms. Nguyen in various states of undress violated the country’s laws against nudity and obscenity. The couple was also convicted of providing and abetting false information.

      • RFERLEU Envoy Says Taliban Won't Commit To Reopening Schools To Girls

        The Taliban authorities have not given any pledge to reopen schools and universities for Afghan girls and women in the new school year, a senior EU official said in Kabul on March 5. [...]

      • Jacobin MagazineGraduate Student Workers at the University of Southern California Have Won a Union

        The unionization wave in higher ed continues apace, with grad student workers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles winning a union election in mid-February. Jacobin spoke to USC worker-organizers about their win and their contract demands.

      • RFERLIllness Reports Mount At Girls' Schools In Iran, Spurring 'Terror' Accusations

        Female students reportedly fell ill in at least 33 cities across 17 Iranian provinces on March 4, as speculation swirled over what some allege are months of noxious gas attacks that have coincided with a crackdown on unprecedented protests over the death in custody of a young woman in September.

      • Deutsche WelleGirls report symptoms of poisoning across Iran

        So far, more than 1,000 schoolgirls in 15 cities have reported symptoms consistent with those experienced by victims of toxic gas attacks. Girls interviewed by the state media say that they were suddenly overcome by a smell "of rotten fruit or rotten eggs or a strong perfume" and could barely breathe. Some say they passed out and had to be dragged into the fresh air by their friends. Others say they felt dizzy and sick. Many girls were taken to hospital.

      • France24Pope John Paul II covered up child abuse as cardinal: report

        The late Polish pope John Paul II knew about child abuse in Poland's Catholic church years before becoming pontiff and helped cover it up, private broadcaster TVN reported Sunday.

      • Hong Kong Free PressExplainer: Hong Kong’s national security crackdown – month 32
        In February, the landmark national security trial of 47 democrats began after some had spent almost two years in detention. The sedition case against now-defunct independent media outlet Stand News dragged on, as prosecutors grilled a former chief editor about the 2019 protests and his intentions in publishing certain opinion articles.

        [...]

        Former lawmakers, ex-district councillors and a former Stand News reporter are among 16 defendants facing a no-jury trial. They deny conspiracy to commit subversion in connection with an opposition primary election held in July 2020 to choose candidates for an upcoming legislative election, while 31 other democrats have pleaded guilty.

      • HRWHuman Rights Watch Mourns Loss of Judy Heumann

        Human Rights Watch mourns the passing of the pioneering disability rights activist Judy Heumann, a dear friend and board member. Heumann’s lifelong activism supporting the rights of people with disabilities in the United States and around the world was extraordinary, Human Rights Watch said.€ 

        She died on March 4, 2023, surrounded by her close friends, at the age of 75.

      • uni MichiganDepravity and deepfakes; Or, how women are robbed of bodily autonomy

        Content warning: Discussion of sexual harassment It is no secret that men have been raised within a culture that readily provides misogynistic porn — reservoirs of digital pornography exist to access at a moment’s notice. A variety of websites, forums and social media sites host hubs of both consensually and non-consensually posted pornography.

    • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

      • Tim Bray2023-03-03 Stream Automator

        I have a problem, and I think I’m not alone: Getting TV is too complicated and too expensive. I know what a solution might look like, and if someone can build it and charge just a little bit for access, they might become very wealthy.

    • Monopolies

      • Software Patents

        • SJVNDell and partners smash patent troll WSOU in court

          In the land of patent litigation, all patent trolls want to file in the US Western District of Texas Court. This court is infamous for being sympathetic to patent plaintiffs. That's why patent litigator WSOU Investments, aka Brazos Licensing and Development, went after Dell, EMC, and VMware in this Court. Usually, this would have been the smart move. Not this time. District Judge Alan Albright granted the defendants a directed verdict, and that was the end of the matter.

          What happened was this: WSOU, although successful before with their carpet bombing patent lawsuit strategy, failed this time. According to the lead defense counsel and Gibson Dunn partner, Brian A. Rosenthal, "This case got to trial because the plaintiff refused to come to their senses before trial. We obtained a number of serious exclusions of evidence prior to trial, and told them very early on the case had no merit." The judge agreed.

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • The Library Window

        As I look out the library window, time slows down. This particular library window is on the 5th floor, and overlooks a sprawling, yet flat, Florida college campus. It's a Sunday, so the walkways are devoid of the usual hustle-and-bustle of college life.

        As I look out the library window, I take in where I am. I see the strange mix of moss-covered oak trees and palm trees of all sizes, and the flat, orange brick buildings poking out, contrasting with the bright greens of all the foliage. I see the sun beaming down, coating everything in a warm glow, and illuminating the horizon.

      • 2 years with my chosen name

        In 10 days, it'll be 2 years since I've legally changed my name.

        I did so for two reasons - one, I have never identified with my old one. It wasn't ugly at all, it was a nice and cute name, and I wish I would've felt like that was me, but it just wasn't. My mum remembers still how even at a few years old, I told her "that isn't my name!" and she did ask me what else I wanna be called, but I had no ideas. Two, I have C-PTSD and the memories and trauma involve my name. Three, my old name was a nickname of a different name and people always thought my "real" name was the longer version and also, there were several correct ways to write it; both of these circumstances led to a lot of wrongly addressed mail, report cards, bank cards etc.

    • Technical

      • Diskette quest

        My friend caiu (🦆) found a floppy drive with her name written on it in her dad's stuff. She had no idea what was on it and gave it to me with a smile. Could I get what's on it? What 1.44MB of mysteries can it hold? I love these kind of challenges and since my laundry room is currently the storage room for our hackerspace's stuff, I had a lot of parts to try to read it, and of course it was out of the question to buy a fancy USB floppy disk drive, so this note is about how I got the files back.

        Alright so I found three floppy disk drives, all covered in dust. First issue: they all have IDE ports only, and I don't recognise the power supply port: turns out it's actually a dedicated floppy port that modern PSUs don't have anymore. I don't have IDE-to-something converters so I found the only motherboard in our stuff that have IDE ports and decided to build a computer with it. Of course it has no RAM nor CPU nor anything, but my accomplice Kholah found in his own mess a matching CPU, an Intel Pentium 4 with bent pins — yeah since we got kicked out of our place in Aubervilliers last October, we all have our own pile of electronics cluttering our homes — and I had the antistatic bag holding all our RAM bars (20 of them maybe), and only one had the matching format, whew! 256MB. The motherboard has no video output I can use so I plug a stupid video card with a VGA output and it can use my TV as display. I also have no power button so I'm just shorting it manually using cables and a breadboard. I manage to straighten the CPU pins and successfully plug it. Let's boot it!

      • How do they know?



        Some obersvations on Google's tracking and not always telling

        My Mom Ruined My Youtube


        I left my mom to housesit for a couple of weeks; when I came back, my youtube got totally polluted! More on that in a second.

        I certainly would never log into youtube; it is way too much fun to see it figuring out who I am (well, not that much fun). Now, I've never used youtube much (an occasional search leading to some tech or cat video...), but lately I've been stuck alone, and needed stimulation. So I've been watching from a couple of TVs - often in the background while I wire-wrap some crap or code some other crap.

      • new and old web adventures

        And then it was just outrage and ads. Content making you consume as much as possible, content that will make you want to buy lots of makeup and clothes and small useless trinkets and accessories. Content that made you hate yourself in the mirror. Everything was decided by likes and followers. The snarkiest and edgiest comments got the most attention and won the fight. Being seen meant being a target for unwanted images, harassment, doxxing, etc. by someones large fanbase.

      • 180s

        I’ve had a couple of 180s in my life.

        I went from being a copyright zealot to being a copyright abolitionist (this was in 1999 so most of y’all know me after). I realized the limitless potential of sharing & caring. Copyright abolitionism was also my gateway to anti- and post-capitalist politics.

        I went from rules light RPG to rules heavy gradually but pretty early on in our 5e experience. Maybe CoS/ToA era. Having engaged players who are into this playstyle makes all the difference.

      • Forced Password Changes...Really?

        Way back in 2006 I wrote about how password changes were a bad idea [0], backed up commentary by Euene Spafford [1]. I'm dismayed that the password change policy is still very prevalent at the corporate level, almost 17 years later. It's an annoying practice for users that needs to stop. Where I work, policy forces use of two-factor authentication but still forces users to change passwords every 90 days. This is completely non-sensical.

      • Killing All Processes When Logging Out

        I happened to run the Xfce Task Manager to troubleshoot an unrelated issue. And I noticed that the previous user of my computer had processes running in the background. I thought this was strange because my assumption is that all processes are terminated when a user logs off. In this case, I'm sure the user logged out instead of switching users.

        It turns out that Arch Linux and Manjaro have a different default configuration. By default, Arch and Manjaro allow their service manager, systemd, to run in the background after logging off. The reason given is this allows terminal multiplexers--like tmux and screen--to work. So, in my case, it was systemd and a group of child processes that I saw running in the background.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Less Gemlog, More Capsule

          I've been spending a lot of time with older web content recently. Mainly I've been improving the capabilities of Stargate, my proxy that provides a Gemini-to-HTTP gateway, by reading web content via a Gemini client.


* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



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EPO Administration: Wait Several Months or Until Next Year for Clarifications
"After the intranet announcements of 18 September and 27 September and recent emails from CIGNA concerning opting into the VECOZO network, colleagues have been contacting us with queries and requests for guidance."
[Meme] Shoestring Budget With Record Profits (Because Hundreds of Thousands of Fake European Patents Get Granted)
Record profits? EPO staff does not benefit!
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 13, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, October 13, 2024
Unrest at the European Patent Office as School Costs Eat Away the Income
"Letter to the administration on the Education Allowance - DISDH - German School"
Gemini Links 13/10/2024: ArcMenu, Emacs decide-mode, Midnight Pub Mass-Deletion Option
Links for the day