GNU/Linux

• GNOME ☛ Post Collapse Computing Part 4: The Road Ahead – Space and Meaning

  The goals of wanting software to be frugal with resources but also easy to repair are often hard to square. Efficiency is generally achieved by using lower-level technology and having developers do more work to optimize resource use. However, for repairability you want something high-level with short feedback loops and introspection, i.e. the opposite.

  An app written and distributed as a single Python file with no external dependencies is probably as good as it gets in terms of repairability, but there are serious limitations to what you can do with such an app and the stack is not known for being resource-efficient. The same applies to other types of accessible programming environments, such as scripts or spreadsheets. When it comes to data, plain text is very flexible and easy to work with (i.e. good for repairability), but it’s less efficient than binary data formats, can’t be queried as easily as a database, etc.

  My feeling is that in many cases it’s a matter of choosing the right tradeoffs for a given situation, and knowing which side of the spectrum is more important. However, there are definitely examples where this is not a tradeoff, e.g. Electron is both inefficient and not very repairable due to its complexity.

• Audiocasts/Shows

  • Video ☛ OBS 28 – 29 Flatpak Are Unusable On AMD GPUs – Invidious

    I rely on OBS actually working so when it doesn’t it puts me in a very fun situation and it turns out that both OBS 28 and the new OBS 29 were broken but for completely different reasons.

  • FLOSS Weekly 714: Sugar Labs and Music Blocks – Music Composition in Open Source, Devin Ulibarri and Walter Bender

    Devin Ulibarri and Walter Bender of Sugar Labs join Doc Searls and Dan Lynch on FLOSS Weekly. Searls and Lynch learn how kids can compose music and produce code with open source Music Blocks. You can learn too, in just an hour of fun listening. Or, even better, by watching this week’s video.

  • Video ☛ How to install FreeOffice on KDE Neon – Invidious

    In this video, we are looking at how to install FreeOffice on KDE Neon.

  • Video ☛ Slowly Switching to Linux – Invidious

    When we talk about Switching to Linux, we are not usually talking about a 100% change right now. You should move slowly for the best transition.

  • Video ☛ Manjaro KDE – Still The King Of Arch Distros? – Invidious

    A quick video covering the newest release of Manjaro KDE. With a newer kernel and a fresher look will Manjaro retain the mantle of the Best Arch Distro?

  • Video ☛ BunsenLabs Linux Beryllium Quick Overview #shorts – Invidious

    A Quick Overview of BunsenLabs Linux Beryllium

  • Video ☛ How to install OpenMandriva ROME 23.01 – Invidious

    In this video, I am going to show how to install OpenMandriva ROME 23.01.

  • Tux Digital ☛ 46: Build Your Own – Linux Out Loud – TuxDigital

    This week, Linux Out Loud chats about the age of building PCs coming to an end.

    Welcome to episode 46 of Linux Out Loud. We fired up our mics, connected those headphones as we searched the community for themes to expound upon. We kept the banter friendly, the conversation somewhat on topic, and had fun doing it.

• Applications

  • Ubuntu Handbook ☛ Liferea Feed Reader finally Released 1.14.0 Stable [Ubuntu PPA] | UbuntuHandbook

    Liferea, Linux Feed Reader, finally announced the new stable 1.14 release series! Here’s how to install it via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 22.10.

    Liferea is a news aggregator that brings together all of the content from your favorite subscriptions into a simple interface for easy organizing and browsing. It features offline reading, HTML 5 support, sync with Google Reader API, Reedah, and TinyTinyRSS.

    The new 1.14.0 was released today as a new stable release, after more than 2 years of v1.13 series unstable development.

  • Discourse 3.0 is Here!

    Today, we’re excited to announce the release of Discourse 3.0! We are bringing our customers and users some major new capabilities to enable communities to have thoughtful, purposeful discussions online. This new release includes real-time chat and user status to enable more informal communication, a customizable sidebar for easier access to the things each user cares about most, and a new notifications interface that makes it easier to decide what is important to follow up on, along with many other improvements.

    With this release we are also celebrating 9 years since Discourse 1.0, when we set out to build a platform for civilized discourse to enable communities to raise the quality of conversations on the Internet. As we approach a decade in our journey, our desire to improve Discourse for diverse communities of all sizes is stronger than ever and we look forward to continuing to evolve with you for the next decade!

• Instructionals/Technical

  • Install Kodi 19.5 On Ubuntu 22.10/ 22.04 – Linux Mint – Tips On Unix

    This tutorial will be helpful for beginners to install Kodi 19.5 On Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.10, and Linux Mint 21.

  • HowTo Geek ☛ 8 Typos You Really Need to Avoid on Linux

    The Linux command line delivers great power. The problem is, the correct use of that power hinges on the accuracy of your typing. Here are eight typos you never want to make.

  • What Are utmp, wtmp, and btmp Files in Linux?

    If you are aware of the Linux file structure, then you might already be aware of the “/var/log” directory that is responsible for keeping the system related logs.

    You can easily list the content of this directory using the ls command.

  • Peter ‘CzP’ Czanik ☛ Syslog-ng 101, part 4: Configuration and testing | Random thoughts of Peter Czanik

    This is the fourth part of my syslog-ng tutorial. I hope that since the previous part of my tutorial, you successfully installed syslog-ng. In this part we will finally work with syslog-ng, not just learn about the theoretical background. We will do basic configuration and testing.

  • Network World ☛ Linux files: creating, listing, updating, and more | Network World

    Linux provides a number of handy commands for managing file permissions, understanding who has access to the files and checking on file content.

  • Android Central ☛ How to install and run Linux apps on a Chromebook | Android Central

    Your Chromebook probably does everything you want it to do. You have the web and mankind’s lifetime of achievements, Chrome apps and extensions, and Android apps right out of the box. Click and use. But it can do even more.

    That’s where Linux programs and the command line come into play. Linux has been around forever and chances are that no matter what you want to do there is a Linux app that does it. Since your Chromebook is just another Linux laptop at its core and Google has finally made it easy to install third-party Linux apps you might want to give it a go.

  • Beginners Guide for Finger Command in Linux

    The finger is an external command-line tool that can be used to list all the logged-in users on a remote machine or server, like “w” or “who” commands.

    This tool is also referred to as a “user information lookup program”, as it provides you with user related information like their home directory, default shell, when they logged-in, etc.

    In this article, you will learn how to list all users and view their information using the finger command (with practical examples).

  • Beginners Guide for Uptime Command in Linux

    The uptime command is one of the many resourceful Linux utilities for sysadmins that is capable of telling the system boot related information like the current time, the uptime (in days and hours), the number of users currently logged on to the system, and the load average.

    The introduction went too far, but the utility is pretty simple for beginners to understand, so let’s start with practical examples.

  • LinuxConfig ☛ Snapd unrecognized service: Solution

    You may receive the Snapd unrecognized service error when trying to start the Snap package manager service, or when trying to execute a snap command. In this tutorial, we will go through some troubleshooting steps to resolve the Snapd unrecognized service on a Linux system. Try out some of the methods below to get your Snap service up and running smoothly again.

  • Red Hat ☛ A developer’s guide to using OpenShift with Kubernetes | Red Hat Developer

    This article is the second in a series that describes the relationship between Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift. The first article, An OpenShift Developers Guide to the Essentials of Kubernetes, described basic Kubernetes concepts, components, and resources. This installment describes what OpenShift is and what it does. I’ll also describe the relationship between Kubernetes and OpenShift, and briefly explain some of the basics for working with OpenShift and Kubernetes using both the web console and OpenShift’s oc command-line interface (CLI).

  • OMG Ubuntu ☛ How to Add Markdown Preview to Gedit Text Editor – OMG! Ubuntu!

    Gedit text editor? Pretty popular. Markdown? Also pretty popular — and Gedit Markdown Preview is a plugin that brings the two together.

    It’s like the climax of a FOSS rom-com 😌.

    You might be thinking: “Gedit? Forgedit!” – Ubuntu 22.10 swapped Gedit for GNOME’s (very capable) Text Editor. However, Gedit is available in the Ubuntu repos, and continues to serve as the default text editor in long-term support releases of Ubuntu (which are what the vast majority of Ubuntu users are on).

    But while Gedit supports a lot of different programming, code, languages, and text markup formats, it doesn’t support Markdown natively.

  • Ubuntubuzz ☛ How To Setup Qt SDK on Ubuntu Kubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish

    Qt Software Development Kit is a free software licensed, world-class grade full-featured programming framework and tools to create cross-platform graphical user interface applications in C++ language. Examples of great software built using Qt include Kubuntu, KDE, and Telegram. This tutorial will help you install Qt SDK on Ubuntu and Kubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy Jellyfish. With this, you can start developing applications with a lot of code examples, drag and drop techniques, accompanied with complete the famous Qt’s documentation & tutorials. Now let’s setup!

  • ID Root ☛ How To Install Apache Subversion on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS – idroot

    In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Apache Subversion on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Apache Subversion (SVN) is an open-source version control system that is used to manage and track changes to files, such as source code, documents, and images. It allows multiple users to work on the same files concurrently, and it provides a central repository where all changes are stored and tracked.

    This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the Apache Subversion on Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 22.04 and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Pop!_OS, and more as well.

  • FOSSLinux ☛ How to reset your root password on Linux Mint | FOSS Linux

    A password is used to authenticate any system, whether a desktop or mobile device. Setting a strong password that is difficult to guess is required when using the system. Changing your password periodically will help you protect your system from assaults. It occurs while you are working as a teammate in the workplace. In that case, some of your team members might be aware of your password. This might cause issues since anyone could hack into data or attack it.

    You can overcome these challenges by periodically changing your passwords. Even if someone finds your old password or credential, they won’t be able to access the system. Let’s assume that, for some reason, you forgot the Linux computer’s password. Whatever the reason, the result is that you forgot the most crucial component for using your computer. What’s next? You are prevented from accessing vital office documents, assignments, or anything important. You might think that you should modify your system’s password as well. It can sometimes be crucial if you believe someone tried to access your computer unlawfully. You should immediately change your password to something more difficult if it is a basic one.

  • FOSSLinux ☛ How to configure Linux Mint for internet connection sharing | FOSS Linux

    Linux Mint is a free and open-source computer operating system. Based on Debian and Ubuntu, Mint offers a whole out-of-the-box experience by providing browser plugins, video codecs, DVD playback support, Java, and other components. Unfortunately, many of these parts are proprietary, so they are closed-source.

    We’ll show you how to activate internet connection sharing on Linux Mint so you may share your Mint’s internet connection with other connected devices on your network. We’ll also teach you how to set up a Wi-Fi hotspot to share an internet connection with other devices.

    One of Windows’ finest features is the ability to share internet connections quickly. However, that is not the case for Linux operating systems, as you must configure the internet-sharing preferences to allow other PCs to connect to your network. In this tutorial, you will study how to share a Linux Mint internet connection via a wireless hotspot and how to share a wireless internet connection through a wired connection.

  • HowTo Forge ☛ How to Install the latest OpenSSL version from Source on Linux

    OpenSSL is a widely used crypto library that implements SSL and TLS protocols to secure communications over computer networks.

• Games

  • Happy Belated New Year 2023 with a Photoshoot Event! – DDraceNetwork News

    Thanks to louis we have a “DDNet New Year Photoshoot 2023” server again with a fresh map for 2023! Also thanks to TsFreddie for the server modification. Everyone can join the New Year Photshoot server running now to be part of the community photo! Check out last year’s result too.

  • Godot Engine ☛ Godot Engine – Godot 4.0 Documentation Sprint

    With the release candidate for Godot Engine 4.0 being just around the corner, we want to make sure that the community is fully prepared and can dive right into it as soon as the new version is available. To that end, this is a call to action — to help in completing the documentation for Godot 4.

    Everyone is welcome! New contributors, we’re happy to help you get started. Seasoned participants, please take this chance to document all the awesome work you and your teammates have been doing on Godot. Helping each other is highly encouraged, filling the gaps and reviewing contributions to make sure they are factual and well written.

    We have many new features, and documentation is going to be the first place people look at to figure them out. If you don’t have a lot of time or lack writing skills, don’t worry! The documentation team happy to help out, just give us something to work with be it a class reference addition or a new tutorial for the manual.

• Desktop Environments/WMs

  • GNOME Desktop/GTK

    • OMG! Linux ☛ Nautilus File Manager Adds Expandable Tree View – OMG! Linux

      The latest alpha release of the Nautilus file manager is front-loaded with goodies.

      Issued as part of the GNOME 44 release cycle, the latest bleeding edge edition of Nautilus (or Files, as we’re supposed to call it) includes a few formative features that, over the coming months, will be finessed further ahead of (possible) inclusion in the stable release.

      Two additions stand out.

      Firstly, there’s a new option to enable ‘expanding folders’ in list view. This oft-requested feature (which so nearly arrived in GNOME 43) is akin to a tree view. Once enabled (it’s not by default) and in list view, you can expand a folder, subfolders, sub-sub folders, etc.

    • DebugPoint ☛ Wordbook: Offline English Dictionary App for GNOME

      We mostly search Google, DDG or any search engine online for word information such as meaning, synonyms, antonyms etc.

      Since almost everyone today has an internet-connected mobile phone, it’s probably easier to search on Google.

      But for offline usage, you may try Wordbook when no internet connection is available.

    • Outreachy Week 3: New Learnings

      I have learnt a lot since I applied to Outreachy and started working on my internship project. I think the most interesting thing I have learnt about so far is Valgrind. I had heard the tool’s name in passing in various online discussions but never fully understood how it is used and what it is used for.

      During the application period, I was researching various ways to reliably benchmark code in CI and came across cachegrind and valgrind again. This time I decided to finally understand more about it. To get a better understanding of the term, I looked up the definition on the valgrind website. According to the documentation, “Valgrind is an instrumentation framework for building dynamic analysis tools. There are Valgrind tools that can automatically detect many memory management and threading bugs, and profile your programs in detail.” Cachegrind is a tool built using valgrind framework and will be instrumental in producing reliable and consistent results for my project.

    • Outreachy Week 5: My project and progress so far – Shinigami’s Blog

      In today’s blog post, I will explain what my internship is about and what progress I have made so far. I am an Outreachy intern with the GNOME Foundation working on the Create infrastructure for Performance tracking for librsvg project.

      librsvg is a library that is commonly used to convert SVG documents into raster images, and it is utilised by various projects such as the GNOME desktop to render their icons from SVG assets. There have been attempts to improve librsvg’s performance in terms of memory and CPU usage, but there is currently no system in place to monitor these efforts.

    • Sébastien Wilmet ☛ gedit on the Microsoft Store [Ed: GNOME flirting with DRM of a malicious company]

Distributions and Operating Systems

• Kali Linux ☛ Kali Linux (is) Everywhere! | Kali Linux Blog

  One of the primary goals of Kali Linux is to put the tools you need as close to you as possible. Over the years this has resulted in a number of different ways to get Kali, but not everyone knows about all the options! In this post we are going to do an overview of different options you have for running Kali, and where you can go for more information for each option.

  You should keep in mind as we review options what will be best for you, in your specific use case. What do you intend to use Kali for? Where will you be when you need access to Kali? One of the items that is unique to Kali is most instances are actually pretty short lived, and replaced often. For instance, in the penetration testing space it is considered best practice by many to wipe your install and start over with each new customer or assessment. On the other hand, there are instances of Kali that are around for a very long time; for instance, running scanning engines for enterprises.

• Red Hat

  • Linux Magazine ☛ Nobara Project is a Modified Version of Fedora With User-Friendly Fixes – Linux Magazine

    If you’re looking for a version of Fedora that includes third-party and proprietary packages, look no further than the Nobara Project.

    The Nobara Project’s aim is to bring users a better gaming, streaming, and content creation solution out of the box.

    This new Linux distribution (which is not a Fedora Spin) is a completely independent project. This Linux operating system includes NVIDIA drivers, WINE dependencies, OBS Studio, third-party codecs, and a collection of package fixes that are geared toward making it easy for users to immediately be productive, without having to tweak, install, or patch anything.

    Pre-installed packages include Blender, Davinci Resolve, OBS Studio, WINE, Proton, Discord, Flatpak, Steam, Lutris, OnlyOfice, Vapoursynth, and much more. You’ll also find the RPMFusion repository that includes both free and non-free software.

    Unlike Fedora, Nobara uses AppArmor because they claim it is more user-friendly, less intrusive, and easier to manage. Nobara ships with the same kernel used in Fedora with a few added patches.

  • The Register UK ☛ Fedora 38 is finally taking shape • The Register

    A Fedora Project meeting this week is starting to set the shape of the next release, Fedora 38, due in April.

    Two very visible changes were decided earlier this month. Two additional desktop environments (we are using the word “desktop” somewhat loosely here) will get their own new spins with this version. One of these is the new Fedora Budgie, which will have the Budgie desktop environment first seen in the Solus distro.

    There is an interesting little bit of history here. Solus first registered on our radar back in about 2015, with a different new desktop environment which was called Consort.

    Consort was a fork of the existing Fallback desktop mode in GNOME 3.4, which is still around but was later renamed Flashback. Flashback is an alternative shell for GNOME 3 which gives it a look and feel very much like GNOME 2, with two panels at the top and bottom of the screen.

    Oddly, this is separate from GNOME Classic, implemented as a GNOME extension, which does… well, pretty much the same. Solus abandoned Consort, developed its own new desktop Budgie instead, and now that’s making its way into Fedora. As we’re trying to avoid making any reference to anyone smuggling budgies anywhere, let’s just say it’s the circle of life or something.

  • Datanami ☛ Sylabs Announces the Availability of SingularityCE in the EPEL Repository

    loads, today announced that SingularityCE is now available in the Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) repository, a repository of additional packages for Enterprise Linux distribution (such as Alma Linux, CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Scientific Linux and Rocky Linux).

  • PR Web ☛ SingularityCE Container Technology is Now Available in the EPEL Repository

    Top performance-based container runtime technology now available for Enterprise Linux users

  • Enterprisers Project ☛ IT talent: Top 6 books for job hunters in 2023

  • Enterprisers Project ☛ 8 TED Talks to sharpen your communication skills

    Effective communication is a key characteristic of great leaders – it’s instrumental in gaining trust, inspiring change, building connections, and influencing others. In today’s era of hybrid and remote work, communicating effectively is more important than ever.

  • Red Hat ☛ Fine-grained authorization for Quarkus microservices | Red Hat Developer

    Microservices require a robust authorization system that works consistently for all services. This article describes a solution we call fine-grained authorization and uses Quarkus, a modern Java framework, to implement Relationship-Based Access Control (ReBAC) in the manner of Google Zanzibar.

• Canonical/Ubuntu Family

  • OMG Ubuntu ☛ Xubuntu 23.04 Will Offer Official ’Minimal’ Image – OMG! Ubuntu!

    As the Ubuntu 23.04 development cycle gets underway we’re learning more about what’s in store for Ubuntu and its growing family of flavours.

    Xubuntu, one of the more minimally-minded spins, has revealed its planning to release a new ‘Xubuntu Minimal’ image starting with Ubuntu 23.04. It’s an expansion of the Xubuntu Core effort started back in 2015 but with a big ol’ rubber-stamp of officialdom on it.

    In a post to the Ubuntu developer mailing list, Steve Langasek says Xubuntu Minimal “…parallels existing minimal install targets from the Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Server images to provide a smaller install footprint without applications that the developers want installed as part of the default experience, but which are not essential.”

  • ASRock Industrial Partners with Canonical for Ubuntu-Certified Industrial Platforms

    ASRock Industrial, the leading manufacturer of Edge AIoT solutions, announces a partnership with Canonical to certify Ubuntu on its industrial systems and motherboards.

  • ASRock Partners Canonical for Ubuntu-Certified Platforms

    ASRock Industrial has announced a partnership with Canonical to Ubuntu-Certified platforms including its industrial systems and motherboards. The collaboration allows for providing Ubuntu-certified devices with all Ubuntu functionality and long-term support with security updates from Canonical. Through extensive testing and validation, the new iEP-5000G Industrial IoT Controller is now an Ubuntu-certified platform. Customers can gain confidence in products’ seamless integration with Ubuntu while accelerating the time-to-market of application development.

    Ubuntu operating system (OS) is now one of the most popular OSs worldwide. It is extensively used in applications dedicated to developing and verifying AIoT solutions.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd ☛ Introducing Coolita 2.0: Veira Group’s Linux-based Smart TV Solutions for the Indian Market

    Veira Group, one of India’s largest ODM for Smart TVs introduces Linux-based Coolita 2.0 solutions for the country’s growing smart TV market. With this development, Veira Group enters a new tech territory in partnership with the proprietary Coolita OS, highlighting its commitment to building a new smart TV ecosystem. Coolita OS is Skyworth first self-developed smart TV operating system, delivering a lighter, smoother, more convenient user experience.

  • The DIY Life ☛ Rock 5 Model B, A Powerful New SBC From Radxa – The DIY Life

    Today we’re going to be taking a look at the Rock 5 Model B, a new SBC or single-board computer from Radxa which is based on the powerful Rockchip RK3588 SOC.

    The Rock 5B is available in three RAM configurations, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB. I’ve ordered the 8GB to try out and I’ve also got their passive heat sink to cool it with.

• Open Hardware/Modding

  • Purism ☛ Spreading Awareness about Purism in 2022 – Purism

    Is it enough to produce “goods”? What about “being good” especially when we promote ourselves to others? President of Purism, Kyle Rankin shared the internal discussions we were having as we looked to expand our marketing efforts beyond what we’d done in the past, in the blog post, “Is Ethical Advertising Possible?”. We received wonderful response from our audiences, and crystallized all the thoughts through our Ethical Marketing Principles. To us, this means staying true to our Digital Bill of Rights, and our social purpose to respect our users.

  • Adafruit ☛ Joe Grand Creates the World’s Thinnest Boombox

    Joe used a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W to drive it, a DAC, NeoPixel LEDs (from Adafruit) for a VU meter, capacitive touch sensing buttons for the controls, and flat PiezoListen speakers from TDK.

  • Arduino ☛ Introducing the new MKR IoT Carrier Rev2: Time to start your next IoT project | Arduino Blog

    If you’re looking for an ever faster, smoother, and more rewarding way to build your own IoT projects at home, the new MKR IoT Carrier Rev2 could be perfect for you.

    The new carrier can work with any board from the MKR family, giving you a wide choice of connectivity options to match the needs of your next IoT project. With the MKR IoT Carrier Rev2 you don’t need any additional components to get started, and you can build impressive and complete hassle free projects this way.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ A chip design that changes everything: 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2023 | MIT Technology Review

    About 3,100 members worldwide, including companies and academic institutions, are now collaborating via the nonprofit RISC-V International to establish and develop these norms. In February 2022, Intel announced a $1 billion fund that will, in part, support companies building RISC-V chips.

    RISC-V chips have already begun to pop up in earbuds, hard drives, and AI processors, with 10 billion cores already shipped. Companies are also working on RISC-V designs for data centers and spacecraft. In a few years, RISC-V proponents predict, the chips will be everywhere.

  • FOSSLife ☛ Key Technologies for 2023: RISC-V on the Rise

    “Aside from cost and customizability, RISC-V (pronounced “risk-five”) benefits from being a modern, elegantly designed architecture without the baggage of legacy code,” says Eric Brown. “Along with the open development environment, the modern design appeals to developers, who are increasingly crucial to success.”

  • Hackster ☛ Sensor glove for sign language translation – Hackster.io

    As the title suggests, this device is a sensor-based wearable that converts simple hand gestures to text and speech. I decided to make this a project in university.

• Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Android Authority ☛ We asked, you told us: You’re intrigued by a RISC-V Android phone

  • Android Authority ☛ How to print text messages from your Android phone – Android Authority

  • Android Authority ☛ How to like a text message on Android – Android Authority

  • Pocket Lint ☛ How to get to the downloads folder on an Android phone

  • Pocket Lint ☛ Sony’s new Android-powered NW-A306 Walkman features lightweight design, Hi-Res wireless audio and long battery life

  • Android Headlines ☛ Android 14: Everything you need to know

  • LifeSavvy Media ☛ The Android 13 Update Is Coming to Your PC – Review Geek

  • The Best Android Endless Runners – Droid Gamers

  • Phone Arena ☛ Samsung Galaxy A42 5G starts receiving Android 13 update in the US, but there’s a catch – PhoneArena

  • Android Police ☛ Android 13 is rolling out to all Windows Insiders

  • The Sun ☛ Check your Android phone now – millions have missed mind-blowing app hack | The Sun

  • Android spyware strikes again targeting financial institutions and your money | Fox News

  • The Sun ☛ Urgent alert issued to millions of Android users – act now or it could cost you | The Sun

  • Android Police ☛ Nothing Phone 1 vs. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G: Pure value for the money

  • How to find a lost Android | Fox News

  • Future Publishing Limited ☛ Android phones are about to get a whole lot more personal | T3

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

• The Register UK ☛ New software sells new hardware – but not forever • The Register

  A few months back, I wrote that buying software is a big lie. All lies have consequences, of course. The worst kind of consequences are the ones you didn’t see coming. So let’s look at some of those, and some other lies they conceal.

  As we said last time, you can’t really buy software. Commercial software is mostly – but as some readers pointed out, not always – proprietary. Proprietary software has both pros and cons, but so does FOSS. It’s not always all about money. Last time, we argued that convenience – minimizing expenditure of work, time, and effort – can be even more important than simple financial cost.

  The differences between commercial software and FOSS also have lots of important consequences when it comes to hardware, too, though. With commercial software, the relationships are generally easy to follow. With FOSS, it’s more complicated, with contradictory and conflicting effects. That’s what I want to look at this time.

• Events

  • Ubuntu ☛ Automotive trends at CES Las Vegas

    CES is a once a year opportunity for all industry professionals to showcase their innovations and meet with their peers and customers. This year is special for Canonical because although we attended as visitors in the past, it was the first time we had a booth dedicated to Automotive and Smart Home IoT at CES!

• Web Browsers/Web Servers

  • Chromium

    • Google ☛ Chrome Releases: Chrome Dev for Android Update

      Hi everyone! We’ve just released Chrome Dev 110 (110.0.5481.29) for Android. It’s now available on Google Play.

      You can see a partial list of the changes in the Git log. For details on new features, check out the Chromium blog, and for details on web platform updates, check here.

    • Google ☛ Chrome Releases: Extended Stable Channel Update for Desktop

      The Extended Stable channel has been updated to 108.0.5359.179 for Windows and Mac which will roll out over the coming days/weeks.

    • Google ☛ Chrome Releases: Stable Channel Update for Desktop

      The Chrome team is delighted to announce the promotion of Chrome 109 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux. This will roll out over the coming days/weeks.

    • Google ☛ Chrome Releases: Dev Channel Update for Desktop

      The dev channel has been updated to 110.0.5481.30 for Windows, Linux and Mac.

• SaaS/Back End/Databases

  • PostgreSQL ☛ SQL Server to PostgreSQL Code Converter v1.3.3 has been released

  • PostgreSQL ☛ PostgreSQL: Softbuilder Announces Launch of SB Data Generator 2.2

    Softbuilder, a leading French software development company, is pleased to announce the availability of SB Data Generator 2.2, the latest version of its powerful test data generation tool.

    SB Data Generator is a tool that helps users generate and populate databases with realistic test data. This can be useful for testing and debugging software, as well as for simulating real-world scenarios for training or demonstration purposes. By using SB Data Generator, users can quickly and easily create large volumes of data that can be used to test their software and ensure that it is working correctly.

• Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra

  • How to Import LibreOffice Calc Spreadsheet to Base Database Table

    While creating a database or tables, it isn’t easy to enter data manually. The most frequent use case is your data resides inside a spreadsheet, and you want to import them to a table for further storage and processing.

    Here’s a tutorial demonstrating how to import LibreOffice Calc data to a Base database table directly and verify the data.

• GNU Projects

  • 9to5Linux ☛ GnuCash 5.0 Accounting Software Promises New Stock Transaction Assistant, More

    GnuCash 5.0 free, open-source, and cross-platform accounting software is in the works and promises some interesting new features for those of you who like to manage your finances on your GNU/Linux distributions.

    The upcoming major release comes with a new Stock Transaction Assistant that can be accessed from the Actions menu. This feature will guide you through entering most investment transactions for bonds, mutual funds, and stocks.

• Programming/Development

  • Collabora ☛ Kicking off 2023 with the MIT Reality Hack!

    It’s with excitement and nervousness that I’m writing this post, sitting on a plane heading to Boston where I will attend the MIT Reality Hack as a mentor. This is the first time I take part in this “AR/VR Metaverse Hackathon” so I’m not fully sure what to expect, but I’m certain that I will get to meet many excited hackers and mentors looking to explore the future of XR!

    The hack spans 5 days where teams of hackers are formed on the first day when we all are there. The hacking continues until Sunday and ends on Monday with a closing ceremony followed by a public exhibition in the afternoon, see the full schedule here. While registration is now closed, it was open to anyone, and it looks like there will be a diverse crowd of people attending, young and old, both as hackers and mentors.

  • Dirk Eddelbuettel ☛ Dirk Eddelbuettel: qlcal 0.0.4 on CRAN: Extended and Updated

    The fourth release of the still new-ish qlcal package arrivied at CRAN just now.

    qlcal is based on the calendaring subset of QuantLib. It is provided (for the R package) as a set of included files, so the package is self-contained and does not depend on an external QuantLib library (which can be demanding to build). qlcal covers over sixty country / market calendars and can compute holiday lists, its complement (i.e. business day lists) and much more.

    This release generalizes the advanceDate() function (similar to what advanceUnits() already had), and updates several calendars along with the upcoming QuantLib 1.29 release. This includes updates for the UK and Australia related to changes in the monarchy, an update for South Africa and the additional of 2023 holidays for China.

  • FOSSLife ☛ 5 Programming Languages to Build Your Career in Tech

  • Qt ☛ Congratulations to our 2022 Qt Champions!

    It’s time to acknowledge and celebrate the Qt Contributions made by our Community Members.

  • Perl / Raku

    • Perl ☛ Fosdem mini grants for 2023 | tprfmarketing [blogs.perl.org]

      One of the goals TPRF would like to achieve, now that conferences are becoming increasingly available in person, is to spread awareness of current Perl and Raku projects.

      In support of this goal, TPRF will be issuing a limited number of mini grants of up to $300 to participants interested in holding Perl/Raku based talks in FOSDEM 2023 dev rooms. TPRF has made an intentional decision to not apply for a dev room, but to encourage talks to be given in other, non-language specific dev rooms instead. This will allow Perl and Raku to be shared with new audiences.

    • Perl ☛ Benchmarking Rakudo releases. Is Raku Still slow?

      Around the first ‘public’ release of Perl 6 (The x-mas release) I wrote a module that uses the libgumbo from google to parse html5 webpages.

      It was faster and more robust than the existing HTML::Parser module written in pure Perl 6. To be fair to the module, the full html5 norm is rather lenghtly to implement.

      I was using this to parse my list of favorite fan fiction on fimfiction.net and try to make some stats around them. It was still not super fast, like 0.5+ sec to parse one page (I have like 20+ pages of favorites). So each run of the script was rather slow.

      At the time Perl 6 was still in stabilization phase and performance improvements were not really important. But after a while, it started to creep its ways out into Moar and Rakudo. So I wanted to see the improvement over the Rakudo release for my Gumbo module.

  • Python

    • Adafruit ☛ Overview | 16-Step Drum Sequencer | Adafruit Learning System

      Build a Roland 808-style step sequencer to trigger multiple drum tracks in your digital audio workstation (DAW), such as GarageBand or Ableton, over USB MIDI. All built in CircuitPython, and easy to customize.

    • Adafruit ☛ ICYMI Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: New Products, Learning Resources and much more

      Welcome to the latest Python on Microcontrollers newsletter! The New Year brings new product announcements from Espressif and Raspberry Pi. And promised Raspberry Pi Pico W Bluetooth support. If you have a resolution to learn Python (or learn more Python), there are lots of free resources and classes available. And if you want to write Python on Linux, snag a free virtual machine from IBM. Now is the best time to get involved, with so many resources available.

    • Python Insider: Python 3.12.0 alpha 4 released

      Python 3.12 is still in development. This release, 3.12.0a4 is the fourth of seven planned alpha releases.

Leftovers

• Tedium ☛ Ted Turner Made an MTV Competitor That Died After Only a Month

  I have said many times that I think Ted Turner was perhaps the most innovative man in the history of television—who, during his history as a cable television mogul, had developed a reputation of building genuinely interesting ideas for broadcast programming. But as anyone who lived to experience AOL Time Warner can tell you, there were a couple of mistakes on his watch, but one of the ones that doesn’t get discussed very much involves his attempt to compete with MTV. After winning over cable television the world over with WTBS and CNN, Turner tried something nearly as risky as launching a 24-hour all-news network: A network that competed with another cable network. Wondering which one? I’ll give you a hint—it played music, and it didn’t really work. Today’s Tedium talks about the Cable Music Channel, a network that lasted five whole days longer than CNN+ did. Yes, that’s how bad of a flop it was.

• R-D – Optimizing 3D glTF Assets for Interactive Journalism

  High-quality 3D journalism should be accessible across platforms and devices. For browser-based 3D content to reach the widest possible audience, assets created by photogrammetry and modeling software must be heavily optimized — cleaned, simplified and compressed — for last-mile delivery to readers.
  Popular web build tools like Vite and Webpack offer excellent optimization pipelines for traditional web assets like JavaScript, HTML and CSS. But unfortunately, they lack support for the key formats needed for 3D experiences on the web.

• Hardware

  • The Wall Street Journal ☛ Chip Inventories Swell as Consumers Buy Fewer Gadgets

    The oversupply marks a sharp turnaround from a global shortage during two years of supercharged demand. Consumer appetite for electronics has weakened against a backdrop of rising interest rates, a falling stock market and recession fears. Chip inventories are swelling, mirroring what is happening in the wider economy where retailers are stuck with goods on their shelves and producers of a range of products in high demand early in the pandemic now face a glut.

  • CNX Software ☛ Review of Creality Ender-3 S1 Pro 2-in-1 3D printer & laser engraver – Part 1: Unboxing and assembly

• Linux Foundation

  • Linux Foundation’s Site/Blog ☛ Please Participate in the State of Green Software Survey 2022 [Ed: Greenwashing by Microsoft boosters who are pushing and openwashing bloatware]

• Security

  • LWN ☛ Security updates for Wednesday [LWN.net]

    Security updates have been issued by Debian (exiv2, hsqldb, libjettison-java, ruby-sinatra, and viewvc), Fedora (golang-github-docker, mbedtls, and vim), Gentoo (alpine, commons-text, jupyter_core, liblouis, mbedtls, ntfs3g, protobuf-java, scikit-learn, and twisted), Red Hat (kernel and kpatch-patch), SUSE (rubygem-activerecord-5.2, tiff, and webkit2gtk3), and Ubuntu (dotnet6, linux-azure-5.4, linux-azure-fde, linux-gcp, linux-oracle, linux-ibm, and linux-oem-5.17, linux-oem-6.0).

  • Forbes ☛ Google Kickstarts 2023 With 17 Chrome Security Vulnerability Updates For Windows, Mac & Linux [Ed: Microsoft's longtime propagandist Davey Winder trying to shift attention away from Microsoft's back doors, as usual (he can't help himself, revealing his Redmond handlers)]

  • New York Times ☛ Everything to Know About Passkeys for a Password-Free Future | Wirecutter

    Usernames and passwords may soon be going away. Passkeys will replace them.

  • The New Stack ☛ PyTorch Poisoned in Software Supply Chain Attack – The New Stack

    If you downloaded PyTorch-nightly on Linux via pip between Dec. 25, 2022, and Dec. 30, 2022, you’ve got trouble.

  • CISA ☛ NCSC-UK Releases Guidance on Using MSP for Administering Cloud Services [Ed: But their site does not even work without proprietary JS!]

    The United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-UK) has released a blog post, Using MSPs to administer your cloud services, that provides organizations security considerations for using a third party, such as a managed service provider (MSP), to administer cloud services. Contracting with an MSP for cloud service management has become an increasingly appealing option for organizations.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Internet Freedom Foundation ☛ We wrote to the Tamil Nadu government on mandatory submission of Aadhaar: Voicing our fears of exclusion and privacy violation

      We have written to the Finance Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Government highlighting our concerns of exclusion and privacy around the notification mandating linkage of Aadhaar to avail benefits under all State government schemes. We have requested the Tamil Nadu government to cease the mandatory requirement for Aadhaar and consider accepting alternate and viable means of identification such as driving licence, passport, etc. to avail benefits under the government scheme, as it will not only prevent exclusion of beneficiaries who are otherwise rightfully entitled to these benefits but will also address the legitimate privacy concerns.

Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal

  • Fourth covid winter

    started on GPD Win 1 via PuTTY in living room

    Evy works, daughter plays with scrabble tiles

    under record playing southern US traditional songs

    finished in bed feeling sick before work

    —

    At playground while first daughter climbed, slid,

    Evy said “I can’t stop thinking about one woman I

    bodybagged last winter. I think about her at least

    once every week. I guess her mouth had been full

    of secretions. When I turned her….”

• Technical

  • Orphans of Netscape

    Mid last year, Sandra at idiomdrottning.org wrote a fantastic post, entitled “Talking about my generation”. I only read it much more recently. It resonated with me, I mulled it over a while, connected some ideas in it with what had previously been totally unrelated stuff in my mind, and it ended up doing a surprising amount of work in shifting my perspective on the modern internet and helping to lift me out of an aversive headspace, a bad tech funk, which I was deeply stuck in for most of 2022. This post is an attempt to share some of the thinking behind that experience, which might well be totally idiosyncratic and non-repeatable for people who aren’t me, but oh well. If you think this post is mostly nonsense and you hate it, that’s fine, but please do blame me and not Sandra because I am going waaaay beyond her starting point.

    [...]

    In passing, I should clarify that I’ve long been wary, even dismissive, of the notion of “generations”, all this “baby boomers”, “gen x/y/z”, “millennial” stuff. Obviously it’s not completely devoid of value, but I’ve always felt like a lot of it was cheap stereotyping, painting with extremely broad strokes, ignoring fuzzy boundaries and ignoring that some societal changes happen at different times in different parts of the world. Often it just seems to be deployed as an easy way to dismiss and “other” certain people based on their age when it’s convenient to do so. There used to be a fantastic post somewhere in Gopherspace (I have it in my head that it’s no longer up, but possibly that’s wrong, and I’ve forgotten where on Earth it is/was – please email me if you know what I’m talking about!) which espoused the idea that generations were mostly nonsense but occasionally there really were genuine nodal points in history (I’m borrowing that term from Gibson’s Bridge triology, it’s not the term the forgotten Gopher author used), like WWII, which separated people born on either side of them, and if I remember rightly this post proposed that the creation of the internet was one of those points. I like Sandra’s generational analysis despite my usual misgivings because (i) it explicitly acknowledges “exceptions in all directions”, and (ii) it fits neatly into the nodal point model, rather than the usual weird clockwork cycle of “lol, kids these days”. Maybe I also like it because I feel like it actually describes me accurately, whereas in standard generational discourse I’m supposedly a millennial, which is not a label I self-identify as at all, which carries a load of stereotypes that I don’t believe describe me accurately, and which seems like a hopelessly ill-formed category precisely because it uses round numbers on an arbitrary calendar to lump together folks who grew up on either side of exactly the nodal point that Sandra identifies.

  • Framework Laptop, 1st Impressions

    I’ve been on the fence about buying a Framework laptop for the last few months. Technically I don’t need to upgrade; I have a very serviceable XPS15, but it runs hot, the fans are super noisy, and it’s a bit too heavy when I’m single-bagging a trip abroad. Ideally, I want something like my old X1 Carbon: light, with good battery life and an excellent keyboard.

  • Internet/Gemini

    • It’s apparently a valid URL, despite it being malformed in my opinion

      I’ve had a few [1] posts [2] make it to the front page of Lobsters [3]. Lobsters supports webmention [4], yet I never received a webmention for those two posts. I checked the logs and yes, they were received but I rejected them with a “bad request.” It took a bit of sleuthing, but I found the root cause—the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of my post was, accoring to my code, invalid. Lobsters was sending in a URL of the form `https://boston.conman.org//2023/01/02.1`—notice the two slashes in front of the path. My code was having none of that.

    • State of the ‘Net entering 2023: indienet, smolweb, gemini

      This is just a quick post partly indended to jump-start my capsule after some healthy downtime last year. And that downtime isn’t so much time away from the indienet in favour of other digital spaces – in fact over the past couple of months, very much fuelled by the whole #muskrat saga on the birdsite, I’ve been shutting down my digital presence that still lingered[1] on across some commercial social networks; liberating the last traces of my data and fully closing my accounts. As well as stepping away from the commercial Web, I’ve also been slowly shifting away my media consumption habits towards something that I hope is the start of something a bit more radical going forwards. By this I don’t just mean consuming more content in spaces such as the Fediverse or Gemini, but taking a more critical approach to the sources of news and information media that I let myself engage with, and also taking a more considered approach to the articles and items I choose to engage with and pay attention to, learn from, etc. Unsurprisingly, this has largely meant a return to more useful educational book reading, essays, some other long-form (and mini-form!) items online, as well as swapping what used to be time used for doomscrolling/procrastinating on the commercial Web, instead paying more gentle attention to some of what’s coming out of the smolweb, the indienet, the fediverse, etc.

  • Programming

    • Cross Compilers: Part 1

      One of my recent projects has had me exploring the feasability of cross compiling Rust code for several achitectures on Linux. It turns out that it is not difficult to do once you have a suitable cross toolchain for C, but getting to that point is often a challenge as what documentation is available is often severely out of date. Worse, pretty much all of the documentation has a caveat saying that you should just use crosstool-ng, and my experience with that tool has been less than great. I’m writing this series both as a way to help others who may wish to take a diy approach to cross compilation, and as documentation for myself for future reference.

      [...]

      A functional cross compiler includes more than a compiler and is probably better referred to as a cross-toolchain. Included in the toolchain are a cross-linker, cross-compiler, and a sysroot containing kernel headers and C library compiled for the target arch. In order to get to a working cross-toolchain we are going to follow these steps in order.

GNU/Linux

• Kernel Space

  • It’s FOSS ☛ Linux is All Set to Disable Microsoft’s RNDIS Drivers

    Microsoft’s RNDIS protocol, short for Remote Network Driver Interface Specification, is a proprietary USB protocol for virtual Ethernet functionality on computers.
    The most common use case of this would be using your phone’s mobile network to connect to the internet on your computer via USB, also known as Tethering.
    Even though it mainly works on Windows, it has been part of the Linux kernel for a while now.
    But that is set to change soon.

• Graphics Stack

  • University of Toronto ☛ Link: X Window System Basics

• Instructionals/Technical

  • Manuel Matuzovic ☛ Day 78: container query units

    Container queries come with their own units.

    Container query units work the same as viewport units. 80cqi equals 80svi.

  • Manuel Matuzovic ☛ Day 77: block-size, inline-size, vi, and vb

    The logical alternative for width is inline-size and the alternative for height is block-size. Here’s an example of how using inline-size over width makes a difference.

  • Carlos Becker ☛ My workflow, part 1

    I keep getting asked how my setup works, how I use tmux and nvim over ssh… all that good stuff.

    I wrote this series of posts in an attempt to explain it.

  • Ayer ☛ whoarethey: Determine Who Can Log In to an SSH Server

    Filippo Valsorda has a neat SSH server that reports the GitHub username of the connecting client. Just SSH to whoami.filippo.io, and if you’re a GitHub user, there’s a good chance it will identify you. This works because of two behaviors: First, GitHub publishes your authorized public keys at https://github.com/USERNAME.keys. Second, your SSH client sends the server the public key of every one of your key pairs.

  • Sean Conner ☛ An epiphany about bloated web pages might be the result of a dumb network

    Ward Cunningham wants a smarter edge to view his site (and to “improve server performance” if you read the comments in the web page returned from the site) and I can’t begrudge him that—I like smart edges! It makes more sense to me than a smart network. But at the same time, I want a web site to just return text to a “dumb browser,” even if the browser I’m using is not particularly dumb.

  • Jim Nielsen ☛ OK LCH, I’m Convinced

    Lea explains how LCH is designed to represent the entire spectrum of what humans can see. As such, chroma for example, is theoretically unbounded in the syntax allowing for increased saturation values as hardware improves: [...]

  • DJ Adams ☛ Working from a narrowboat – Internet connectivity

    Anyway, pretty much any remote work requires an Internet connection. So when I’m on the narrowboat, I’ll need one too. While cable or FTTP is appealing, I don’t think there’s a cable long enough to make things work as I navigate the canal networks. So the solution needs to be a little more mobile than that.

    I did a lot of research, and ended up going for a 4G/5G mobile data based solution. I’ve actually been using this solution for a while already, I’ll explain shortly. Here’s what that solution looks like.

  • Linux Handbook ☛ How to Use Exa Command on Linux

    The ls command is one of the basic yet essential Linux commands. You cannot imagine surviving the terminal without it.

    And yet, there is a new tool that aims to be a replacement of the ls command. This new tool is exa.

  • HowTo Forge ☛ How to Block Package and Kernel Updates in Debian / Ubuntu

    This tutorial will cover how to block certain packages from being installed or upgraded and how to block specific versions of packages or kernels…

  • Own HowTo ☛ How to Install Rustdesk on Linux mint 21

    Rustdesk is an open source remote desktop software, just like Teamviewer, that you can use to remote control your devices. Rustdesk supports the most popular Operating systems, which means you can easily remote control your computer from your phone.

    In this tutorial you will learn how to install Rustdesk on Linux mint 21.

  • ID Root ☛ How To Install Moodle on Rocky Linux 9 – idroot

    In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Moodle on Rocky Linux 9. For those of you who didn’t know, Moodle is a free and open-source learning management system (LMS) used by educators and institutions around the world to create online learning environments. It is designed to be flexible and customizable, offering a range of tools for course creation, collaboration, assessment, and mobile support.

    This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of Moodle online Learning Management System (LMS) on Rocky Linux. 9.

  • HowTo Forge ☛ How to Install osTicket with Nginx on Debian 11

    osTicket is a free and open-source support ticket system used to scale and streamline your customer service and improve your customer experience.

  • How to List All Logged-In Users in Your Linux System

    Have you ever been curious to know who is connected to the remote machine or server you have been working on? I mean, who doesn’t want to do that?

    Look, listing all the user accounts in your Linux system is quite an easy task, but that doesn’t mean that all those users are connected to the target machine.

    However, you can read this article to learn four simple ways to list all the logged-in users on the target machine. Once you find them, you can kick them out of the target machine or say “hi” to them using the write command.

  • LinuxConfig ☛ How to List all flatpak repositories

    Just like traditional package managers, Flatpak relies on software repositories in order to download applications. Repositories are a necessary component of Flatpak as they allow users to install applications and dependencies from a central location. A repository contains a catalog of installable software and will provide future updates to the packages as needed.

    Flatpak does not automatically come with repositories added in its configuration. It is up to the user to find Flatpak repositories (such as FlatHub) and add them to Flatpak on their system. To keep track of all of the added repositories, users can get a list of them in terminal.

    In this tutorial, you will see how to get a list of all Flatpak repositories configured for your system. This will take place in the command line terminal and will be applicable for any Linux system, as Flatpak is distribution independent and the commands work the same across any of them.

  • LinuxConfig ☛ How to install Flatpak on OpenSuse

    Flatpak is a third party software deployment and package manager application that can be installed on OpenSUSE Linux or any other major Linux distro. It allows applications to be packaged in a self contained format, which can then be installed and run on any Linux system, without needing to worry about which distribution you are running. One of the biggest benefits of Flatpak is that you can install programs which are not ordinarily available in the default OpenSUSE software repository.

    Having access to Flatpak means that you will have the ability to install a lot of additional applications than what is available through installation in the official repos with zypper. To use Flatpak on OpenSUSE, we simply need to install the program, add the repos that contain the flatpak packages you wish to install, and then search for and install the packages. Flatpak will also let us manage and update the apps that we install.

    In this tutorial, you will see how to install Flatpak package manager on OpenSUSE Linux. Then, we will take you through some basic usage of Flatpak so you can get started with adding repositories and installing custom software of your choice.

  • LinuxConfig ☛ How to update Flatpak application

    Applications that have been installed via Flatpak, just like those from other sources, will occasionally need to be updated. The Flatpak service can be used to keep your installed applications up to date. In this tutorial, you will see how to update all your Flatpak applications either individually or all at once on a Linux system.

    It is always a good idea to keep your Flatpak applications up to date. Developers will regularly release new editions of their software with security patches, bug fixes, and new or improved features. By keeping all your applications up to date, you can take advantage of the newest features and are less likely to run into issues. This is an essential part of system administration and keeping your PC stable and healthy.

  • Linux Capable ☛ How to Install and Enable Snap on Linux Mint 21 or 20 – LinuxCapable

    While Linux Mint doesn’t ship with snapd preinstalled, having Flatpak installed is usually enough for most users. Some may wish to enable Snap and still use the system that Linux Mint provides. For those interested in doing this, this tutorial will cover everything you need to know to turn on Snap and ensure it’s running correctly.

  • Learn Ubuntu ☛ Install Git on Ubuntu and Configure it

    Being the most popular open-source version control system, Git is one of the most crucial skills that you can adopt for software development.

    And in this guide, I will walk you through how you can install git on Ubuntu with basic configuration.

  • Linux Capable ☛ How to Install HandBrake on Linux Mint 21 or 20 – LinuxCapable

    Handbrake is a free and open-source video transcoding tool for those looking to convert their videos from one format to another. Compatible with various popular formats such as MP4, AVI, MKV, and M4V, Handbrake offers users the ability to reduce the file size of a video, change the container or codec of a video, and also extract audio tracks from a video. On top of its transcoding capabilities, Handbrake takes things further by providing features like adding subtitles, cropping and resizing videos, and adjusting both video and audio settings.

    In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install Handbrake on Linux Mint 21 or Linux Mint 20 using the command line terminal with various methods to install the transcoding software and update and remove the software if needed.

  • Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Discord on Linux Mint 21 or 20 – LinuxCapable

    Discord is an innovative communication platform that has quickly become the go-to solution for gamers across various platforms. It provides users with multiple features such as voice chat, text messaging, media sharing, custom emojis, and integrations with various games and services. This makes it particularly useful for Linux gamers who may not be able to use voice chat solutions built into some games. The platform’s robust API also unlocks exciting new possibilities by allowing developers to create custom integrations and bots that can significantly enhance the user experience.

    The following tutorial will teach you how to install Discord on Linux Mint 21 or Linux Mint 20 using two different methods with the command line terminal.

  • TecAdmin ☛ Rsync Exclusions: The Ultimate Guide for Excluding Files and Directories – TecAdmin

    Rsync is a powerful command-line tool that allows you to synchronize and transfer files between different systems. One of the key features of Rsync is the ability to exclude files and directories from the synchronization process. This feature can be incredibly useful for a variety of tasks, such as backups, codebase synchronization, and data management.

  • FOSSLinux ☛ How to install FTP Server on Linux Mint | FOSS Linux

    FTP, or the File Transfer Protocol, is the most widely used network protocol for transferring files and data between two systems over a network. FTP does not encrypt traffic by default, which is not a secure option and can result in an assault on a server. VSFTPD, which stands for Very Secure FTP Daemon, is a secure, dependable, and speedy FTP server.

    VSFTPD is licensed under GNU GPL and is the default FTP server for most Linux systems. This article will demonstrate how to install and configure the FTP server on the Linux Mint operating system.

  • TecAdmin ☛ Rsync Command to Copy Missing Files Only – TecAdmin

    Rsync is a command-line utility that is used to synchronize files and directories between two locations. It is commonly used to copy files from one location to another while preserving file attributes such as permissions, timestamps, and ownership. One of the powerful features of rsync is the ability to copy only the files that are missing or have been modified in the destination location. This can be useful when you want to keep a backup of your files, or when you want to update a website or server with the latest changes.

• WINE or Emulation

  • Make Tech Easier ☛ Best Handheld Gaming Consoles for Emulation – Make Tech Easier

    Once upon a time, gamers everywhere dreamed of bringing their beloved video games on the go. With the advent of the Nintendo Gameboy, portable gaming devices became mainstream. Thanks to technological advances, many powerful handheld gaming consoles can now play all your favorite games through emulation.

• Games

  • GamingOnLinux ☛ Counterplay Games makes tactical card battler Duelyst completely open source

    This is awesome and something more developers should do with games they shut down. Counterplay Games have made their mix of a collectable card game and a turn-based strategy Duelyst fully open source.

  • GamingOnLinux ☛ Fanatical are doing another nice Steam Deck Verified game bundle

    Game store Fanatical have put up another Steam Deck Verified game bundle and there’s some great looking gems inside. All of the games included are Deck Verified (at least at time of writing), and so they should work just fine on Linux desktop too.

  • GamingOnLinux ☛ Stop mixing magnets with the Steam Deck or face fan and temperature troubles

    It seems people haven’t learned from the debacle with the dbrand Project Killswitch case using magnets that causes problems with certain Steam Deck fan speeds.

  • Boiling Steam ☛ Top 12 New Games You Can Play on Linux with Proton – January 2023 Edition – Boiling Steam

    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 in December 2022 – all of them work out of the box or well enough with tweaks…

Distributions and Operating Systems

• The Register UK ☛ Haiku beta 4: BeOS rebuild / almost ready for release. / A thing of beautyHaiku beta 4: BeOS rebuild / almost ready for release. / A thing of beauty

  Haiku is an open source OS with a few differences. The big one is that it’s not a Unix. The next is that it’s pretty close to being a realistic, usable alternative OS for ordinary, everyday use.

  The Haiku Project has released a new beta version of its unique desktop OS. After the project was founded in 2001, it took 17 years to get to Beta 1 in September 2018. Writing a whole new OS is a big project. Since then, though, progress seems to have sped up, and Beta 4, out a few weeks ago, is shaping up well. The new version supports HiDPI displays, image thumbnails in the file manager, and has significantly improved Wi-Fi support, including via some USB Wi-Fi adapters, and support for the 802.11n and 802.11ac standards – which puts it ahead of even FreeBSD.

• BSD

  • MWL ☛ “OpenBSD Mastery: Filesystems” Print Status

    So, when will the print book be in stores?

• Debian Family

  • Remy Van Elst ☛ APT keeps complaining that the HTTPS certificate cannot be validated?

    Recently a few of my Ubuntu 20.04 and Debian 11 servers failed to run an apt update because it insisted that the HTTPS certificate for a repository could not be validated, while curl on the same system had no issues connecting. Join me on a deep dive into certificate validation and troubleshooting apt, digging into the C++ source code for apt and GnuTLS and in the end, it turned out to be my own fault due to permission on a folder. However, the error messages were totally unhelpful resolving the mysterious validation problem. This article was written over the period of a few days, chronologically during troubleshooting.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Linux Links ☛ BrosTrend 650Mbps AC5L Linux WiFi Adapter Review

    This review looks at the BrosTrend AC650 AC5L Linux WiFi Adapter.

    Unlike most Wi-Fi sellers, BrosTrend provide Linux support for Ubuntu and Ubuntu-based distros. Their Wi-Fi adapter chipsets and drivers are developed by Realtek.

    The AC5L adapter sells for around $25. The device consists of a small USB key with an attached 5dBi long range WiFi antenna. The antenna can be set to 3 different positions. The image to the left shows the antenna in a vertical position. It can also be arranged at 45 degrees, or in a horizontal position. This should help you obtain optimal wireless signal connection.

• Open Hardware/Modding

  • Ken Shirriff ☛ The 8086 processor’s microcode pipeline from die analysis

    Intel introduced the 8086 microprocessor in 1978, and its influence still remains through the popular x86 architecture. The 8086 was a fairly complex microprocessor for its time, implementing instructions in microcode with pipelining to improve performance. This blog post explains the microcode operations for a particular instruction, “ADD immediate”. As the 8086 documentation will tell you, this instruction takes four clock cycles to execute. But looking internally shows seven clock cycles of activity. How does the 8086 fit seven cycles of computation into four cycles? As I will show, the trick is pipelining.

  • Linux Gizmos ☛ Carrier Board for Jetson AGX Orin Module features dual 10GBase-T ports and CAN interfaces

    Connect Tech introduced a carrier board compatible with the new Jetson AGX Orin module from NVIDIA. Some notable features of the Rogue Carrier are its dual 10GBASE-T ports, 2x NVMe M.2 Key M slots, wireless support and multiple camera interfaces.

• Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • The Sun ☛ People are just noticing hidden Android typing hack – it’s a total game-changer | The US Sun

  • The Best Android Casual Games – Droid Gamers

  • CNX Software ☛ ROCK Base triple-frequency RTK/GNSS base station works with Web3 GEODNET decentralized network – CNX Software

  • Android Central ☛ OnePlus 7 and 7T exit Android’s good graces with final OxygenOS update | Android Central

  • SamMobile ☛ When will Chinese Android manufacturers get it that specs don’t matter? – SamMobile

  • Reuters ☛ Exclusive: Google warns Android growth in India will stall due to antitrust order | Reuters

  • Phone Arena ☛ The Android version of the Google One app reaches a major milestone – PhoneArena

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

• OpenSource.com ☛ 7 interesting metrics about open source in sustainability

  Open source culture has demonstrated how transparent and collaborative innovation can support modern digital services, data, and infrastructure. Yet, despite its transformative impact and use within an estimated 97% of digital products, the potential of open source for developing environmentally sustainable technologies is not well understood.

  Open source software (OSS) accelerates the transition to a sustainable economy by supporting traceable decision-making, building capacity for localization and customization of climate technologies, and most importantly, helping to prevent greenwashing. This transition requires technological innovation and new opportunities for society to participate in developing and adopting technologies.

• OpenSource.com ☛ Why developers choose open source in the hybrid cloud

  Open source technology provides greater flexibility in hybrid and multi-cloud environments so that developers can focus on what’s most important—building with greater speed and innovation, all while using a tool they enjoy.

  The biggest barrier to growth and innovation is a stagnant data platform. Legacy proprietary systems aren’t technically viable for most enterprises anymore. The enhanced capabilities of adopting a cloud-centric, open source approach to database management systems are critical to thriving in today’s business landscape.

• Medevel ☛ 27 Open Source Slideshow Presentation Editors and PowerPoint Alternatives

  Presentations and slideshows are essential tools for marketeers, strategists, teachers, and ofcourse students.

  Basically, a slideshow is a presentation of series of still images on a projection screen or a projector (displaying device).

  Microsoft powerpoint carries the same technique with more of magic transition effects, ability to add interactive diagrams, videos, and videos.

• Nolan Lawson ☛ Retiring Pinafore

  Five years ago, I started a journey to build a better Mastodon client – one focused on performance and simplicity. And I did! Pinafore is the main Mastodon client I’ve used myself since I first released it.

  After five years, though, my relationship with social media has changed, and it’s time for me to put Pinafore out to pasture. The pinafore.social website will still work, but I’ve marked the repo as unmaintained.

• Hackaday ☛ ImHex: An Open Hex Editor For The Modern Hacker

  It’s little surprise that most hackers have a favorite text editor, since we tend to spend quite a bit of time staring at the thing. From writing code to reading config files, the hacker’s world is filled with seemingly infinite lines of ASCII. Comparatively, while a hex editor is a critical tool to have in your arsenal, many of us don’t use one often enough to have a clear favorite.

• Licensing / Legal

  • EFF ☛ Beware the Gifts of Dragons: How D&D’s Open Gaming License May Have Become a Trap for Creators

    Obviously, this would be a rude and unfair thing to do to people who have accepted the invitation of the open gaming license (OGL) to create new games and stories that build upon Dungeons and Dragons. But would it be legal? Even more interesting, would revoking the OGL actually give some third parties more freedom to operate, given that the OGL forced them to promise not to do some things that copyright and trademark law otherwise permit? Let’s find out.

    What is an open license? An open license is an offer to allow people to use your materials in the ways you specify, despite some legal right such as a copyright that would otherwise entitle you to withhold permission. For instance, the Creative Commons Attribution license provides rights to adapt and share a copyrighted work, so long as the user gives you credit, or “attribution.”

    If you have a copyrighted work and you want to give people reassurance that they can make use of it, open licenses are a handy way to do that. You might do this because you want your work to be freely shared far and wide or because you want to build a community of creativity.

• Programming/Development

  • Red Hat ☛ 5 new advanced features improving C# 11 [Ed: Tom Deseyn continues to work for Microsoft on a Red Hat salary. Insane self-harming behaviour. Also compare to ‘secure’ boot.]

  • University of Toronto ☛ My Git settings for carrying local changes on top of upstream development

    For years now I’ve been handling my local changes to upstream projects by committing them and rebasing on (Git) pulls, and it’s been a positive experience. However, over the years the exact Git configuration settings I wanted to make this work smoothly have changed (due to things such as Git 2.34′s change in fast-forward pull settings), and I’ve never written down all of the settings in one place. Since I recently switched to Git for a big repository where I carry local changes, this is a good time to write them down for my future reference.

  • Chris ☛ Verifiable Software Development Estimations

    I have long wanted to write this article but I never knew how to structure it. I still don’t, but I’ll give it a shot anyway. Like in the past few articles, there’s some probability theory underlying this article, but I will gloss over it entirely to make it approachable for practically-minded people.

  • Buttondown ☛ In Defense of Testing Mocks

    It’s over a year late, I know, but the 2021 Newsletter collection is now available to purchase as a PDF. 70,000 words, 250 pages, 20 bucks. Unlike last year, there’s no private subscriber-only emails, so this is purely for people who want to read it on the go / give me money. I might add a postmortem review or an introduction piece if there’s enough interest.

    I also wrote a bunch of automation so later editions get out a lot faster, I’ll try to get around to the 2022 edition by the end of the month.

  • Lawrence Tratt ☛ Compiled and Interpreted Languages: Two Ways of Saying Tomato

    What we might think to be a settled truth often isn’t. I was reminded of this recently after I publicly stated that there is no such thing as a compiled or an interpreted programming language: many people have made clear to me that they believe strongly that languages clearly fall into one of these two categories. Indeed, a simple web search suggests that the vast majority of pages describing compiled and interpreted languages propose a crisp delineation between the two.

    I certainly sympathise with the temptation to classify languages in this way, because most programming languages are commonly implemented using one technique or the other. However, experience has taught me that it’s important not to conflate the most common implementation choice with inherent properties of a language.

    In this post I’m therefore going to show, using a series of programming language implementations, why languages shouldn’t be classified as compiled or interpreted. Before I do that, I need to start by clarifying the difference between a programming language specification and an implementation of that specification.

  • Trail Of Bits ☛ Another prolific year of open-source contributions

    This time last year, we wrote about the more than 190 Trail of Bits-authored pull requests that were merged into non-Trail of Bits repositories in 2021. In 2022, we continued that trend by having more than 400 pull requests merged into non-Trail of Bits repositories!

    Why is this significant? While we take great pride in the tools that we develop, we recognize that we benefit from tools maintained outside of Trail of Bits. When one of those tools doesn’t work as we expect, we try to fix it. When a tool doesn’t fill the need we think it was meant to, we try to improve it. In short, we try to give back to the community that gives so much to us.

  • Python

    • University of Toronto ☛ In Python, zero is zero regardless of the number type

      Before I actually tried it, I expect the dict to start out with either two or three entries and end up with one or two, given that boolean True and False are actually ints with False being the same as zero. In fact the dict starts out with one entry and ends up with none, because in Python all three of these zeros are equal to each other: [...]

  • Rust

    • Rust Blog ☛ The Rust Programming Language Blog: Announcing Rust 1.66.1

      The Rust team has published a new point release of Rust, 1.66.1. Rust is a programming language that is empowering everyone to build reliable and efficient software.

      [...]

      Rust 1.66.1 fixes Cargo not verifying SSH host keys when cloning dependencies or registry indexes with SSH. This security vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2022-46176, and you can find more details in the advisory.

• Standards/Consortia

  • Joe Brockmeier ☛ USB-C is simple, right? Well… : Dissociated Press

    One of the nice things about USB-C is its simplicity, right? No more figuring out which side is up to plug into a device. The connector is super-friendly. But… that’s where the simplicity stops.

    Over the past few years I’ve acquired an increasing number of devices that use USB-C connectors as well as Thunderbolt devices with a USB-C type connector as well. All cables, alas, are not created equal.

Leftovers

• Bertrand Meyer ☛ The legacy of Barry Boehm

  August of last year brought the sad news of Barry Boehm’s passing away on August 20. If software engineering deserves at all to be called engineering today, it is in no small part thanks to him.

  “Engineer” is what Boehm was, even though his doctorate and other degrees were all in mathematics. He looked the part (you might almost expect him to carry a slide rule in his shirt pocket, until you realized that as a software engineer he did not need one) and more importantly he exuded the seriousness, dedication, precision, respect for numbers, no-nonsense attitude and practical mindset of outstanding engineers. He was employed as an engineer or engineering manager in the first part of his career, most notably at TRW, a large aerospace company (later purchased by Northrop Grumman), turning to academia (USC) afterwards, but even as a professor he retained that fundamental engineering ethos.

• Jim Nielsen ☛ Subscribe Wherever You Get Your Content

  What’s amazing about these phrases — like “Follow us wherever you get your podcasts” — is that they are are paid advertisements that point you to nowhere in particular! It’s not “Stream it now on _Netlix_” or “Follow us on _Facebook_” or even “Visit _ourwebsite.com_”. These are paid advertisements with no “call to action” to any one commercial, corporate platform.

• Craig Murray ☛ Trains (Mostly), Planes and Automobiles Part 6

  The next morning I stayed in the Aparthotel writing, while Niels went out to the airport, to pick up the BMW 4×4 he had hired. Our destination was Halle an der Saale, near Leipzig. It was, I think, our first – and overdue – foray into the former East Germany.

• Hackaday ☛ Supercon 2022: Samy Kamkar’s Glowing Breath

  Sometimes the journey itself is the destination. This one started when [Samy] was 10 and his mom bought a computer. He logged on to IRC to talk with people about the X-Files and was WinNuked. Because of that experience, modulo a life of hacking and poking and playing, the talk ends with a wearable flex-PCB Tesla coil driving essentially a neon sign made from an ampule of [Samy]’s own breath around his neck. Got that? Buckle up, it’s a rollercoaster.

• Hackaday ☛ An All-Billet, Single-Piece, Flexure-Based Nutcracker

  Typical nutcrackers rely on simple pin hinges to join two handles for the cracking task. However, [adam the machinist] has demonstrated that a single-piece nutcracker is possible by using the flexural properties of the right grade of steel.

• Science

  • Hackaday ☛ Virgin Not-Quite-Orbit-Yet

    A country’s first orbital satellite launch from home soil is a proud moment, even when as is the case with Virgin Orbit, it’s not from the soil itself but from a Boeing 747 in the stratosphere over the sea. The first launch of the under-wing rocket took place yesterday evening, and pretty much every British space enthusiast gathered round the stream to watch history being made somewhere over the Atlantic south of Ireland. Sadly for all of us, though the launch itself went well and the rocket reached space, it suffered an anomaly in its second stage and failed to reach orbit.

  • Craft Of Coding ☛ Why Fortran is a scientific powerhouse

    People often are surprised to find out how prevalent Fortran is in the real world. For instance many climate models were originally written, and continue to be maintained in Fortran (languages like Julia are attempting to unseat it, but I think Julia would be a better language if it had an ISO standard associated with it).

    One of the reasons Fortran still works is longevity. It’s much easier to build on something that was originally developed in Fortran (which is backwards compatible), rather than starting from scratch. People always make is seem so easy, but many a re-engineering project has come unstuck because of a failure to understand how the original software worked. Fortran is also exceptionally good at doing math, and climate models are nothing if not all about crunching data and doing math.

  • CSVbase ☛ Take the tools out of ‘Data’, but don’t take the data out of the tools

    The Data team are using a strange and weird datastructure: the dataframe. Dataframes are different to the usual nested hashtables and arrays. They are optimised for bulk operations – those are the operations you tend to do when analysing data.

    When you write code with objects they call it “object-oriented programming”. I think when you code with dataframes they should probably call it “dataframe-oriented programming”. For whatever reason they tend to call it “data science” instead.

• Education

  • Common Dreams ☛ Communism Isn’t What Terrifies the GOP? It’s High-Quality and Well-Funded Public Education

    Have you heard the latest Republican lie?

  • The Nation ☛ Florida Man Calls the Thought Police

    Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the thought police on college educators. The Chronicle of Higher Education published two articles revealing that the DeSantis administration demanded information—including employee titles and funding levels—on “programs and initiatives” focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion or “critical race theory” at Florida’s 12 public universities. DeSantis also appointed a group of right-wing ideologues to the New College of Florida’s board of trustees, including the anti–critical race theory and anti-LGBTQ propagandist Christopher Rufo, who admits to promoting disinformation campaigns and says he wants to “transform” New College by “recapturing higher education.”

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Arduino-Powered Info Display For Your Windows Computer

    If you’ve been pining for a retro-chic 16×2 LCD display to enhance your Windows computing experience, then [mircemk] has got you covered with their neat Windows-based LCD Info Panel.

  • Hackaday ☛ Adventures In Robotic Safe Cracking

    When [Zach Hipps] was faced with a locked safe and no combination, it seemed like calling a locksmith was the only non-destructive option. Well, that or doing something crazy like building a safe-opening robot. Since you’re reading this on Hackaday, we bet you can guess which path he took.

  • Hackaday ☛ CUTTING CABLES CURES TANGLED CORD CHAOS

    The Toniebox is a toy that plays stories and songs for kids to listen to. Audio content can be changed by placing different NFC enabled characters that magnetically attach to the top of the toy. It can play audio via its built-in speaker or through a wired headphone connected to the 3.5 mm stereo jack. Using the built in speaker could sometimes be quite an irritant, especially if the parents are in “work from home” mode. And wired headphones are not a robust alternative, specially if the kid likes to wander around or dance while listening to the toy. We guess the manufacturers didn’t get the memo that toddlers and cables don’t mix well together. Surprisingly, the toy does not support Bluetooth output, so [g3gg0] hacked his kids Toniebox to add Bluetooth audio output.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • TruthOut ☛ UK Nurses and Ambulance Workers Are Striking for a Fully Funded NHS

  • FAIR ☛ New Yorker Takes Aim at People Who Still Think Covid Is a Problem

    It sometimes feels harsh to treat a magazine that has often delivered stellar reporting that way, but New Yorker staff writer Emma Green’s profile (12/28/22) of the People’s CDC delivers the kind of elitist, out-of-touch pearl-clutching that inspires this imperious image of the magazine.

  • Positech Games ☛ Why the discovery of behavioral economics means you need to uninstall tiktok.

    What this massive upheaval of literally hundreds of years of analysis shows us, is that human beings are incredibly irrational. We are extremely good at backwards-justification, where we pretend our choices make sense, but if you actually look at how we make decisions its an absolute car-crash. We are massively irrational, and so far from the happiness-maximizing creatures that classical economists imagined. Even given really, really simple choices such as ‘eat these nibbles now… or more of the main course in 15 minutes’, our brains completely and utterly collapse with the stress. Only PHYSICALLY removing the nibbles from our immediate vicinity enables us to make what we think is the ‘correct’ choice.

• Security

  • Red Hat Official ☛ Introduction to certificate compression in GnuTLS | Enable Sysadmin

    CCertificate compression improves performance of Transport Layer Security handshake without some of the risks exploited in protocol-level compression.

  • Bleeping Computer ☛ Microsoft fixes ODBC connections broken by November updates [Ed: Microsoft breaks Microsoft]

    Microsoft has fixed a known issue affecting Windows apps using ODBC database connections after installing the November 2022 Patch Tuesday updates. This issue impacts both client and server Windows platforms, from Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 up to the latest released Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022.

  • Bleeping Computer ☛ Microsoft fixes issue causing 0xc000021a blue screen crashes [Ed: Positive spin or lipstick on Microsoft destroying people's PCs; bleepingcomputer is a Microsoft-connected site]

    Microsoft has addressed a known issue causing Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) crashes with 0xc000021a errors after installing the Windows 10 KB5021233 cumulative update released during the December Patch Tuesday.

  • TechTarget ☛ Microsoft resolves Windows zero-day on January Patch Tuesday [Ed: Lots of unpatched and actively-exploited Windows flaws remain, according to CISA's latest]

    Microsoft started off the new year by resolving a Windows zero-day, while it closed the door on further fixes for systems in its extended support update program. Microsoft addressed 101 vulnerabilities on January Patch Tuesday with 98 new bugs and three revisions for earlier security updates. In total, the company corrected 11 critical vulnerabilities and 90 rated important.

  • Krebs On Security ☛ Microsoft Patch Tuesday, January 2023 Edition

    Microsoft today released updates to fix nearly 100 security flaws in its Windows operating systems and other software. Highlights from the first Patch Tuesday of 2023 include a zero-day vulnerability in Windows, printer software flaws reported by the U.S. National Security Agency, and a critical Microsoft SharePoint Server bug that allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to make an anonymous connection.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • [Repeat] CNN ☛ Two charged with attacks on four power substations in Washington state

      Investigators identified Greenwood and Crahan almost immediately after the attacks took place by using cell phone data that allegedly showed both men in the vicinity of all four substations, according to court documents. Surveillance images cited in the court documents also showed images of one of the men and of the getaway car.

    • Techdirt ☛ DHS Adds To The World Of Shot-Spotting Tech, Claims System Is So Foolproof It Can Be Run By One Person

      Shot-spotting tech is notoriously unreliable. The industry leader, ShotSpotter, continues to claim it’s helping solve gun crime even as many law enforcement customers shift from “current” to “former.”

• Defence/Aggression

  • Meduza ☛ Pro-Kremlin politician Viktor Medvedchuk stripped of Ukrainian citizenship — Meduza

    Volodymyr Zelensky has stripped Verkhovna Rada deputy Viktor Medvedchuk, the former leader of the pro-Kremlin party Opposition Platform – For Life who was charged with treason in 2021, of his Ukrainian citizenship, the president announced in an address on Tuesday.

  • Meduza ☛ ‘They put a grenade in my hands and said they were about to pull the pin’: Krasnodar anti-war protester reports torture by FSB operatives — Meduza

    In his January 9 court hearing, the anti-war protester Igor Paskar, charged with terrorism for setting fire to the FSB building in Krasnodar, told the court that he was tortured by FSB operatives after throwing a Molotov cocktail at their headquarters in June 2022.

  • Meduza ☛ Alexander Lapin returns Decorated general lambasted by Ramzan Kadyrov as ‘incompetent’ is appointed head of Russia’s Ground Forces — Meduza

    Colonel General Alexander Lapin, who previously served as the commander of Russia’s Central Military District, has been appointed chief of staff of the country’s ground forces, according to sources from the Russian Defense Ministry who spoke to RBC and Ura.ru. The ministry itself has not officially commented on the claims. Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin can neither confirm nor deny the reports. “There are open decrees, and there are decrees marked ‘secret.’ Among the decrees that are released publicly, there are no such decrees,” he said in response to a question about Lapin’s appointment.

  • Meduza ☛ The mercenary assault on Soledar Russia’s Wagner Group gains control over most of the mining town and threatens Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut, but the offensive’s price has been high — Meduza

    The Wagner Group’s mercenary formations appear to have gained control over the greater part of Soledar, a salt-mining town just north of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as reported by the British Defense Ministry in its January 10 morning intelligence update. Over the past four days, the Russian forces have stormed the city, fighting in part for control over the entrances to the disused 200-kilometer (125-mile) salt-mine tunnels running beneath the district, which can be used by both sides to move past enemy lines. Bakhmut itself, notes the UK’s Defense Intelligence, probably remains the main objective of the Russian offensive, but it’s unlikely to be fully surrounded in the nearest future.

  • TruthOut ☛ Trump Sued by Partner of Capitol Police Officer Who Died After Jan. 6

  • Counter Punch ☛ Why This Country Might Want to Lower Its Expectations

    Let me start with a confession: I no longer read all the way through newspaper stories about the war in Ukraine. After years of writing about war and torture, I’ve reached my limit. These days, I just can’t pore through the details of the ongoing nightmare there. It’s shameful, but I don’t want to know the names of the dead or examine images caught by brave photographers of half-exploded buildings, exposing details — a shoe, a chair, a doll, some half-destroyed possessions — of lives lost, while I remain safe and warm in San Francisco. Increasingly, I find that I just can’t bear it.

    And so I scan the headlines and the opening paragraphs, picking up just enough to grasp the shape of Vladimir Putin’s horrific military strategy: the bombing of civilian targets like markets and apartment buildings, the attacks on the civilian power grid, and the outright murder of the residents of cities and towns occupied by Russian troops. And these aren’t aberrations in an otherwise lawfully conducted war. No, they represent an intentional strategy of terror, designed to demoralize civilians rather than to defeat an enemy military. This means, of course, that they’re also war crimes: violations of the laws and customs of war as summarized in 2005 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

  • Counter Punch ☛ Washington’s “Democracy Promotion” Fails Spectacularly in Venezuela

    The Los Angeles Times reports that “the audacious gamble by the U.S. government to…restore democracy” suffered a “spectacular failure” in Venezuela. What this State Department stenographer masquerading as a newspaper considers a “democratic” setback consisted of failing to impose unknown US security asset Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president.

    This man just got the boot from his own fractious opposition group, which voted 72-29 to disband his “interim government.” The Hill reports that the pretend president still claims the post and retains a “powerful network of support,” although not in his home country.

  • Counter Punch ☛ For Lula, Fighting Against Fascism and For Economic Justice is Nothing New

  • Common Dreams ☛ House GOP Says Pentagon Budget Is Safe—But Social Security and Medicare Aren’t

    Republicans who have pledged to use their narrow majority in the House to pursue steep federal spending cuts have sent a clear message in recent days: The bloated Pentagon budget is safe, but Social Security, Medicare, and other key government programs are not.

  • Common Dreams ☛ Peruvian Forces ‘Massacre’ 17 Protesters in Juliaca Amid National Strike Against ‘Coup’ Regime

    At least 17 people were killed by state security forces in southern Peru Monday while protesting the government of unelected President Dina Boluarte and the ouster and imprisonment of former leftist leader Pedro Castillo.

  • Telex (Hungary) ☛ How Viktor Orbán decided to arm Hungary

  • Techdirt ☛ Saudi Government Narrative Control Efforts Now Include The Jailing Of Wikipedia Administrators

    There are plenty of governments operating on platforms of pure evil, but the Saudi government is one the few that continues to be given a pass by other governments who fear alienating a source of oil located in the Mideast.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • TruthOut ☛ Biden Kept Classified Documents at Think Tank Office in DC

• Environment

  • Counter Punch ☛ Coal 2 Nuclear: Another Smokescreen that Obscures Real Climate Solutions

    They’ve given it a snappy little acronym, one that is perhaps supposed to masquerade as a sort of scientific-sounding calculus — C2N. After the failure of the much-trumpeted “nuclear renaissance” that never was, the nuclear lobby and its federal lackeys have come up with another PR clunker — Coal 2 Nuclear (hence, C2N). In reality, this is less C2N than CPR for an ailing nuclear power industry.

    Unfortunately, to arrive at this dangerously out-of-touch scheme, our tax dollars had to be wasted on yet another U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report. Its conclusion was that, “hundreds of U.S. coal power plant sites could convert to nuclear power plant sites, adding new jobs, increasing economic benefit, and significantly improving environmental conditions.”

  • Counter Punch ☛ Why the Climate Justice March in South Korea Could Be a Game Changer for the Environment

    On September 24, 2022, more than 30,000 people occupied the main roads of downtown Seoul, South Korea, for the nation’s largest climate justice march. The sheer turnout of people from all walks of life and the participation by a wide range of advocacy groups were a testament to the impact of climate change on every aspect of life: human rights, women’s rights, religion, food insecurity, and labor rights. For many of these advocacy movements in Seoul, recent crises like COVID-19 have brought home the urgent need to address the climate crisis.

    Opening with a rally in Namdaemun Plaza at 3 p.m., the two-hour march occupied four out of six lanes of Seoul’s main Sejong-daero Boulevard. Standing on moving flatbed trucks, people spoke about the intersectionality of the climate crisis and other issues, including labor insecurity, housing instability, and social discrimination.

  • Common Dreams ☛ Report Shows ‘Terrible Prognosis’ as US Emissions Continue Rising Amid Climate Emergency

    For the second year in a row, U.S. carbon emissions increased in 2022—reversing a trend that was evident even before emissions declined significantly in 2020 during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Common Dreams ☛ Greenpeace Calls on US and Mexico to Defuse Largest Carbon Bomb in North America

    Ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s Tuesday meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Greenpeace implored the two men to commit to ending all new oil and gas development in the Permian Basin, increasing clean energy investments, and securing a just transition for fossil fuel workers.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Common Dreams ☛ Hochul Endorses NY Ban on Fossil Fuels in New Building Construction

      A climate action coalition applauded New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s announcement Tuesday in support of legislation that would require all new construction in the state to be fossil fuel-free starting in 2024, following pressure from campaigners.

    • Common Dreams ☛ ‘Turn the Burners Off’: Groups, Experts Welcome Possible US Ban on New Gas Stoves

      Climate and public health advocates on Tuesday welcomed comments by a federal official teasing a potential ban on new gas stoves amid a growing body of peer-reviewed research warning that the appliances threaten the warming planet and human health.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Common Dreams ☛ The Urgent Need to Stop a Destructive Environmental Precedent

      A significant percentage of our nation’s protected public lands are found within the boundaries of one state. On the first day of my Public Lands and Waters class, I ask my smart, upper division university students to guess which state contains approximately 60% of all National Park lands, over 90% of all National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness lands, and our country’s largest National Forest. Some students start guessing: “Utah?” “Colorado?” “California?”

• Finance

  • NPR ☛ Goldman Sachs is laying off as many as 3,200 employees

  • NPR ☛ Coinbase lays off around 20% of its workforce amid crypto downturn

  • Scheerpost ☛ Land of the Fee, Home of the Depraved

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • TikTok Lobbying in Brüssel

  • Techdirt ☛ As Elon Fires More Trust & Safety Staff, Twitter’s Moderation Efforts Fall Apart

    Despite having already fired a huge percentage of Twitter’s trust & safety team handling issues around content moderation, including the teams handling child sexual abuse material and election denialism, last week Elon apparently fired another chunk of the team. Just in time for organizers of the insurrection in Brazil to make use of social media to help them organize.

  • Meduza ☛ Stop tormenting Alexey Navalny! In an open letter to President Putin, Russian doctors demand medical help for the imprisoned opposition politician — Meduza

    On January 9, Alexey Navalny’s Twitter account was updated with the news that the imprisoned politician had been sent on New Year’s Eve into “punitive confinement” — for the tenth consecutive time. Although the maximum time of permitted confinement in the so-called “ShIZO” is 15 days, the penitentiary where he serves his term is evading this limit by locking Navalny in a “punishment cell” for “separate,” back-to-back stretches. What’s worse, according to Navalny’s lawyer Vadim Kobzev, his client is confined to a penal cell with “a fever, chills, and a cough.” The prison, meanwhile, refuses to deliver any medicines mailed or brought by visitors. Alexander Polupan and Alexander Vanyukov, two Russian doctors gravely concerned about Navalny’s health, are now gathering signatures for an open letter from Russia’s medical community addressed to Vladimir Putin. In their letter posted on Facebook, the physicians demand “an end to tormenting Navalny” in prison. More than 170 doctors have signed the letter. Meduza in English has translated what it says.

  • Common Dreams ☛ Constraining Corporate Purpose Shouldn’t be the Corporation’s Decision

    The New York Times recently asked the question: “Have the Anticapitalists Reached Harvard Business School?“ In past generations, Students at Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, and other similar institutions would almost certainly learn that “there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception fraud.”

  • Meduza ☛ Sculpture of former Yekaterinburg Mayor Evgeny Roizman installed in city administration building despite his ‘foreign agent’ status — Meduza

    An officially commissioned bas-relief sculpture of former Yekaterinburg Mayor Evgeny Roizman, who Russian authorities declared a “foreign agent” in November and who’s currently facing felony charges for “discrediting” the Russian army, has been installed in the city administration building.

  • TruthOut ☛ “A Total Fraud”: Democrats File an Ethics Complaint Against George Santos

  • Counter Punch ☛ The Much-Maligned George Santos

    If anything shows the unconscionable attacks of the American media on decent politicians, it is what is happening now to Congressman George Santos. A man of notorious bad memory, he made some statements that have made him the object of ridicule. A careful analysis of this phenomenon, however, should help establish the accuracy of the comments on his personal integrity and on the veracity of his assertions. A man who has devoted his life to serving his country deserves no less.

    Let’s start. He claimed that he earned a degree from Baruch College and that he held a Master of Business Administration from New York University. Both institutions, however, have no records of his enrollment or employment. Santos later said that he had embellished his resumé and told The New York Post, “I didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning. I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my résumé…we do stupid things in life.” Agree.

  • Telex (Hungary) ☛ Former Fidesz legal adviser’s company wins media monitoring tender of Hungarian government

  • Pro Publica ☛ These Documents Reveal Abuses and Breakdowns in Rogue System of Global Diplomacy

    The story started in a bustling port city in West Africa, where a prominent Lebanese businessman was accused by the U.S. government of funneling money to the terrorist group Hezbollah.

    In sanctioning Ibrahim Taher, the Treasury Department made a rare reference in the eighth paragraph of a press release to an obscure and largely unregulated diplomatic arrangement that allows private citizens in their home countries to represent the economic and cultural interests of foreign governments. In exchange for their service, these honorary consuls receive some of the same coveted legal protections and privileges provided to career diplomats, including the ability to move bags across borders without inspection.

  • TruthOut ☛ Republicans Vote to Revoke IRS Funding, Which Would Raise Deficit by $114B

  • TruthOut ☛ Migration, the Economy, Trade and Security on the Agenda at Mexico City Summit

  • Counter Punch ☛ A Legal Insurrection

    Republican Kevin McCarthy of California sold his soul and the House of Representatives to the Devil of Congress, the juvenile far-right flank of his party, in exchange for enough votes to elect him speaker.

    We’re in for a lot of trouble with a Congress dependent on children to get anything substantive done.

  • Counter Punch ☛ Netanyahu: A Bull in the Middle East China Shop

    As I read the Guardian’s “Israel unveils controversial plans to overhaul judicial system,” January 4, 2023, which highlighted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s work in lessening the impact of Israel’s supreme court, I thought of how even atrophied dreams die hard. The article relates how Netanyahu’s far-right government is attempting to allow a cabinet minister to serve who has been convicted of tax offenses. As we’ve seen in the US, the right will chip away at each branch of government until there is no one in an official position to resist fascism. It’s as if the right-wing populist movements, the ultra-nationalist movements, and the white supremacist movements across the globe, and in the US, serve as a template for right-wing populism elsewhere. It’s a pandemic of a different sort.

    Israel needs no script from other places to write its own version of its military hegemony in the Middle East and its refusal to grant human rights or the right of autonomy to the Palestinian people. It provides, both viciously and lethally, a system of apartheid to its bullied Palestinian victims. Democracy Now’s report “Diana Buttu and Gideon Levy: Israeli’s New Far-Right Gov’t Entrenches Apartheid System with US Support,” January 5, 2023, is an up-to-date primer on how Israel’s might continues to put the lives of Palestinians under its boot and how both the US and the vast majority of the rest of the West, including the EU, could give a damn about this human rights catastrophe. In the oil rich and strategically located Middle East, with far-right regimes in control of many countries, Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is one of many outrages. Dare to speak out or act against the government in Saudi Arabia and imprisonment or death will be the result. When many Middle East regimes reconfigured their foreign policy, such as in the notorious example of Saudi Arabia, and aligned with Israel, the plight of the Palestinian people further deteriorated. The vicious war in Yemen is yet another example of the West, and especially the US, turning a blind eye to outrage and war crimes.

  • Counter Punch ☛ Do Meghan and Harry Really Believe They Control the Narrative?

    My sister in Canada once had an ardent although not excessive interest in British royalty. She has followed successive generations of The Windsors from the 1940s into the 21 Century. Now, she says, that’s over. First, she refused to indulge the latest ‘Crown’ film series; now she’s determinedly ignoring the newest BritRoyal wrangles and confessions displayed on Netflix’s ‘Harry and Meghan’ run.

    I’m joining the boycott. Not because I might not sympathize with a young couple’s reported difficulties with their family. But because they have taken on a narrative that they cannot possibly control, one that simply provides a captivated public with a new chapter in an endless loop; it’s unarguably mere entertainment. So, are they exploiting the family name? Or is the media machine exploiting them?

  • Counter Punch ☛ MAGA Clown Car Crashes Congress

    Here we are on the second anniversary of Trump’s lie-fueled violent insurrection to try and halt Congress from certifying a duly elected president of the United States. Despite the death and destruction in its attempted takeover of the Capitol, the MAGA mob failed — and many are now paying the price in prison. But lo and behold, a tiny band of MAGA clowns has managed to halt the function of Congress by refusing to vote for Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House — and without a speaker, the House cannot even swear in its members, let alone perform its constitutional duties to the American public.

    There are 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The 20 MAGA extremists — including Montana’s own MAGA clown, Rep. Matt Rosendale — comprise a mere 4.5 percent of the members. That such a tiny fraction of the House can grind its wheels to a stop isn’t a victory for these deluded members. It’s a tragedy and a tremendous stain on the reputation of the American governing process.

  • FAIR ☛ ‘With This Delay of Vacating Title 42, the Death Toll Will Only Rise’

    Janine Jackson interviewed the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies’ Melissa Crow about asylum policy for the January 6, 2023, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.

  • Common Dreams ☛ The New McCarthyism Is Coming

    It has always been clear that a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives would signal real danger for American democracy. Last week’s drama surrounding Kevin McCarthy’s ascension to the House Speakership was a sideshow. The demands of the so-called “far-right” Gaetz Gang—“so-called” because the entire House Republican leadership and most of its members are far-right—for House rules changes was never a sincere effort to promote greater transparency and deliberation.

  • Common Dreams ☛ Pledging to ‘Stand Up to Special Interests,’ Katie Porter Announces Senate Bid

    Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter on Tuesday announced her 2024 campaign for U.S. Senate, just two months after winning a tight race to represent California’s 47th Congressional District.

  • Common Dreams ☛ ‘No Amnesty!’: Brazilian Democracy Defenders Call for Imprisonment of Pro-Bolsonaro Attackers

    Thousands of Brazilians hit the streets of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo on Monday night to demand jail time for the right-wing activists who attacked the country’s capital along with everyone who aided and abetted them.

  • The Nation ☛ Damar Hamlin’s Pain Is Not a Feel-Good Story

    It feels great to see the surprisingly rapid recovery of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. It feels great to see him moved from a Cincinnati hospital so he can return to Buffalo. It feels great to hear about him Zooming with his teammates, flexing his muscles from a hospital bed, and cheering them on. It feels great to see fans support a charity that Hamlin started in college and that provides toys to at risk kids who were harmed by the pandemic. All of this feels great—but Hamlin almost dying on national television is not a feel-good story.

  • The Nation ☛ If Democrats Want to Win 2024, They Need to Punch Back Hard

    Like passengers in a car veering away from the edge of a cliff, a big collective “whew” went up from Democrats (including the writer) everywhere on the evening of November 8. But in the past two months, where’s any after-report or commentary explaining how Democrats also allowed the most lawless, lying, reactionary, party in American history to take over one chamber of Congress?

  • Common Dreams ☛ New Study Blows Up Myth That Russian Bots Swayed 2016 Election for Trump

    A study published Monday by researchers at New York University eviscerated liberal Democrats’ assertion that the Russian government’s disinformation campaign on Twitter during the 2016 U.S. presidential election had any meaningful impact on the contest’s outcome.

  • TruthOut ☛ House Republicans Just Made It Easier for Congress to Give Away Public Lands

  • Common Dreams ☛ House GOP ‘Insurrection Protection Committee Is a Sham,’ Says Pressley

    Progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday blasted Republicans for using their narrow majority to establish a panel headed by a far-right congressman to “expose the abuses committed by the unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucracy.”

  • The Nation ☛ Socialism Is Back in the Wisconsin Legislature

    When a pair of newly elected Democratic legislators from Milwaukee—the city that elected three Socialist Party mayors in the 20th century—took seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly last week, they promptly announced that they would be forming a socialist caucus.

  • Telex (Hungary) ☛ The latest from Arte Weekly: Will Europe be flooded by Chinese tourists released during the epidemic? And what about e-scooters?

  • Meduza ☛ Lukashenko denies Russian national Sofia Sapega’s request for clemency — Meduza

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has denied Russian national Sofia Sapega’s request for a pardon, the independent outlet Mediazona Belarus reported on Tuesday, citing Sapega’s lawyer.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • uni Michigan ☛ Journalist Jelani Cobb to discuss ‘The Half-Life of Freedom’

    Cobb, dean of the Columbia Journalism School and a staff writer for The New Yorker, examines race, the historic challenges to democracy, the impact of the media, and how these inform society.

    “As a respected journalist he clearly sees the power of the media and other institutions to illuminate or obfuscate the critical issues we must face honestly to move forward as a society,” said Lynette Clemetson, the Charles R. Eisendrath Director of the Wallace House Center for Journalists.

    “We hope this conversation will prompt people to think deeply about their role individually and collectively in protecting and perfecting our democracy.”

  • Pro Publica ☛ Why ProPublica Investigated Repatriation

    When ProPublica set out to report on Native American remains and cultural items held by U.S. institutions, we knew we would need to listen closely to Indigenous people and gather feedback.

    Repatriation can be a sensitive topic. Museums, universities and agencies in the United States hold the remains of more than 100,000 people and several hundred thousand funerary objects, a legacy of looting and the displacement of Native Americans during North America’s violent colonization.

  • ProPublica repatriation database

    Use this database to find out where Native American remains were taken from and which institutions report still having them. Check on institutions near you.

  • Pro Publica ☛ America’s Museums Fail to Return Native American Human Remains

    As the United States pushed Native Americans from their lands to make way for westward expansion throughout the 1800s, museums and the federal government encouraged the looting of Indigenous remains, funerary objects and cultural items. Many of the institutions continue to hold these today — and in some cases resist their return despite the 1990 passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

    “We never ceded or relinquished our dead. They were stolen,” James Riding In, then an Arizona State University professor who is Pawnee, said of the unreturned remains.

  • TruthOut ☛ GOP Votes to Kill Congressional Workers’ Union in New Rules Package

  • The Nation ☛ Why Farmworker Legalization Failed

    For the United Farm Workers and its allies on Capitol Hill, the failure of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA) was a defeat for their campaign to win legal immigration status for undocumented field laborers.1

    Teresa Romero, UFW President, called it “a very bitter disappointment for farm workers across the country who have more than earned the right to legal status through the sweat of their brow.” She blamed the American Farm Bureau for withholding its support. “They know that an undocumented workforce is easier to intimidate and exploit,” she charged.2

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Techdirt ☛ Techdirt Podcast Episode 341: In Defense Of The Global, Open Internet

    There have long been attacks on the global, open nature of the internet. Traditionally these came from authoritarian regimes looking to wall off portions of the internet and exert greater control of them, but lately we’ve also been seeing growing threats from democratic countries in the form of problematic laws and regulations. Recently, we wrote about an article by Global Network Initiative executive director Jason Pielemeier and Annenberg Public Policy Center research fellow Chris Riley that made a case in defense of the global, open internet, and this week both Jason and Chris join us on the podcast to look at the past, present and future of the internet around the world.

• Monopolies

  • Patents

    • TruthOut ☛ Moderna Faces Backlash for Plans to Markup COVID Vaccine by 4,000 Percent

    • Common Dreams ☛ Sanders Wants Answers Over ‘Unconscionable’ Moderna Vaccine Price-Gouging

      Expressing “very deep concerns” about the effects of corporate price gouging on public health and the financial well-being of working people, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday called on Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer Moderna to reverse its reported plan to significantly increase the price of its vaccine, representing a 4,000% markup over its estimated production cost of less than $3 and a quadrupling of the $26.36 the U.S. government has previously paid for each dose.

  • Trademarks

    • Techdirt ☛ Random Musk Fan Tries To Get Trademarks On Tesla’s Behalf, Which Is Not How This Works

      It’s amazing how some people think trademarks work. In the last week or so, several media outlets briefly went into a frenzy over a trademark application that was filed for Tesla’s yet to be released Cybertruck specifically for vehicle categories other than “on land” vehicles. Notably, Elon Musk made some questionable claims that the Cybertruck, which has been delayed for over a year now, was waterproof enough that it could be used as both a truck and a boat. While this led to government officials hurriedly imploring the public to not attempt to drive their non-existent trucks into the water on the basis of the claim by Musk, that fact led many to believe that Musk was going to make good on his claim to make a half-truck, half-boat hybrid vehicle and, oh god, I cannot even believe I’m writing this sentence.

  • Copyrights

    • Techdirt ☛ Afroman Turns Security Footage Of Bullshit Raid Of His Home Into Viral Rap Video Hit

      Rap artist Afroman’s biggest hit is “Because I Got High,” a track that details how his best intentions were undone by his weed intake. So, one might reasonably suspect marijuana might be found at his residence. But there’s very little that’s reasonable about what happened to Afroman four months ago.

    • Torrent Freak ☛ Pre-Release Book Scam: Former Simon & Schuster Employee Pleads Guilty

      A man who impersonated publishers and literary agents to fraudulently obtain digital copies of more than a thousand pre-release novels and other books has entered a guilty plea in the United States. Former Simon & Schuster rights coordinator Filippo Bernardini was arrested by the FBI in January 2022, after his flight touched down at JFK International Airport.

Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal

  • the tranquility of societal unattractiveness

    As the new year rolls in, threatening once more to bring us to the brink of existentialistic ruin, as the chatbots and artbots tilt their heads towards destroying any sense of human genuineness… I can’t help but sit and admire the silence in my life.

  • 🔤SpellBinding: IMOYSUP Wordo: APPAL

  • Brief life update – 2

    The father of one of my partners is in his final days of cancer, and could pass any day.

  • 2023

    I’m looking toward this new year. We wil probably get some deception from these long-awaited games (Zelda TotK, Silksong, the list goes on…), but some upcoming releases caught my attention anyway.

  • Quiet lately

    I’ve been quiet here. My youngest child is a toddler now, and we moved into a new home that needs a bit of work, so I haven’t been making time for many of my interests. I haven’t been having much “fun”.

    That doesn’t mean that I’m unhappy — my day-to-day life is full of joy! But it’s a lifestyle where you can blink and miss years, and I don’t want to spend too much time like this. I know that if I wait until I feel like I have “free time” then nothing will change, so I simply need to start making commitments outside of the home.