Danie

https://gadgeteer.co.za

Testing out new wallet

Public Key

npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6

NIP-05 Address

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsy9fqe0rz3evqxjkscmekfw49epcsgm5ca9pg70353qjyecxh2q0spz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsurg5gv

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6

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Last Notes

2026-03-19 19:07:31 UTC

US Federal Cyber Experts Thought Microsoft’s Cloud Was Garbage — They Approved It Anyway
“The government relies, in part, on third-party firms to vet cloud technology, but those firms are hired and paid by the company being assessed. The tech giant’s ‘lack of proper detailed security documentation’ left reviewers with a ‘lack of confidence in assessing the system’s overall security posture,’ according to an internal government report reviewed by ProPublica. Or, as one member of the team put it: ‘The package is a pile of shit.’”
Not only are many countries outside the USA very worried about potential access by the US NSA and others to their sovereign data, but even the US federal government is just as worried about the security of their own data in the Microsoft Cloud. Yet Microsoft sees no slowdown in terms of cloud adoption, probably tanks to wonderful marketing and other economic leverage that is applied worldwide.
One can also now realise why the term Microslop is taking hold so effectively in 2026.
It is all our own faults though as there are truly reasonably good alternatives to Microsoft's cloud. It is just a matter of also separating the glosssy marketing wants versus the real needs for document management. As I pointed out in another post earlier in the week, we do not all have to be on the same brand of document software to exchange documents (just think of different e-mail providers like Proton, GMail, Zoho, Outlook, and many more all talking together).
It's up to us if we want to see change.
See https://gizmodo.com/federal-cyber-experts-thought-microsofts-cloud-was-garbage-they-approved-it-anyway-2000735237
#technology #microslop #security #USA

2026-03-19 18:25:09 UTC

OpenSpeedTest an Open-Source Self Hostable HTML5 Network Performance Estimation Tool
“OpenSpeedTest is written in Vanilla JavaScript. No Third-Party frameworks or libraries were used. The unexpected side effect of using Vanilla JavaScript is High Performance. OpenSpeedTest contains only STATIC Files like HTML, CSS & JS, so you don't need to worry about Security Updates or Hidden Exploits that may compromise your secure environments.”
You may want to use something like this if:
* You have employees working from home, and they want to do a basic speed test to the office to check their connection is OK.
* You want to stress test or benchmark your home network from various devices to a server, a media machine, etc.
* Or to test between two client devices across your LAN.
* By doing the test from various locations around the home, you can see how your Wi-Fi speed varies from different places.
* Also test from a private browser window to see if extensions are slowing your browser down.
* Do tests before and after network changes to see what impact it has e.g. when adding a LAGG interface between the server and the router.
* Host it on a public web server for users to check their connection speed.
The server side stores no data so it is just a question of spinning up a docker container, and connecting with any browser to run the test (nothing to install on the client device). My docker container used 0% CPU while not doing a test, and used about 45 MB of RAM. It jumped to 17% CPU during the test.
You can optionally save speed test results to a database, but it points to an external database that you have running somewhere.
See https://github.com/openspeedtest/Speed-Test
#technology #networking #speedtest #opensource #selfhosting

2026-03-18 14:12:58 UTC

Not a Firefox or Chrome Fork! Kagi's Orion Browser Arrives on Linux as a Public Beta
“Orion is a web browser built on WebKit, the same engine that powers Safari, with a strong focus on privacy and customisation. Unlike most browsers you will come across on Linux, Orion is not a Chromium derivative or a Firefox fork. It is a fresh build that has earned a reputation for being fast, lightweight, and flexible, with support for extensions from Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.”
It is not really ready for daily use on Linux yet, but it is worth taking note of this browser and what it does. We hear so many moaning that everything comes back to Chromium and Firefox, so this is the opportunity to use something completely different.
The weakest point of every browser is usually it's 3rd party plugins, so we'll have to see how Orion is going to manage this.
Note though it is not open source software so what goes into it, you can't be too sure about, and it won't be able to be forked in future. It would be the end of the road if it stops getting support (like the Flock browser I used to love decades ago).
See https://itsfoss.com/news/orion-browser-linux-beta-release or https://orionbrowser.com
#technology #browsers

2026-03-16 21:21:18 UTC

- reply

This is really more about having a good searchable history of the sites you have visited (including content of pages) without having to bookmark anything. Hister has zero impact really on Internet data as it is getting its info locally from your browser as you browse, not going out to fetch anything.

2026-03-15 10:53:14 UTC

10 Hacks Every Signal User Should Know
“Signal is one of my favourite messaging apps because of its focus on privacy and security. I use it to message my closest friends regularly, and in the process, I've discovered a fair few hidden features that I now use every day. From shielding your phone number from other users, to preventing hackers from breaking into your account, these hacks will help you make the most of Signal.”
Very solid tips these, especially as most hacking of secure messengers actually takes place on the end-user device.
See https://lifehacker.com/tech/10-hacks-every-signal-user-should-know
#technology #security #signal

2026-03-15 10:39:01 UTC

Hister indexes every web page you visit and lets you search the full text of your browsing history offline
“Have you ever wished your browser history was more than just a collection of URLs? As it is, the standard search history is kind of useless. Sure, you can see the title of the page you visited, maybe a bit of metadata, but not much more than that. For any actual functionality, like searching for a specific page you visited that you can't quite remember the name of, your browser's built-in history search falls flat on its face (like my six-month-old did as I was writing this sentence). That's where Hister comes in. This open-source, self-hosted tool does more than just track your activity; it indexes every site you visit, capturing the contents of the page for easy search and retrieval later.”
I was a bit sceptical on first reading this, especially where browser extensions are involved, but it is an open source project, and there is this privacy statement in their documention: Hister clients only communicate with the designated server, and the server does not “phone home” or share any of your browsing history with anyone else. The source code is publicly accessible, so we can be audited by anyone who wants to check!
What is interesting is that many self-hosted server applications that do this sort of thing, have quite resource intensive browsers running, and are often fooled by anti-bot detection. Hister actually has your browser doing this so no wasted resources, and you have the full power of your main browser at hand.
The server needs to be available, but could also run on your own PC so no NAS etc setup needs to be run. However, the server side can also run in a docker container if you already have that setup. It can on something as light as a Raspberry Pi.
As far as I can see it is only saving the text of pages you visit, and not PDF or HTML archives of the pages, so again this side is extremely lightweight.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/hister-indexes-every-page-visit-search-full-text-browsing-history/ or https://hister.org.
#technology #search #history #browsers #opensource

2026-03-14 16:08:23 UTC

DBAN is a relic for HDD wiping, and ShredOS is the only software you should use
“When “wiping a hard drive clean,” a quick format doesn't actually erase anything at all. Instead, it just removes the drive's file index. That leaves the underlying data sitting there until something overwrites it. That's why recovery tools like Recuva and EaseUS can still dig up photos, documents, and entire folder structures long after you think they're gone. Software tools like DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) and ShredOS solve that problem by overwriting every sector of the drive multiple times with different patterns over the course of multiple passes.”
DBAN bring back old memories from decades ago when I did IT field support. It was what we used to wipe all drives we had to remove from PCs before auctioning them off or otherwise disposing of them. I'd completely forgotten about it until now. I seem to think Norton Utilities also had a wipe disk program.
Good to see there is a modern equivalent out now.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/dban-is-a-relic-for-hdd-wiping-shredos-is-the-software-you-should-use or https://github.com/PartialVolume/shredos.x86_64
#technology #opensource #security

2026-03-12 11:05:21 UTC

Europe is building an alternative to Microsoft Office
“Office EU is a cloud-based office suite built entirely on open-source software and hosted exclusively on European servers, has launched as a direct competitor to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Its pitch is straightforward: keep data in the EU, run on transparent open-source components and comply with EU law by design. The platform combines file storage, e-mail, calendar, document editing, chat and video conferencing in a single browser-based interface.”
It is really time that the Microslop monopoly was broken. It is not just about digital sovereignty, but also this belief that one must by MS Office to do documents. It is just not true, and so many non-profits and governments are spending a lot of money on what could have gone directly towards societal services.
But the big problem has been up to now you had to self-host or install something, and there were an array of free choices to choose from. Surprisingly, many users do not want choices and it paralyses them. Contrary to belief, the other party receiving your documents does not actually need the same brand of software to read your documents!
Ideally you'd want to also use a proper open standard document format like ODF, but you could also use the MS OOXML standard that MS Office uses.
Hopefully with such an enterprise effort behind Office EU, it will get traction. This is a cloud based solution which uses NextCloud in the background, and anyone can self-host NextCloud themselves too, so there is no vendor lock-in.
See https://techcentral.co.za/europe-is-building-an-alternative-to-microsoft-office/278843 or https://office.eu
#technology #opensource #digitalsovereignty

2026-03-11 15:53:41 UTC

AmneziaVPN is a self-hosted VPN that works in countries where WireGuard gets blocked
“It's also worth noting that AmneziaVPN has been security audited as recently as January 2025. While the auditors found a few risks categorized as critical and high, the platform has resolved all identified issues. Amnezia runs its servers as RAM-only, so all data is wiped on reboot. They also say they don't store or collect activity history, IP addresses, session data, and other metrics, which is good. It's XRay feature, which listens on port 443 for authorized connection requests. If it gets an authorized one it connects as normal, but if it gets scanned by anyone else, it redirects that packet to a legit website, like google.com or any other easily available site in your region that you chose. The beauty of this is that it also returns an authentic TLS certificate because it's issued by the site the packet was redirected to, making the censorship software think your VPN server is Google instead.”
It does look like a lot of attention has been given to making this an anti-censorship tool. Unfortunately this seems to be needed more and more by citizens in many countries today, whether 1st or 3rd World countries.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/self-hosted-vpn-works-where-wireguard-gets-blocked
#technology #VPN #anticensorship #privacy

2026-03-10 20:50:44 UTC

- reply

Ah OK, yes unfortunately since I retired I've packed a lot onto my plate so my two servers, blocking, YT videos, disaster management volunteer work, etc is just swamping me right now. I'd certainly keep an eye on it and see where I can help maybe on promoting it etc.

2026-03-10 20:46:01 UTC

Portracker — an open source self-hosted real-time port monitoring and discovery tool
I'm using this tool to identify which docker container ports are published or exposed (from the container) as well as which internal ports are available on your containers. This tool helps see where there may be port clashes, which ports are exposed and could be hidden, and helps find an available port to use for new containers. It has various ways of sorting, filtering and grouping the ports view.
Yes you could track all your open and internal ports in a spreadsheet, but if you have 40 or 50 containers running, and spin others up and down, it gets difficult to keep that spreadsheet up to date. Portracker gives you a live view of all system ports, and docker published and internal ports.
I also spend a few minutes explaining how and why docker ports are exposed, and how you would point to them from a reverse proxy such as Nginx Proxy Manager or your PC on your LAN.
Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lz5zv7Q_oA
#technology #opensource #selfhosting #docker #networking

2026-03-10 16:21:32 UTC

- reply

Yes possibly, but what is involved?

2026-03-09 08:40:08 UTC

10 tricks you can do with FFmpeg on Linux
FFmpeg is an incredibly powerful piece of software and often sits in the background powering many graphics and audio conversion apps we use. So you may not know it, but you very likely are already using it.
This linked article though shows a couple of command line executions you can run with it to quickly:
* Play a video from the terminal
* Get media info
* Record your screen
* Extract images from videos
* Convert images into videos
* Convert videos into MP3s or GIFs
* Add subtitles to movies and shows
* Rebuild a video's index without transcoding
* Resize videos
* Trim and crop videos
It runs across Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, the BSDs, Solaris, etc. under a wide variety of build environments, machine architectures, and configurations.
See https://www.howtogeek.com/10-tricks-you-can-do-with-ffmpeg-on-linux/
#technology #video #audio

2026-03-07 12:09:00 UTC

More than 800 gamers took an exam to prove they could complete an '80s adventure game without peeking at a walkthrough—and only 2 passed
“Designed by developer Woe Industries, the AGAT challenged players to complete an '80s adventure game without using a walkthrough. Players weren't told what adventure game they'd be playing in advance, and they were monitored via webcam and microphone by a legitimate online proctoring software to determine if they were looking up hints on a second window, using their phones to cheat, or getting help from someone off-screen.”
I remember playing Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, etc back in those days, probably then on my Commodore C64 or Amiga. These were more difficult than Doom as you did have to think quite a bit. These games seemed advanced back then as prior to these it was text adventure games without any graphics. Also, no Google Search so you sat for hours being stuck somewhere in the game until you got past the block.
The linked article also has a link to a Twitch stream of the game during the test. Needless to say I already thought I knew where the key was, and see I was right.
Back then it was not about the fancy graphics, it was about the storyline, the puzzles, etc.
See https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/more-than-800-gamers-took-an-exam-to-prove-they-could-complete-an-80s-adventure-game-without-peeking-at-a-walkthrough-and-only-2-passed
#technology #gaming #retro

2026-03-03 18:47:51 UTC

No surprise: Meta Workers Say They’re Seeing Disturbing Things THROUGH USERS’ SMART GLASSES
“And regardless of the wearer’s intention, much of the footage being recorded by the glasses is being sent to offshore contractors for data labeling, a widely-used preprocessing step in training new AI models in which human contractors are asked to review and annotate footage. It’s a laborious and highly resource-intensive process that tech companies often gloss over when discussing the prowess of their latest AI models. The reality can be messy. Meta contractors based in Nairobi, Kenya, told Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten in a recently published joint investigation that they’re being told to review highly sensitive and intimate data.”
Yes, I know this is no surprise when it comes to Meta (Facebook). I stopped using WhatsApp when they changed the T&C's to allow sharing of metadata to partners. So this is fully in line with how Meta operates, and they and much of Big Tech, are harvesting what they can for AI.
It's why you want physical shutters over any camera/webcams, you want to rather use open source software where you can, and you want to pay otherwise for what you use.
What is becoming clear though, is we want to be wary of terms and conditions, free services powered by adverts, Big Tech/AI driven software. It is one thing for a company (say like Apple) to harvest data and keep it to themselves to improve products, but it is a completely different thing when the likes of Meta actively share the data out to contractors, partners, and advertisers.
What we are also starting to realise is it does not stop for those parties, it also ends up with governments, whether friendly or not. Governments are also unlikely to shut down an excellent source of information for themselves.
Personally I would not touch anything that is sold, managed, or given away by Meta. They have shown themselves to be the worst of the worst, consistently over many years. They survive though because we as consumers still have accounts and use them. I know many don't log in anymore to Facebook, but those numbers still support advertisers who pay them. In theory, we could pull the rug out from under them, but in practice the network effect is still incredibly powerful.
See https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/meta-disturbing-smart-glasses
#technology #privacy

2026-02-25 20:34:00 UTC

The US has ordered its diplomats to lobby against foreign data privacy laws that could limit American tech firms
“The US administration has ordered US diplomats to lobby against attempts to regulate American technology companies’ handling of foreigners’ data, saying in an internal diplomatic cable that such efforts could interfere with AI-related services.”
If this is true, it is going to have exactly the opposite effect to what was intended. The way I read that is, AI is being used to suck up as much private and corporate data as possible, and implementing digital sovereignty is going to impact that suction force.
As mentioned before, when it comes to the US specifically, there are the US CLOUD and PATRIOT Acts, which govern any US company operating anywhere else in the world (i.e. outside the USA). The implications about what US owned AI may be doing, and the access to that data, could be pretty alarming.
The only question we need to ask, at a sovereignty level is, whose interests are being curtailed if the data is no longer available? Is it just corporate profits, or is it something deeper at a national state level? If it is the former, then what happened to open competition and markets? If it is merely economic, then why are diplomats getting involved?
Yes, we may be reading way too much into this, but how would the USA feel if AI was all centred say in China, and their data was being sucked up into that AI? Would the USA not want to assert some digital sovereignty and establish control over its citizens' data?
At least this is not a case of the EU demanding that OpenAI be sold off from the US and an EU company is allowed to buy it. This is more a case of other countries wanting to get control over their citizen's data, or to establish their own capabilities in their countries. Nothing really wrong with that at all. As I said, I'm sure the US would think the same way if AI was not under their control.
It is wake-up call though to all countries, where they should be thinking more about the privacy of their citizen data, and their own government data. Things are starting to get stickier, and to be honest I don't think many countries have woken up to this properly yet.
Control over data is power.
See https://techcentral.co.za/us-orders-diplomats-to-fight-foreign-data-sovereignty-rules/278137
#technology #privacy #datasovereignty

2026-02-25 19:59:39 UTC

Why OOXML is not a standard format for office documents
“Why OOXML has never been, is not, and will never be a standard format unless Microsoft decides to completely redesign its office applications.”
TL;DR — If Microsoft had been sincere about making this a true open standard, OOXML could have been a proper open standard. But Microsoft chose to cripple and sabotage it, so that it could not be properly implemented across all platforms.
The linked article covers more about the OOXML's implementation inconsistencies, complexity, proprietary dependencies, binary blob remnants, platform specific elements, and the whole process followed by Microsoft.
I remember this OOXML standard suddenly appearing back when many governments started to adopt the true ODF (Open Documents Format) a good two decades ago. Microsoft suddenly was touting OOXML as an ISO/IEC standard for all to use. It caused a wobble as wow here is Microsoft itself with an open standard. But most governments never fell for it on paper at least, like the Australian government who still stuck with ODF.
Yes, I know that basically ALL the governments who approved ODF formally as their standard to use, in fact actually do save files in docx (OOXML) in practice including Australia, UK, South Africa, USA, and more. This is the oddity governments in theory and principle vs governments in practice. Try sending an ODF format document to someone in these governments, and they'll reply saying they can't open it, please send in OOXML (actually most do not know what OOXML is, and they'll call it MS Office, Office 365, or docx).
In fact, MS Office can actually save in ODF formats, but by default it saves to OOXML. In truth therefore, most governments are saving their documents in OOXML which is designed to break down the line due to its inconsistencies.
And governments in practice, determine then what businesses and citizens must use to interact with them, including non-profits. Ever see tenders requesting docx formats, CVs in docx formats, business plans to be sent in docx formats? It is a very sad situation, and the profit drive behind Microsoft is largely to blame for this.
In reality, the various open source office suites (which are mostly free) fully support ODF and try to keep up to date with the standardised version of OOXML. It is Microsoft that tweaks and updates things in the background to how they use OOXML, which breaks compatibility.
But don't blame Microsoft. They've been very clever about this. It is us as consumers and governments who chose to buy the Microsoft products. We could have switched to free of cost office suites and all used ODF formats. That would have meant we did not all have to use the same office suite product, and we would have had greater compatibility between ourselves going into the future. But hey, the taxpayer is paying, and they're also buying MS Office (whichever flavour) so no-one is going to question this. I mean, whoever got fired for buying IBM! What would we anyway do with all those surplus billions of dollars then if we did not spend it with Microsoft...
See https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/02/06/why-ooxml-is-not-a-standard-format-for-office-documents
#technology #openstandards #opensource

2026-02-25 19:25:46 UTC

New App Detects the BT Fingerprint of Smart Glasses and Warns You When Someone Is Using Them Nearby
“Outdoors, the app works within 32 to 50 feet; indoors in crowds, that drops to 10 to 32 feet — enough range to identify a person wearing smart glasses in your vicinity. Nearby Glasses works by flagging Bluetooth SIG assigned numbers, unique alphanumeric codes identifying devices based on their brand. Assigned numbers are mandatory for devices utilizing Bluetooth, meaning that gear made by companies like Luxottica Group SpA — the firm manufacturing Meta’s Ray-Ban Smart Glasses — is at least somewhat identifiable for anyone who knows where to look.”
So, yes not perfect, as you may get false positives if someone is for example walking around the mall wearing their Oculus Rift headset. But it is interesting to see some pushback happening against Big Tech's smart glasses. But this early is still in early release, so I imagine it will mature more still.
See https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/app-smart-glasses-bluetooth
#technology #privacy #smartglasses

2026-02-22 19:11:03 UTC

Technology is being used to obscure and sway public opinion
This is merely one example, so what it was used for is really not relevant at all. What is relevant though is that we have long seen how bots can drum up intelligent looking comments to social media posts, giving the impression something is supported (or not).
We've also seen photos as well as videos being faked for sensationalism, and that have affected whole countries by going viral on Facebook.
The natural progression is to do the same with petitions to imitate public expression. I'm not sure if this is actually worse, as it can impact pending legislation and other official processes.
I just saw a video on YouTube today that claimed the CEO of Lenovo made a statement in November 2024 that they were ditching Windows and installing Linux on 60% of their consumer laptops. It sounded very factual and specific, but the real fact is, the CEO never said actually that at all.
We're actually getting to a point where technology is rapidly losing its trustworthiness. Are we going to have to go back to physical interactions, handwritten letters, paper newspapers, etc? I suppose one can't just wind the clock back in reality, but we have to question more and more now whether what we see is really real at all.
The media, outside of the USA, is often still looked up to with regard to their verification of facts and polls, yet the irony is they have been struggling to survive in the age of technology. We want everything for free, and we have all sorts of YouTubers and TikTokers now posing as news channels (paid for by ad revenue, rage-baiting and click tracking).
Times are changing, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Maybe age verification will solve it
See https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-civiclick-environment
#technology #AI #fakenews

2026-02-20 19:04:27 UTC

Tugtainer is a self-hosted app for automating updates of your docker containers
Another modern Watchtower alternative but after testing it today I'm sticking with What's Up Docker (WUD) for now.
The chief downside for me is that Tugtainer shows no current and new versions for you to look at before running the update. There is also no granular control over the version tags to watch. With WUD you can set the Regex to only watch for minor version updates e.g. for Postgres databases which need manual intervention for major upgrades. With WUD I have included text warnings that show up on the dashboard about what versions to stay pinned to.
On resources used:
WUD: 217 MB RAM, 0.6-6% CPU (short spikes), and 372 kB disk space.
Tugtainer: 231 MB RAM, 0.3-0.5% CPU, disk space 48 kB.
Something that Tugtainer alerted me to though about WUD, was that WUD was not resolving container images at lscr.io/linuxserver/ (a redirect to ghcr.io/linuxserver/). So I renamed those container image paths on my docker compose for now, and apparently v9.x of WUD will fix this.
But what that says of Tugtainer is, it is picking up any updates just fine.
An issue I had with Tugtainer, was setting up alerts using Gmail. It uses Apprise for notifications, and Apprise 'recognises' GMail so shortens some tings such as the username for logins to the e-mail account. What worked was exactly this Apprise URL: 'mailtos://usernamewithoutgmail:apppassword@smtp.gmail.com:587/?to=target@email.com'.
See https://github.com/Quenary/tugtainer
#technology #opensource #docker

2026-02-19 14:17:55 UTC

Microsoft's Copilot spills the beans, summarising emails it's not supposed to read
“The bot couldn't keep its prying eyes away. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat has been summarising emails labelled “confidential” even when data loss prevention policies were configured to prevent it.”
Given that this is Microsoft, it is difficult to distinguish between this being devious or plain sloppiness. One would have thought with a company the size of Microsoft, neither should be the case. But it was only a year ago that we had that Windows screen recording debacle that had to be withdrawn and re-published.
It is probably just never a good idea to let any AI have raw access to your documents or e-mails. It is better to create a separate area with documents you have vetted, or to manually upload what you want to have processed.
AI is proving to be an incredible way of worming into private document and information repositories where it can just vacuum everything up. As an end user, you have zero control once you've opened that door.
I can see government's funding AI one day, as it is a tremendous way to spy on citizens, or opponents. As much as the USA warns us about China and their AI, I'm just wondering how much of the same behaviour is being perpetrated by the USA itself. Users basically invite AI into their private areas, and then let it scoop everything up. If the country owning the AI company, has warrantless search to data, just think of the possibilities.
We've also heard about AI reorganising user data, and then apologising for deleting it. AI is not infallible, and with zero contextual knowledge, it is also not actually intelligent.
You want to keep AI at an arm's length, and use it with cation, just like any other tool.
See https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/18/microsoft_copilot_data_loss_prevention
#technology #AI #Microsoft #privacy

2026-02-19 10:23:46 UTC

This is Probably the Best Video Downloader App (And it is Free and Open Source)
“You come across an interesting video on social media and thought of downloading it so that you can send it to someone or modify it to share it on some other platform. You know, the meme videos? Not every platform allows downloading videos, and thus you need a good, reliable video downloader.”
I do like that it's options show you the available sizes along with FPS, storage size, etc. AS good as one of the paid options floating around which was quite popular.
See https://itsfoss.com/vidbee and their project at https://github.com/nexmoe/VidBee
#technology #opensource #downloader
https://npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6.blossom.band/38895886b4c11d63bb165a424d5c46d4747b2473fd5f9e527d1421d84413efc4.webp

2026-02-17 20:31:00 UTC

LastSignal Is a New Open-Source Dead Man’s Switch You Can Self-Host
“A new open-source tool called LastSignal has emerged to let users run their own encrypted dead man’s switch on a self-hosted server. The software is designed for scenarios where messages should only be delivered if the sender becomes unreachable and stops responding to scheduled check-ins.”
In the past these services were usually hosted, and then after a few years the service would shut down (and hopefully you were aware of that). The other issue was you may have to leave some sensitive information that you want to pass on, and today we are more and more aware that you have to be careful when leaving such information in someone else's cloud.
So this does solve two of those issues: You are hosting it, so you can keep it available, and you have full control over the information.
Quite a bit of thought seems to have gone into it too. The project is about 3 weeks old so is pretty new still.
See https://linuxiac.com/lastsignal-is-a-new-open-source-dead-mans-switch-you-can-self-host and their open source project at https://github.com/giovantenne/lastsignal
#technology #opensource #selfhosting #deadmanswitch

2026-02-16 20:14:31 UTC

Science says your Kindle might be better for sleep than a paperback
Funny thing is I've always “known” this. For many years I've been reading my Kindle every night before I go to sleep. OK that is anecdotal (which is not any evidence) but a Kindle has no bright backlight like an iPad or similar tablets have. It is not heavy either like many 600-page books are, and you do not have to turn physical pages, and the font can be made bigger too. You can also read it without disturbing a sleeping partner.
Katherine Sharkey, doctor and sleep researcher at Wake Forest School of Medicine, has stated “the actions required for using an e-reader are less than that of a traditional book, and that lighter load on the brain makes it easier to wind down for sleep”.
I get that some like the feel of paper, but that has nothing to do with going to sleep. The act of reading does help induce sleep, no matter what the media is.
Thinking back over the years I still have 4 large bookcases, stacked double deep, with books I used to read before I got my first Kindle. If I'd not got a Kindle, I have no idea how many more bookcases I'd need to have by now.
The only downside of a Kindle is, if you “buy” your books from Amazon (and especially them), you don't really own the e-book. It can disappear if Amazon so chooses. But I do back up all my e-books, and when possible, I source them elsewhere.
See https://www.androidpolice.com/e-readers-better-for-sleep-than-traditional-books-researcher-claims
#technology #reading #sleep

2026-02-14 15:15:28 UTC

These video doorbells don’t rely on the cloud or subscriptions
“Picking a video doorbell that doesn’t rely on the cloud means you can save footage locally and not rely on pricey subscriptions. Pair it with a smart home platform like Home Assistant, and your doorbell will keep working when the internet doesn’t. Here are some ideas for video doorbells that work offline, even if they do have optional cloud subscriptions.”
Obviously when I bought my last Ring doorbell, there were no Reolink doorbells yet available. Reason is, I already have Reolink NVR with POE and cameras running. For me, in future, this will be a no-brainer choice. I especially like the POE option, as not only is that a nice clear signal, but there is no messing with the odd 19 AC power that a wired Ring doorbell wants.
See https://www.howtogeek.com/these-video-doorbells-dont-rely-on-the-cloud-or-subscriptions
#technology #security #doorbells #privacy

2026-02-14 13:09:04 UTC

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Yes it's been around a long time and has a pretty good track record with self-hosting too.

2026-02-14 13:08:13 UTC

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Yes that is a good idea - I should see if I can get it to work. Have a good 50 containers some with ports on isolated networks, and some on host. That is where it gets messy when same ports are across different networks. Good practice is to true not expose external ports at all and only use container names with internal port number. That does keep things a bit simpler too, but there will always be external ports on the front facing stuff.

2026-02-11 21:05:45 UTC

This Docker Compose visual builder is the tool I wish I had as a beginner
“If you’ve ever attempted to run too many containers on the same machine, you may have encountered failed deployments because multiple services tried accessing the same port. Fortunately, DCM sidesteps that issue by checking for port conflicts in your multi-container Compose files. Going back to our network stack example, Nginx and Pi-hole both use ports 80 and 443 on the host. If you try to deploy these services with the same Compose files, DCM detects the port conflicts and assigns different numbers to the second container.”
With over 40 to 50 containers running on one of my servers I constantly run into that ports clashing issue (when ports are exposed to the host machine). This tool does look quite interesting as well as how it handles volume mappings.
It also makes me realise how Portainer really needs to take a few steps forward with regard to better stack editing.
I'm going to be looking a bit deeper into this app. It looks like it will work in tandem with Portainer too. Basically DCM will help you create a clean and functional docker-compose file to paste into Portainer.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/this-docker-compose-visual-builder-is-the-tool-i-wish-i-had-as-a-beginner or the project site at https://github.com/ajnart/dcm
#technology #docker #selfhosting

2026-02-10 18:14:47 UTC

Rallly is an open source self-hosted tool to make organising events and meetings easier
If you've ever had to try to find a time for an event of meeting that suites a family, colleagues, or other large group of people, you'll know what a pain that can be. There is often a lot of back and forth, and conversions can happen in different places too.
Rallly allows you to set up some time slot options, and provides an invite link which you can share via e-mail or other messenger chat groups. Everyone votes for their choices on the browser page that is presented, and can comment there too for others to read. Nothing needs to be installed by them, nor do they need to register to use it.
If you don't want to self-host the service, there is also a free tier on their cloud hosted service which you can use for the ad-hoc events or meetings you may want to schedule.
I like that it not only pretty seamless, but it is not locked into any vendor, operating system or even messenger platform.
My video highlights what I like about it, how to set up and poll and send it out, and what my docker configuration looks like. I also mention how you can add extra members on the self-hosted instance, but why you may not need to do so.
Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYsJFPS9G-A
#technology #opensource #selfhosting #scheduling

2026-02-10 10:13:47 UTC

Chatbots Make Terrible Doctors, New Study Finds*
“Chatbots may be able to pass medical exams, but that doesn’t mean they make good doctors, according to a new, large-scale study of how people get medical advice from large language models. The controlled study of 1,298 UK-based participants, published today in Nature Medicine from the Oxford Internet Institute and the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, tested whether LLMs could help people identify underlying conditions and suggest useful courses of action, like going to the hospital or seeking treatment.”
AI lacks any form of real context for situations. The more I've used them for technical issues, I've seen how limited they really are. They will doggedly go down deep holes without looking outside the box. They will grasp at all sorts of solutions to a GitHub project application, without even realising the newest issue logged is in fact a bug waiting to be fixed. I could go on and on, and I've lost count now of the apologies I've extracted from AI for its real stupidity.
Used as an assistant to a thinking human being is fine, but never follow AI advice blindly. It is great for answering questions, but the more you use it, you'd see its limitations surfacing. It can save time, but it can also waste a lot of time, and even do damage. Most recently a chatbot gave me a command to remove the history for a file I updated on GitHub, but it also deleted that specific file itself altogether (I got what I'd asked for, but I did not ask for the file to be deleted, and there was no mention of such a possibility by the chatbot).
So just like a lathe with be a tremendous tool in a skilled technicians hands, giving me a lathe to use would likely do more harm than good.
See https://www.404media.co/chatbots-health-medical-advice-study
#technology #medical #healthcare #AI

2026-02-10 09:14:03 UTC

Matrix secure chat is quietly becoming the chat layer for governments chasing digital sovereignty
"Matrix is currently talking to circa 35 countries about FOSS communications infrastructure. For instance, Hodgson told us the United Nations is on board: it's using Matrix as the basis of its own in-house air-gapped communications tool, which helps it to remain independent of any country or hosting provider. It's also being adopted at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which as The Register reported in October 2025 is busily ditching Microsoft Office. After the Trump administration imposed sanctions on ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan, he reported losing access to his email and banking, disrupting the court's work.”
Yes any government can host their own Matrix instance and have full control over it. Matrix is actually implemented inside of other messaging tools, so many are using it without even knowing about it.
See https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/09/matrix_element_secure_chat
#technology #privacy #digitalsovereignty #chat #opensource

2026-02-04 13:18:31 UTC

Netdata and some free AI searches saved me a ton of resource usage on my desktop and server
I recently installed free Netdata in a container on my homelab server to see what it would show in terms of resource usage, bottlenecks, etc. When you start out of Netdata you get a 2-week trial business subscription which includes 10 free AI credits (for analysis reporting).
I let it run for 24 hours and then asked Netdata's AI to give me any key findings and recommendations. The key things it showed me pretty quickly, already blew me away. It's the old story of things are "working" but are far from optimal. Basically the issues I had were too many tasks firing off concurrently (or before others had finished) causing major bottlenecks (disk backlogs) on my different drives. I have three different backups, S.M.A.R.T. drive tasks running, Timeshift, RAID array scrubs, etc going.
I took the report from Netdata and fed it in as-is to Google Gemini (Perplexity has been leading me down very long rabbit holes the last few months) and asked what now. To cut a long story short, Gemini took me through various tests and recommendations around spacing all the tasks out far better, advising which should be daily, weekly, or monthly. It also suggested tweaking settings for the drives as well as the rsync jobs. For example when exporting to an external USB drive, it showed how to slow the rsync transfer down so that the drive was not choking, and neither was the server CPU. It also gave a nice summary table of how all the tasks were now spaced out over days and weeks.
I then decided to install Netdata on my desktop PC, and am glad I did. It boots quicker, and terminal screens open instantly (especially the Atuin history), etc. Again the issue being identified by Netdata was massive disk backlogs. It turns out my main /home data disk is 5.8 years old and has a 161ms response, where it should be 10x quicker. I need to replace this drive soon, but the optimisations suggested by Gemini, have now eased out a lot of the strain I was putting on this drive.
My Manjaro desktop configuration is a good 8 or 9 years old with tons of crud. I used to use VirtualBox for VMs but switched to KVM a while back, yet the old VirtualBox vboxnet0 network and kernel hooks were still in my system. I have a beautiful Conky window on my desktop, but I did not realise the amount of resources it was using through massive inefficiencies including firing off sudo smartctl every3 secs to check drive temperatures (polling the drive controller 28,800 times a day), if/then statements that each fire off the same query three times, using outdated network calls, etc. So Gemini helped optimise that dramatically by collapsing the queries and using memory caching instead, and reducing many checks to 30 secs or longer where the data does not change quickly. There was also rsync jobs that were made less intense, so that CPU was smoothed out more. Some old snapd stuff was also identified that was loading into memory, although I no longer used it, so that all got cleared out as well. I was using SAMBA shares with a Windows VM running in KVM, and it advised to ditch the SAMBA shares and rather use the faster Virtio-FS folder sharing, as well as the VirtIO network mode in KVM.
As Gemini pointed out initially, some events were coming together on my homelab server to create a perfect storm. My desktop PC is now booting up again in seconds, network acquisition is quicker, and with less intensive polling, my browsers are also more responsive.
I'm actually scaling back on my Grafana, Prometheus, Telegraf, InfluxDB stack on my server too. Netdata collects tons of data every second and seeing it is running, I'd rather try to optimise around that, seeing the information I get is a lot more useful. Netdat requires basically no configuration, unlike how Grafana, InfluxDB, Telegraf, and Prometheus must all work tother. There are some things that Grafana must still do, like pulling my Home Assistant stats through into graphs. The free Netdata tier only gives you 5 nodes in their cloud service, but you can view more locally if you host it yourself. Obviously after the trial period, I will also lose the AI credits.
Netdata is open source on the client agent (data collection) and "available" for the client dashboard. The cloud side, and the AI, is proprietary. I'll see how it goes on the free tier after 2 weeks, and what sort of reporting I can still export. But the benefit so far has made a dramatic difference, and will likely also ensure my hard drives have a longer and beneficial life.
Netdata running in a docker container on my homelab server is consuming 2.1% CPU and 327 MB of RAM. Disk space is now at 1.3 GB, so I'll need to keep an eye on that. There are retention sizes that can be set for each tier of data that is being stored (per second, per minute, and per hour tiers).
A tip on installing for Arch based systems. Netdata's script had all sorts of network permission issues on my PC. In the end I just did a plain pacman AUR package install and everything worked.
See https://github.com/netdata/netdata
https://npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6.blossom.band/c7a035e11cab79893e010c2c7f8c0fd532fdce74eb1d5fd73b43253094521ce2.webp
#technology #optimisation #dashboards

2026-01-30 13:14:03 UTC

Google's Project Genie lets you conjure entire interactive worlds and step into them
“While I'd love to give this a try myself, it's only currently open to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the United States. Just in case you weren't aware, that's Google's top-tier plan that costs $250/month. So, as you can imagine, access to this feature will be a bit limited for now.”
It does look pretty good from the video in the linked article. The thing though, with this type of functionality and realism, is you're not going to be able to run this on your home server. It costs money to host services like these, so for the foreseeable future this will likely be a paid service of some sort (unless your virtual world can have lots of advertising billboards in it!).
But nice to see it is already technically possible.
See https://www.androidpolice.com/google-lets-you-conjure-entire-interactive-worlds-and-step-into-them
#technology #virtualworlds

2026-01-30 12:36:03 UTC

Microsoft handed encryption keys for customer data to the government
“The FBI went to Microsoft last year with a warrant, asking them to hand over keys to unlock encrypted data stored on three laptops as part of an investigation into potential fraud involving the COVID unemployment assistance program in Guam — and Microsoft complied.”
Two issues are of concern here:
1. Microsoft does indeed have their own encryption keys to your data. Unlike some companies that do not have encryptions keys at all e.g. Proton, and they will only hand over available metadata (such as IP address, connection times, etc) that they have access to when receiving a valid warrant. Microsoft can be legally compelled as it is now known they have keys to decrypt customer data in their cloud.
2. The legal warrant is only going to be a requirement for accessing US citizen or US corporate data. It is not needed for accessing global citizen data or data stored outside the USA, thanks to the CLOUD and PATRIOT Acts. The same will apply for governments with questionable human rights records (or privacy protection) who may also issue legal warrants to access private data from Microsoft.
I can only imagine both the issues above are part of what is driving the EU to have their own cloud services based in the EU where only they control the encryption keys.
See https://www.theverge.com/news/867244/microsoft-bitlocker-privacy-fbi
#technology #privacy #cloud

2026-01-28 21:01:13 UTC

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Yes as far as I know - don't think I stated otherwise. I would only mention if something is open source if I know it to be open source.

2026-01-28 20:04:20 UTC

Suunto’s New Route Planner Is Free and Awesome
"Something you don't see every day: a sports tech company actually giving away premium features for free. Suunto's route-planning tool lets you create and download GPX files without even creating an account. No paywall, no trial period—just open the page and start planning routes. And the tool itself works great."
This is a great tool for planning hikes, cycling, trail running, running, mountaineering, and similar activities. It could also work well for 4x4 trails as it does seem to have all the minor tracks and trails routable, along with ascent and descent numbers.
Another nice touch is being able to toggle on/off heat maps of routes most used.
I tested it on a route I know well over Table Mountain in Cape Town, it did choose the best elevation route, not the shortest route.
See https://lifehacker.com/health/suuntos-new-route-planner-is-free-and-awesome or the route planning site at https://routeplanner.suunto.com
#technology #navigation #mapping #routes

2026-01-28 14:58:20 UTC

Stop scrolling through Google's AI junk: Startpage's "classic" search engine is better
"So I chose Startpage, a privacy-focused search engine that gets its results from Google, Bing, and a range of other sources, but doesn't have any of the tracking. With little of the added junk that I neither want nor need, it seemed like it could be the ideal middle ground, bringing the best bits of Google wrapped in a more classic search experience. I loaded it up on my laptop and phone to find out."
Having a quick look at it though, it does look quite a bit like the open source SearXNG search engine. It's a similar look and feel, with a nice clean look. Sadly the map search using Mapquest was a disaster (I searched for restaurants in Cape Town and was shown restaurants in the USA). But I think that issue is with Mapquest, as choosing the Google Maps option then worked fine (but defeated the object of the exercise).
Still, it is another option to try. They are headquartered in The Netherlands so are EU based under the GDPR. They do state: "Every search performed on Startpage is processed through our proprietary personal data protection technology" so it is not open source software.
See https://www.howtogeek.com/i-replaced-google-with-startpage-for-a-week-what-happened or their website at https://www.startpage.com
#technology #search #privacy

2026-01-27 18:28:39 UTC

Meet Roomy: An Open-Source Discord Alternative for the Decentralised Web
“Roomy is an open-source Discord alternative built on the AT Protocol (ATProto), the same protocol that powers Bluesky, with ActivityPub (the protocol behind Mastodon, Pixelfed, Pleroma, and others) planned for the near future. Currently in alpha, it sits somewhere between Matrix and Discord in terms of its practical position in the broader chat ecosystem.”
It is built on open protocols (no lock-in) and right now you can sign into the web interface using an existing Bluesky login, to be followed soon by any ActivityPub based ID (Mastodon, Pixelfed, Pleroma, etc). Interestingly, it will be bridging many diverse and decentralised networks.
From what I understand of it, posts that each person makes to this service, physically go to their own registered servers (decentralised) with Roomy providing the merged view.
It seems there are quite a few features still to be implemented such as Fediverse login, moderation regarding removing of users from a room, encryption, self-hosting of Roomy, desktop/mobile apps, and more.
Right now Bluesky users can use their login to test it out.
See https://itsfoss.com/roomy-discord-alternative and Roomy at https://a.roomy.space
#technology #opensource #socialnetworks #decentralised

2026-01-27 14:02:37 UTC

French government announces move from US based video conferencing to open source Visio
Visio is based on the open source project La Suite Meet powered by LiveKit. It seems that the government will be opting to use the French hosted version, instead of hosting it in-house themselves.
It is time though that countries started taking their digital sovereignty more seriously and evaluated their over reliance on foreign country cloud services. Generally moving to someone else's cloud service, means not only your data is locked in there, but there is a tendency for the users to lose their own in-house IT skills, and for funds to just move offshore.
See https://github.com/suitenumerique/meet
#technology #opensource #digitalsovereignty #France

2026-01-26 20:42:40 UTC

TikTokers are heading to UpScrolled following US takeover
“TikTok’s takeover in the US has prompted users to join an alternative social platform called UpScrolled. The app, which is available on Android and iOS, currently holds the 12th spot in Apple’s App Store, and it’s struggling to keep up with an influx of new traffic.”
Yes, it's not the first alternative to TikTok as we've seen RedNote and also Loops (a decentralised Fediverse alternative) as well as others.
UpScrolled is still a centralised hosting service hosted in Dublin, Ireland, and owned by an Australian company using private funding. So, it is a step better than US ownership and hosting like nearly all the major centralised social media platforms are.
TikTok's secret sauce is its algorithm though, but the downside of that algorithm is that it can be manipulated, which like with Facebook, has the power to change minds and influence users.
With UpScrolled, and Loops, you don't get this sort of manipulative algorithm. This may also result in less addictive doom-scrolling.
Do we have enough social media platforms yet? Well clearly not, as many new ones are starting up and only time will tell how they survive into the future. There is currently no advertising on UpScrolled, but they are probably going to have ads in future for the platform to be sustainable. They do state though: “But they’ll be designed and managed by us. No Google Ads. No third-party tracking. No targeting based on personal data.”
On privacy, they state: “UpScrolled will never share your data with third parties for marketing, profiling, or commercial gain. We only disclose user data as required by Australian law — such as in response to a valid court order or lawful request — and always in accordance with our privacy policy.”
It is available on Android and iOS right now, and their future plans include desktop versions.
See https://www.theverge.com/news/867958/tiktok-upscrolled-app-us-takeover or their website at https://upscrolled.com
#technology #socialnetworks #alternativeto #TikTok

2026-01-24 14:06:29 UTC

- reply

It what was mentioned

2026-01-23 12:22:17 UTC

Sony returns to vinyl with two new Bluetooth wireless decks
“Sony is jumping back into the vinyl game for the first time since 2019 with the introduction of two new Bluetooth-enabled turntables. The PS-LX3BT and the PS-LX5BT make the analogue experience much more accessible by baking in modern wireless audio technology. Both models also include a built-in phono equaliser that you can switch between phono and line-level output.”
This feels so like a 1970s advert, except then we did not have Bluetooth. It's good to see it has analogue audio cables to connect to older receivers. But wow $500 is not a 1970s price! Makes me wonder what my genuine 1970s turntable is worth today.
Vinyl of course is more than just about the sound. You own the vinyl, without monthly subscriptions, and it does not get arbitrarily deleted by someone either.
See https://www.howtogeek.com/sony-returns-to-vinyl-with-two-new-bluetooth-wireless-decks
#technology #retro #music

2026-01-20 18:06:34 UTC

Satellite is helping the internet to slip beyond authoritarian control
“A recent Reuters report on Iran’s escalating battle with Starlink highlights why that playbook is starting to fray. Tehran has spent years perfecting censorship and surveillance, yet it now finds itself struggling to contain a satellite-based internet service designed explicitly to bypass terrestrial controls.”
I suppose it is more correct to say foreign satellite services, as a service based inside one's own country can still be switched off by decree. Many telecoms licenses are granted with certain conditions attached, so quite often these telecoms providers are duty bound to shut down or otherwise censor services (including age verification, blocking undesirable sites, etc).
And this most certainly includes First World countries as well. Our freedoms are mostly taken for granted, but actually they are attached to threads that can be pulled for various reasons.
But it is true that satellite connectivity has been a new frontier as it becomes more commercial. It not only grants connectivity to those who were denied (including for reasons of living in remote areas) but it also is a commercial opportunity for those countries providing it, and yes, even for reasons of spying as well.
But technology is evolving and with phones also now being able to connect to satellite services, the world is pretty well much being lit up. We just have to bear in mind that there may be plenty of advantages, but we've also seen from Facebook's early forays into some countries, that technology can have all sorts of unintended consequences as well.
Satellite is only one of many advances though, as we are also seeing the rise in use of peer-to-peer communication, I2P networks, Tor browser traffic being obscured, etc. Satellite's big advantage is that it communicates over a very broad area, so attempts to block it are usually very localised only.
I hope that more connectivity will encourage States to rather uplift their people instead of trying to oppress them. Whether we like it not, the era is changing, just like landlines, video rentals, dial-up modems, pagers, and many other technologies that found themselves superseded. This is not about the speed of downloads, but more the breaking of the shackles of control and suppression.
On a lighter note, we've actually had the means for over 100 years for one home to chat or message another home 10,000 kms away. I was text messaging someone in Europe not so long ago, using a direct link that passes through no gateway, no undersea cable, at all. Amateur Radio is still around, and going quite strong in the digital era. In fact, we should know that satellites are themselves just radio repeater high sites. It is all still radio! The difference with satellites is the cost of the end user device is a lot cheaper now.
See https://techcentral.co.za/the-internet-is-slipping-beyond-authoritarian-control/276394
#technology #censorship #satellites

2026-01-17 14:44:45 UTC

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Instead of an index maybe read the article as they mention two specific risks, both potential yes, but they need to be kept in mind versus the others on the list:
1. Who they and what the new owners are.
2. Since the issues from the first independent audit were addressed, there has not yet been another independent audit to verify security.
Security risks constantly are in ebb and flow situations. But they do point out there is no actual risks shown yet - that is why an up-to-date independent audit should have been done.

2026-01-16 21:25:20 UTC

Digg Relaunches From the Grave With Some ‘AI Enhancements’
“If you find yourself nostalgic for an earlier era of the internet, you may welcome the news that after spending the last decade or so being passed between owners like a Christmas present no one wants, Digg—the site that was Reddit before Reddit—has been relaunched, with its new incarnation now in open beta. Now, original co-founder Kevin Rose is back to try again; along with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, he re-acquired the site last year.“
Yes, we seem to have way too many sites and options nowadays. We've already seen the spin-off from Reddit to decentralised alternatives such as Raddle, Ramble, Beehaw, and many more.
But this is a nostalgic throwback to the good old Digg days, a bit like when Reddit started out itself. One can only now hope that MySpace would have come back in a similar fashion, and usurped Facebook. But we can still hope...
See https://gizmodo.com/digg-relaunches-from-the-grave-with-some-ai-enhancements-2000710736 and the Digg site at https://digg.com
#technology #socialnetworks #digg

2026-01-16 16:24:08 UTC

How American Big Tech guards the profits it extracts around the world
“So far, the investigative project, known as “Big Tech’s Invisible Hand,” has mapped nearly 3,000 “influence actions” by the tech industry. This reporting has revealed, among other things, the elaborate web of intermediaries and lobbying used to influence Latin American regulators, how Google obtained leverage over the news media, and how proponents of building more data centres made a series of dubious claims about their benefits.”
A very interesting read, and it is true there is huge money involved, and that Big Tech does reach right into every home and business, unlike the ways that Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, or Big Oil ever did. Big Tech often gets to influence what we read and see, and whether our posts ever get seen or not. The other Bigs relied on propaganda and PR, but all at arm's length.
I saw Big Tech at work in their early days with lunches etc but once they were rebuffed by tech experts inside organisation, we saw them bypass those levels and go straight for the jugular in terms of the end decision-makers (those who are not tech savvy).
So yes, it is extremely worrying, actually. Big Tech ultimately wants lock-in with their products and to be able to increase profits (maximising shareholder value). They don't want to take over, or run the world. But they have no qualms about the damage they cause whilst pursuing profits.
The other problem is it is nearly impossible for newer startups to usurp them, because if they can't compete, they will buy them out.
It is something to be aware of, but unlike voting (or not) for politicians, somehow billions of users would have to act in unison to ignore Big Tech and use alternatives. That is just not going to happen either.
Legislation? Well, politicians are receiving lunches and being “educated” by Big Tech. It's a vicious circle.
See https://themarkup.org/hello-world/2025/11/22/how-american-big-tech-guards-the-profits-it-extracts-around-the-world
#technology #BigTech

2026-01-16 13:27:37 UTC

Threema Encrypted Messenger Service Sold to Private Equity Again
“Your encrypted messages sit on infrastructure controlled by a German private equity firm whose previous acquisitions include Cloud7 premium dog beds and The Tofoo Company.”
Right now there is no immediate problem or risk identified, but the situation is that a company which now owns Threema has no real knowledge or focus on how it works, and they could change the terms and conditions that protect privacy, in the future.
So this is just something to note for now. The article does touch on some of Threema's previous security audit issues, and notes that no new independent audits have verified the fixes.
If you are concerned, then Signal, Session, SimpleX, and a few others are good alternatives. I don't find many friends using Threema or Session, but Signal and SimpleX are pretty busy for me.
See https://www.sambent.com/threema-sold-to-private-equity-again
#technology #privacy #messengers

2026-01-12 18:48:34 UTC

DarkMX is a decentralised comms app that utilises Tor and I2P to have an anonymous, reliable, and censorship-resistant presence on the internet
* You can chat
* You can share files
* You can search other people's files
* You can keep a contact list and send private messages to your friends
* You can create your own custom .onion site, available to anyone with a Tor Browser
Like many services which use Tor or I2P network, users tend to remain anonymous, and pretty well much everything goes, so this is not a child-friendly network. The focus on this particular network though is more around all sorts of file sharing, with zero moderation, so you want to be careful about what you actually download.
But despite that, the app works with a built-in Tor client. If you want to use the I2P network, like I do, then you will need to install your own I2P or i2pd client app to run your I2P router node. I2P can be more private and resilient than even the Tor network. Just note that the app needs to connect to your I2P router for a good 30 minutes to discover peers and get communication going. Thereafter, it will be a lot quicker. The screenshot shows also where you can find the diagnostics for both networks. If I2P is accessible, the Tor connection is paused.
The app also plays a role as a server of files to any Tor browser. So if you want to share files, music, or whatever (legally of course) then you can turn on Web Access, and separate you files into different groups if you wish to keep some separate, and then copy the link to share.
Have a look at:
From I2P network http://mv3qjsjk4cw3oywhsgkjqumn2cdlom6y5z7cuq6f6g4vhlhrynga.b32.i2p/DarkMX/site/index.txt
From any Tor browser http://svdiwvzqmpozcicznynjxc3fcv3a4znv7c7nc6ycnrtsf677652gbzid.onion/DarkMX/site/index.txt
Or try HTM for a Tor browser http://svdiwvzqmpozcicznynjxc3fcv3a4znv7c7nc6ycnrtsf677652gbzid.onion/DarkMX/site/index.html
You should see a web page, but the DarkMX application needs to be running on my side otherwise nothing will be visible, as there is no 24/7 server service. It is PC to PC.
But it is not just files and web pages. A Channel can also be used for just chatting or discussion topics as well.
It has apps for Android, Windows, and Linux.
You will note that hidden services are sometimes mentioned. This is because the Tor as well as I2P networks are not indexed by Google and other clearnet (normal HTML TCP based web services).
See https://darkmx.app
#technology #decentralised #privacy #Tor #I2P
https://npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6.blossom.band/1263950e7a739e6f448973ff20425c1cdd34ae0ecd81d7d27f01a7f49da3df72.webp

2026-01-12 14:52:07 UTC

Healthchecks.io emails me when my automation jobs don't run
We all “should” have scheduled backups running, and sometimes other automated tasks as well. In some cases you may see an error popup, but often it is just an e-mail to say the task has run.
The problem is often we don't bother to check that daily e-mail properly, or we don't miss one of the e-mails out of the five that arrive daily for different tasks.
This is where open source Healthchecks.io comes in. It is an online service for monitoring regularly running tasks such as cron jobs. It uses the Dead man's switch technique: the monitored system must “check in” with Healthchecks.io at regular, configurable time intervals. When Healthchecks.io detects a missed check-in, it sends out alerts.
Whilst you can self-host it with unlimited functionality, it can be a concern if your own hosting goes offline. They do have a generous 20 checks plan which you can use for free though to monitor from outside your services.
It is as simple as creating a check, getting the unique link for that check, and appending a command string at the end of any cron commands, or in a bash script you may be running.
I'm still in the process of tweaking mine, but I'm hoping to move away from the 5 daily mails I get after cron jobs have run, and rather now only receive a mail when there is a problem to be looked at. Healthchecks.io can now classify HTTP pings from clients as start, success, or failure signals by looking for specific keywords or phrases in the HTTP request body.
They've been going for 10 years now, with over 40,200 free accounts, and just under 51 million pings per day. Luckily they have paid accounts bringing in over US$18,300 monthly to sustain the business (hosting costs real money).
See https://www.xda-developers.com/healthchecksio-emails-me-when-my-automation-jobs-dont-run or their site at https://healthchecks.io
#technology #opensource #monitoring

2026-01-12 12:54:57 UTC

6 things RAID does not protect you from
“Among new NAS buyers, and perhaps even older users too, RAID is one of the most misunderstood aspects of network storage. In a multi-drive setup, you have RAID in place, so you are covered in case one of the drives dies. That's the promise RAID sells, and it delivers on that very specific promise as well. The problem starts when you expect it to do more than it's supposed to. It is not a safety net for everything. The sooner we realise that, the better it will be. If you wait until the last moment or until an incident occurs, it will be too late to correct course. While RAID may be good for one thing, it just cannot protect you from many of the things that actually cause data loss in the real world. Here are some examples.”
An article well worth reading before diving into buying a RAID setup, especially as a RAID setup often costs lot more money than two three drives doing rsync backups.
A RAID is good for real-time redundancy. If a drive fails, the other/s carry on going without issues. You can replace that failed drive, and just rebuild the RAID. But RAID drives also all work hard as they are all constantly being written to.
There is something to be said for having a second drive, and just doing a daily rsync backup to that drive. That second drive only needs to spin up once a day to receive updated or new files, and delete removed files. This not only extends that drive's life, but you can restore any mistakenly deleted files too. When your primary drive fails (anything up top around 5 or 6 years) you can actually use the backup drive as the primary drive. It just takes a bit more configuration effort to point to it (but that could be about 5 minutes of effort). I've had to do this once, so I know it is fully possible.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/raid-is-not-a-backup
#technology #backups #RAID #selfhosting

2026-01-12 11:40:11 UTC

FavBox is an open source browser extension that enhances and simplifies bookmark management without cloud storage or third-party services
It extends your browser's native bookmarking features.
Key features:
🔄 Syncs with your browser profile
🔒 No third‑party data sharing. No ads. No tracking.
🎨 Minimalist, clean UI
🏷️ Tag support for easy organisation
🔍 Advanced search, sorting, and filtering by tags, domains, folders, and keywords
🌁 Multiple display modes
🌗 Light and dark themes
🗑️ Detects broken and duplicate bookmarks
⌨️ Hotkeys for quick search access
🗒️ Local notes support
❤️ Free and open source
Something I found very useful with this extension is it quickly showed me all the duplicate bookmarks I have as well as one's with broken links, so I could clean those up.
The extension is available for Chromium based browsers right now, but there is work in progress for a Firefox version too.
See https://github.com/dd3v/favbox
#technology #browsers #bookmarks #opensource

2026-01-11 12:55:07 UTC

SSD thumb drives could be better than cheap USB flash drives
“Instead of getting a cheap but very sluggish flash drive, consider buying a USB SSD that looks like a regular thumb drive but is way faster and only slightly more expensive.”
I haven't bought a cheap flash drive for quite a while, so did not really realise these SSD thumb drives were available. But they look worthwhile considering especially if the data volumes are a bit more. They are certainly a lot more compact and mobile than carrying around whole external SSD drives.
See https://www.howtogeek.com/dont-buy-a-plain-old-usb-flash-drive-but-this-instead
#technology #storage

2026-01-11 11:02:14 UTC

Make Jellyfin look like Spotify and Plex: 5 clients you need to install
“Are you looking for a better way to enjoy content from your Jellyfin server? There are tons of clients to choose from made by passionate volunteers, and each brings a unique experience.”
What I love about these types of apps, is that it leaves your Jellyfin untouched in the background. These are all different front ends, and you can switch between them without losing history of what you've watched, faved, etc. So test away.
Interestingly too, some will run from inside a browser tab too, so no need to even install, although some additional codecs and methods are supported by the dedicated desktop app.
Apps covered are:
* Finamp
* Fladder
* Feishin
* Void
* Wholphin
See https://www.howtogeek.com/these-fan-made-jellyfin-clients-totally-redefined-my-home-media-server
#technology #jellyfin #opensource

2026-01-10 09:18:24 UTC

FireWally Is A Great Firewall App for Mac, and It's Free
“Most people haven't actively managed a firewall in at least a decade, assuming they ever have. But keeping track of which applications are using the internet—and how much data they're using—is still useful at times, as is blocking apps from accessing the net entirely.”
Yes free on a Mac is a feature! But despite that, it could be a useful app especially when roaming. It is for Mac only though.
The linked article also has a link to the page in the app store to get the app.
See https://lifehacker.com/tech/firewally-free-app-for-macos
#technology #security

2026-01-09 12:05:37 UTC

Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat App Sees Downloads Spike in Uganda Over Internet Shutdown Worries
“Recently, the app drew attention during Nepal’s Gen Z protests, where it supported protesters in overthrowing the government. On September 4, authorities banned 26 platforms, including Facebook, X, YouTube, and Signal, to curb demonstrations against nepotism and a digital tax. Downloads jumped from 3,000 to 50,000 daily, with 48,000 in Nepal alone on September 8, equating to 38% of global installations. Users leveraged Bitchat’s mesh networking capabilities, with each node extending reach up to 30 meters in crowded areas, to organise marches that culminated in arson at the parliament building and the regime’s fall.”
Bitchat is a decentralised peer-to-peer messaging application that operates over Bluetooth mesh networks. No internet required, no servers, no phone numbers. This also means ideally you want to have installed it BEFORE any outages.
It is an open source and offline mesh chat application, which means each device acts as both client and server, automatically discovering peers and relaying messages across multiple hops to extend the network's reach. It is similar to what Meshtastic does with license-free radio. There is zero registration required, and therefore it is also not easy to identify anyone using it.
It does now also have Geohash channels, where someone on that channel will extend it to the Internet, if available. The Internet side can use the Tor network if available. Broadcast messages are public, but if you know someone's handle on Bitchat, you can chat with full end-to-end-encryption.
It has an interesting feature to emergency delete all chats, keys, etc when you triple tap on the app title. And apart from protests and censorship resistance, it is also ideal for any natural disasters where infrastructure has been knocked out.
The app runs on iOS as well as Android.
See https://gizmodo.com/jack-dorseys-bitchat-sees-downloads-spike-in-uganda-over-internet-shutdown-worries-2000706828 and get the app at https://bitchat.free
#technology #opensource #decentralised #protests #disasters

2026-01-06 17:58:20 UTC

I replaced Trello, Toggl, and TickTick with free, open-source Super Productivity
Well I have not done so myself, as I still see a shortcoming around not being able to set custom repeats based on a first Wednesday of every month, or the last weekday of the month. It does though have repeats based on fixed schedules as well as completion date, which is important if you want to repeat something after you finished a task e.g. cleaning my weather station 3 months after I did it last.
But apart from that it has a very nice modern look to it, and is pretty powerful in many other aspects. It has a few powerful productivity views such as Eisenhower Matrix and Kanban, procrastination buster, AI productivity prompts, etc (some are plugins). It also has a great review at the end of the day, with a lot of stats and scoring.
I like the tag and project views so you can see different groupings of your tasks. It has quite a focus on timers, taking breaks, etc too.
Migrating from a different todo planner is not so easy so as there is no importer from say TickTick at all. It seems there is no global standard for importing/exporting todos across apps. Someone has created a bridging app that may help with this, but for me to fully migrate my 149 unique tasks to this, could be pretty painful as mine have lots of custom repeats, sub-tasks, etc in.
It is free with no paid cloud sync service. It will sync via Dropbox, Google Drive, WebDAV, or local file sync (like Synthing). But it is syncing a file, so if two clients edit offline, only the last one will win on re-connection. This is a bit like I had wit Obsidian Notes when using Syncthing. So even if you self-host it in Docker, that is just a web client that must still sync to Dropbox or wherever (unlike say Joplin Notes which is a proper centralised sync server).
See https://www.howtogeek.com/i-replaced-trello-toggl-and-ticktick-with-one-free-open-source-foss-app
#technology #productivity #todo

2026-01-06 17:33:23 UTC

5 costs of self-hosting that nobody talks about
I can attest to all of these reasons. Just today and yesterday I've been solving an issue with my docker networks grabbing 192.168.x.x addresses ranges (after the upgrade to OMV8 overwrote the daemon.json file I'd customised to prevent this). And two days before that I was having mysterious freezes on my server which “eventually” came down to a cheap Chinese 2A power supply to one of my RAID disks (well I'll know for sure after a new ATX power supply arrives tomorrow).
So, yes you do save subscription costs, but you spend more time diagnosing issues, additional costs upgrading hardware, and taking your data in your own hands.
I still think it is worth it, but to be honest, it may really not be a cost saver at all. If I think of what I've spent on server hardware, UPS devices, additional NAS drives, a network cabinet, a firewall and switches that support VLANs, a VPS hosted service, etc. I'm suspecting if I put that US$900 or so aside and just used it for subscription services, maybe I'd still have money left ;-)
Some services, like my password manager and todo list manager, I do actually pay for cloud services, because they are absolutely critical and cannot be down.
But there is also the fun factor to self-hosting, as well as having home services up when the Internet is offline.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/5-costs-of-self-hosting-that-nobody-talks-about
#technology #selfhosting

2026-01-06 13:42:44 UTC

Solid state batteries are now a reality — better in ALL ways than Lithium-Ion
Donut Lab introduced what it claims is the world's first commercially available all-solid-state battery at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, marking a pivotal moment in the decade-long race to bring the promising technology from laboratory prototypes to real-world vehicles. The phone-sized battery cells are already powering the Verge TS Pro electric motorcycle, which enters production this quarter.
* Higher density (400 Wh/kg)
* Faster charging (potentially in 5 to 10 minutes)
* Full charge (no longer needing to limit to 80%)
* Safer (No flammable liquid electrolytes, No thermal runaway chains, No metallic dendrites that can cause internal shorts)
* Good for 100,000 cycles (high-end Lithium-Ion is about 5,000 cycles).
But there is more, at −30 °C and even over 100 °C , they can retain over 99% of their capacity. The usual issue has also been cost, but it is claimed now that without using rare earth minerals, material costs are actually lower than Lithium-Ion too.
It still does not stop there though, as these batteries are not created in the cell shapes that Lithium-Ion were, and which required products to conform to the shape of the battery. These solid state batteries behave like clay, so custom sizes, voltages, and geometries are now possible.
This also means that these are not only for vehicles but can potentially work in phones and micro-electronics.
A solid-state battery uses a solid material (like a ceramic or special polymer) to conduct electricity between its positive and negative sides, instead of the liquid or gel electrolyte found in regular lithium-ion electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
As regards a reality check, Verge's TS Pro motorcycle is being launched now with one of these Donut solid state batteries. Range has increased from the older battery types having 350 km, to now up 600 km, with a charging time of 10 minutes. We will have to see the road tests later in 2026, but if so, then solid state batteries will truly be a game changer. Given the range and the charge cycles, that means the battery will be good for about 60 million kms. That is way more than any combustion engine is ever going to last.
See https://www.donutlab.com/battery and https://newatlas.com/motorcycles/verge-hubless-electric-motorcycle-solid-state-battery-range
#technology #batteries #EV #environment

2026-01-03 14:35:19 UTC

Stop Using Your Keyboard and Start Using Handy, a Free Speech-to-Text App
“In recent years AI models like Nvidia's Parakeet and OpenAI's Whisper, both open source, have made great strides in turning human voices into text. Both excel at correctly adding things like punctuation and capitalisation, and you can run them right on your computer. The problem? They're both a little complicated to set up. That's where Handy comes in. This is a dead-simple, totally free application that can set up either of these models on your computer and give you a keyboard shortcut to use it.”
So whilst Handy may work well on some other desktop environments on Linux, I had quite a few issues trying to get it to work on Wayland. For a start, I had to run an environment variable before it would actually even display the window (WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1 ). The suggestion to use wtype for the paste insertion did not work for me under Wayland at all as it gave this: `[ERROR] Failed to paste transcription: wtype failed: Compositor does not support the virtual keyboard protocol`. I had to use the one called dotool.
When I tried to use the direct paste method, it kept chopping off the first character, but did insert it where it was supposed to be. In the end, I found the best thing that actually worked was to use no paste method, and I just press control V myself after I finished speaking. So for this to work, you also want to change the setting for Clipboard Handling from Don't Modify to Copy to Clipboard.
It's really not ideal, but I must admit, I suppose if you've got quite a bit that you need to type, then it actually can be quicker to use handy and just do one or two basic edits. For other types of text entry though, it might still be better to be able to have that precise control you have when typing on a keyboard.
For other types of text entry though, it might still be better to be able to have that precise control you have when typing on a keyboard. I've actually dictated this post using Handy to enter the text here. And I must say that the grammar and everything is quite precise with all the commas in the right places and so on. So yes, it can actually save you a bit of time. Even when you need to pause to think, it actually removes that, or should I say, just dictates it correctly without the pauses. So for me that's quite handy because I pause quite a bit to think sometimes, and that might not work with some voice dictation, especially if they think you've got to the end you know of your sentence. But also from this you can see it does become a bit long-winded when you're thinking aloud. So still I probably might just revert to anyway just using my keyboard for text entry.
But your mileage may vary. There are versions offered for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
See https://www.wired.com/story/handy-free-speech-to-text-app and their GitHub project at https://github.com/cjpais/Handy

#technology #opensource #dictation

2026-01-03 09:29:25 UTC

This New Android Smartphone Is For Everyone Who Misses the Blackberry — And Has A Hidden Advantage
Everyone is covering how this device works in tandem with your existing phone, and are not really emphasising that this can also work as a standalone device with its own SIM card.
But be that as it may, for me the bigger thing in modern times is, this useful companion device could be snatched by mobile phone thieves, and you'd still have your main device safely in your pocket or bag. It's often the data that is worth more than the cost of the device. Yes, that's the bigger reality of today, with so many walking around and using their phones on the go. I very rarely actually field any voice calls nowadays as most of the phone interaction is done on social media posts, Signal, etc as texting.
A bonus for many may also be that it has a 3.5 mm headphone jack (although I've long been using a USB-C to 3.5 mm jack plug on my phone).
See https://lifehacker.com/tech/this-new-android-smartphone-is-for-everyone-who-misses-the-blackberry
#technology #smartphones #theft

2026-01-03 09:13:42 UTC

Pebble’s round smartwatch returns in an unexpected reboot
“The original Pebble Time Round's sizeable bezels are gone and replaced with a sleek-looking, edge-to-edge 1.3-inch colour e-paper display that's both bigger and higher resolution than the original's. Battery life has been increased to roughly two weeks, and the display is now a touchscreen. The Pebble Round 2's colours include silver, black, and rose goal, alongside a 20 mm matching band in silver or black, and a 14 mm rose gold option.”
I have to say I do really like the look of this Pebble watch. Pebble's shakeup of the smartwatch market has really been needed. Apart from going open source, they have brought way longer battery life, and also better e-Ink screens. I moved away from smartwatch's at the end of 2025 as I had tired from super expensive watches that have to be charged daily.
That does bring me though to the one and only downside I have with this round version. I understand why the screen had to be made the way it was to retain the thing design and the angled viewing, BUT I have a real aversion as well to an expensive device just becoming a paperweight in a few years time when the battery runs out of charge cycles. It does not look like changing the battery in this device is going to be an easy option at all.
From what I understand of the square versions, the battery change should still be possible, but sadly not as easy as a Casio watch. I suppose we'll know for sure when some teardowns have been done after release.
The software applications and watch faces are already starting to take off. An end user can even design faces for themselves using some browser based design software. Pebble makes it really easy to design and distribute software, so I'm looking forward to seeing lots of innovation on this front (unlike you see for WearOS and Apple Watches).
Something not quite correct in the linked article though, is that anyone who has pre-ordered the square designs, can switch their order to the round design. So you are not locked into that first order.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/pebble-round-2-smartwatch-returns-in-an-unexpected-reboot
#technology #smartwatches #opensource

2026-01-01 16:56:34 UTC

13 Open-Source Apps You Can Use from a Web Browser
“When we think of open-source apps for design, productivity, or even just for fun, we usually picture desktop software running natively on our computers. The web still feels like it belongs to proprietary giants like Google Docs, Figma, Canva, and CapCut. But open source has been catching up fast. There’s now a growing wave of browser-based open-source apps, many with public hosted instances you can use for real work right away. Some can also be self-hosted later, but this list focuses on the ones you can simply open and start using.”
Best of all though, there is zero installation required, so these are really easy to just test out, and bookmark if you like them.
See https://itsfoss.com/open-source-apps-from-web-browser
#technology #opensource

2026-01-01 15:02:13 UTC

You can’t trust your eyes to tell you what’s real anymore, says the head of Instagram
“Instagram boss Adam Mosseri is closing out 2025 with a 20-images-deep dive into what a new era of “infinite synthetic content” means as it all becomes harder and harder to distinguish from reality, and the old, more personal Instagram feed that he says has been “dead” for years. Last year, The Verge’s Sarah Jeong wrote that “…the default assumption about a photo is about to become that it’s faked, because creating realistic and believable fake photos is now trivial to do,” and Mosseri eventually concurs.”
The message is clear: Seeing is no longer believing! The same has basically become true for video as well. Too many videos and photos are being posted daily onto, especial viral algorithm, sites to be quickly believed by the masses and reshared. Even some presidents have been taken in, mainly because such faked videos or photos also served their political purpose.
In 2026, we really have to be asking who is posting this, why are they posting it, is it verified from other sources, who gains from my outrage or fears from seeing this post. Like with cyber-security, humans prove to be the weakest link in the chain.
Unfortunately not all social media networks treat fake news equally. We'd have hoped by now Facebook would have learnt its lesson from the Myanmar violence. But rage-baiting unfortunately makes a lot of money for some networks.
See https://www.theverge.com/news/852124/adam-mosseri-ai-images-video-instagram
#technology #socialnetworks #ragebaiting #AI #deepfake

2025-12-29 21:25:53 UTC

Alzheimer’s Fully Reversed in Mice, Scientists Say
“A team of American scientists claim they have done something miraculous: they “cured” lab mice suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, which has robbed more than seven million Americans, typically 65 years old and up, of their identity and cognitive ability. The researchers achieved this feat by administering the rodents with the powerful compound P7C3-A20, which they announced in a new paper in the journal Cell Reports Medicine. Scientists from Ohio’s Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), University Hospitals, and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center undertook the study.”
There is no approval yet for this drug and I imagine more peer review will still be done too as well as clinical trials, but it does seem pretty hopeful, and especially so as they are claiming a reversal, not just a slow-down.
See https://futurism.com/health-medicine/alzheimers-mice-cured
#health #alzheimers

2025-12-26 19:10:22 UTC

LanguageTool ends free use of Browser Extension — Here are some Options
LanguageTool is an AI-based grammar checker. They just announced that the browser extension will only be usable to their cloud service with a premium subscription from Jan 2026. My video explains the announcement, and then goes through an overview of what is involved with self-hosting the community version of LanguageTool which will still use the browser extension, with some pros and cons of this approach.
The other alternative is to switch to using something else like Harper, which does not use any cloud or self-hosted service, and works locally from just a browser extension. I contrast how the self-hosted LanguageTool compares in practice with Harper.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyQLWRbx2ZI
#technology #opensource #selfhosting #languagetool

2025-12-23 20:59:39 UTC

- reply

Yes basically the Linux version of those ;-)

2025-12-23 17:07:06 UTC

Stop Manually Checking GitHub Releases — These Tools Automatically Install & Update Apps on Linux
“Package managers are essential tools on Linux systems. They help you install, update, and remove software packages with simple commands. Most distributions come with their own package managers, like apt, dnf, or pacman. However, many modern tools are distributed as pre-compiled binaries via GitHub releases. Developers using languages like Go, Rust, and Deno often release their software this way. New projects that are not included in the official distro repository yet have to opt for this method. This creates a gap between traditional package managers and these GitHub-hosted releases.”
This is probably going to be of more interest to those using Debian and Fedora based package managers, as these are the most popular packages, which are typically generated directly on code hosting sites.
But some interesting options to consider between deb-get, Autonomix, Eget, Install Release, bin, stew, and AFX.
See https://itsfoss.com/github-binaries-tools
#technology #Linux #opensource

2025-12-23 13:33:38 UTC

Windows fatigue continues to push thousands of gamers to switch to Bazzite Linux distro
“Bazzite, a Linux distro that has a lot in common with Valve's SteamOS, is designed specifically with gaming in mind, offering a console-like experience that ditches the majority of Windows 11's most annoying features. In recent usage statistics posted to X, Bazzite shared weekly growth of roughly 1.25x over the past 30 days. To put the number in perspective, this means that Bazzite pulls in roughly 50,000 weekly users.”
There are tons of different Linux distros, but they can actually all do the same things (same Linux kernel underneath). The presentation, included packages, and the package manager type, are what really separates them a bit. So you can really pick any distro you want, and make it work. I use Manjaro KDE, and it is playing all the games I want (including Windows-only games), it does all my browsing, document creation and editing, video creation and editing, and lots more.
What is different about Bazzite, is that it has specialised around making gaming work well from the get-go, and it has a focus on newcomers to Linus as well. Interestingly, it also has a rollback function for any system updates that may cause problems.
Best of all, it's fast, has no adverts, no TPM v2 requirements, and no AI Copilot.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/windows-fatigue-pushes-thousands-of-gamers-to-switch-to-bazzite or their website at https://bazzite.gg
#technology #Linux #Windows11 #gaming

2025-12-20 16:23:23 UTC

GreyNoise launches a free scanner to check if you're part of a botnet
“GreyNoise Labs has launched a free tool called GreyNoise IP Check that lets users check if their IP address has been observed in malicious scanning operations, like botnet and residential proxy networks. The threat monitoring firm that tracks internet-wide activity via a global sensor network says this problem has grown significantly over the past year, with many users unknowingly helping malicious online activity.”
This service involves nothing being installed in your network or devices. It is just looking to see if your IP address has been picked up in their database for suspicious activity that could indicate there is malware or possible botnet activity originating from your IP address.
By just visiting their website the check is done from your browser, but if you register a free account with them, you can set up alerts based on your IP addresses. I set up an alert for my home network as well as for my VPS server.
See https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/greynoise-launches-free-scanner-to-check-if-youre-part-of-a-botnet
#technology #security #botnets

2025-12-20 11:30:43 UTC

Portmaster is an open source application firewall built to monitor and control network activity on Windows and Linux
“Every packet is visible to the service, and any packet can be stopped before it leaves the system. The software matches traffic to the app that created it by using eBPF and the proc filesystem on Linux or a kernel driver and the IP Helper API on Windows. This approach lets users see each connection while still setting rules per application. It also helps the service sort out unusual cases. Portmaster can recognize Snap packages, AppImage apps and scripts on Linux as well as Windows Store apps and system services that run under svchost.exe.”
I love that it shows per application how many, and what countries, connections are being made to the Internet. It also intercepts DNS queries that may have bypassed your user settings.
The linked article does link directly to the GitHub project, where you can get the files to install it.
See https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/12/03/portmaster-open-source-application-firewall
#technology #opensource #security

2025-12-19 20:00:20 UTC

Decentralized YouTube Alternative PeerTube Adds Creator Mode
“PeerTube is a free and open source video hosting platform that serves as an alternative to YouTube. Unlike centralized platforms, it allows anyone to create their own video hosting instance while connecting with others through federation. It is developed by Framasoft, a French non-profit organization focused on digital freedom. Before you ask, the organization keeps itself afloat on donations rather than advertising or scraping people's data. The project recently hit two milestones: PeerTube v8 was released, bringing collaborative features and design improvements. Just a week later, the mobile app received its long-awaited Creator Mode.”
PeerTube has steadily been improving this year and playback has also been getting much better. A year or so back, it was still plagued sometimes with buffering.
It works much the same way as Mastodon and other Fediverse networks do so you can host your own PeerTube instance if you want to. There are some biggish YouTube creators there too, but it does not pay money like YouTube does as there are no adverts shoved into everything.
I also post my videos there at gadgeteerza@video.hardlimit.com. But yes, my follower count there is way lower than on YouTube, because I suppose so many love the YT ads. ;-)
See https://itsfoss.com/news/peertube-8-release
#technology #peertube #opensource

2025-12-19 19:42:48 UTC

Affinity, as an alternative to Photoshop, runs as an AppImage on Linux
“Canva, after acquiring the team behind Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher, launched the free Affinity app that brings together all three of the aforementioned apps. And while it doesn't officially support Linux, the community has stepped up to fix that. So, if you're someone working in image and photo editing, Linux is one step closer to perfection.”
Although the linked article does give a Python code snippet to install this via an installation script on Linux, many may feel more comfortable just downloading and running the AppImage version as this packages the WINE files with it, so it all runs sweetly.
The first run will be slow as it creates the WINE folder files etc inside ~/.AffinityLinux-Appimage/, and thereafter it will start quickly. At initial startup, it prompts for a DPI setting, and it is probably best to leave that at the default (mine was 96) otherwise I notice it displays for a much larger screen.
From https://www.xda-developers.com/thought-needed-windows-for-photoshop-this-linux-project-good/ and you can get the AppImage at https://github.com/ryzendew/AffinityOnLinux/releases
#technology #Linux #photoediting

2025-12-19 17:39:52 UTC

AA Browser is a WebView browser experience for Android Auto head units
Transform your driving experience with a sleek, modern browser designed specifically for the road. Built with cutting-edge Material 3 design and optimised for automotive interfaces.
This browser will work on Android Auto head units, but note the warnings about not looking at it whilst driving. It may though keep younger passenger amused, especially those who are too young now to use social media in Australia.
There are no trackers in the app itself, but it does not have ad blocking capability of the websites you may visit.
You'd need to download the APK file, though, and sideload it to your phone.
See https://github.com/kododake/AABrowser
#technology #androidauto #browsers #opensource

2025-12-18 15:05:09 UTC

Hacker Busts Startup Running Huge Web of AI-Generated “Influencers” on TikTok
“404 Media reports in an explosive scoop that Doublespeed has been hacked. This wasn’t just one account associated with the startup, but the entire backend used to manage its phone farm — so it provides an extraordinary glimpse at how the service is actually being used to manipulate social media at scale. Not only is Doublespeed a possible breeding ground for disinformation campaigns or financial scams, but they seem to be getting away with their phone farm operation without any pushback from TikTok.”
Which all just goes to show yet again, many “influencers” are not even real people, the follower, likes and comment numbers also just cannot be trusted.
I posted only about a month ago about how Twitter used to fake the post views to charge advertisers more money, for adverts that were not seen by those numbers at all.
Once money and advertising get involved on a platform you don't pay to use, it all gets very murky. It's all about driving engagement up, and faking numbers, to fleece advertisers. I really don't think the owners of Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, etc are really interested at all about the social side of social media, nor the end user experience.
Many of us remember how these networks were in their early days, when you interacted with real humans. Today, most of these accounts have AI-generated responses to any comments.
If you still want human social interaction and some moderation of chats, you'll need to look to decentralised social media today.
See https://futurism.com/future-society/hacker-phone-farm-startup
#technology #socialnetworks

2025-12-17 20:29:07 UTC

Chrome and Edge browser extensions with 8 million users, collect extended AI conversations
“Security firm Koi discovered the eight extensions, which as of late Tuesday night remained available in both Google’s and Microsoft’s extension stores. Seven of them carry “Featured” badges, which are endorsements meant to signal that the companies have determined the extensions meet their quality standards. The free extensions provide functions such as VPN routing to safeguard online privacy and ad blocking for ad-free browsing. All provide assurances that user data remains anonymous and isn’t shared for purposes other than their described use.”
Yes, I know this will not be a surprise to many, but there have been many cautions specifically around using free VPNs. Visiting a website in a browser tab is usually a lot safer than installing a browser extension, and especially extensions that grant privileged access like ad blockers.
So, if you are a user of:
* Urban VPN Proxy
* 1ClickVPN Proxy
* Urban Browser Guard
* Urban Ad Blocker
you will probably want to read the linked article.
And for others smiling smugly, just remember that even apps like WhatsApp quite openly state in their T&Cs that they share user metadata with upstream partners. The devil is often in plain sight, just buried deep in the lengthy T&Cs that most don't read.
There are some companies though like Proton, Signal, etc who state that your privacy is not compromised, and then others who require no e-mail, phone number, etc as they do not identify you in any way at all.
See https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/12/browser-extensions-with-8-million-users-collect-extended-ai-conversations
#technology #privacy #browsers

2025-12-17 15:13:21 UTC

Easier Than Nano! Fresh is a Fresh New Rust-based Terminal Editor for Linux
“Fresh is a new Rust-based terminal text editor that takes a different approach. It uses standard keybindings like Ctrl+S for saving, Ctrl+F for searching, and Ctrl+Z for undoing. It works like a GUI editor but runs in your terminal.”
Newer versions of Nano do, I think, default to similar easy to remember common keybindings. If not, it certainly can be set to use them, but every now, and again I still hit Nano with the old keybindings on some devices I work on. That said, I don't think Nano has any built-in file explorer, though.
Fresh certainly looks well worth trying out. It installs on macOS, Linux and Windows (binaries on the GitHub site).
See https://itsfoss.com/fresh-terminal-text-editor
#technology #opensource #texteditors

2025-12-16 16:48:09 UTC

Valve Has the Secret to Playing Your Games Everywhere, and It’s Not Streaming
“Last month, Valve showed off the Steam Machine, a console-like box with PC guts, along with a Steam Frame VR headset. The secret sauce of the headset is down to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU, a mobile-focused chip based on ARM microarchitecture. Valve claims the Frame will be able to play your Steam games, both over local streaming and through an open-source x86 emulator called Fex. When you put on a Steam Frame, it will be running SteamOS, same as the Steam Machine. It’s basically a Steam Deck for your face, but it’s much more distinct than that because of the underlying hardware.”
So, this could be a bit like what the Proton compatibility layer has done for Windows games on Linux (and that has been huge, with more than 24,300 games rated as at least playable with Proton).
See https://gizmodo.com/valve-has-the-secret-to-playing-your-games-everywhere-and-its-not-streaming-2000699887
#technology #gaming #opensource

2025-12-12 18:25:16 UTC

Glances vs Dozzle vs Beszel for Docker Container Monitoring
This video explores some practical pros and cons between open source self-hosted Glances, Dozzle and Beszel for the monitoring of running Docker containers in terms of their performance stats, error logs, automated alerting, and troubleshooting of issues.
It concludes with an overview of the Docker compose configuration files to run Beszel.
I did not unpack the Hub vs Agent relationship for Beszel in the video (as I delved into that only the following day), but note that an agent is required for monitoring of services, but an agent will only connect to one Beszel Hub using a unique token and key combination (created in the Hub when adding a System, and then transferred into the Agent's config file). So if an Agent is running on a remote VPS you can link it to a local Beszel Hub, but if you also want to link it to a Beszel Hub running on that remote VPS, then you must create a second Agent container and link that to the VPS's Beszel Hub.
Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI5WuZt6_ak
#technology #selfhosting #docker #opensource

2025-12-12 18:17:37 UTC

ClipCascade is a self-hosted clipboard manager that syncs across devices without the cloud
There are a couple of apps that do P2P sync of clipboard data or files between devices, but most, like LocalSend, require you to open the app on each device. Others alternatively require dropping the text or file onto a browser page.
ClipCascade will work seamless with your device's clipboard, so this make sit fictionless to use. Only downside for some is that an iOS app is still in the woks (and I imagine that thee will be challenges with iOS).
The service employs end-to-end-encryption so should be secure, even when using their free cloud service if you want to test it out.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/self-hosted-clipboard-manager-syncs-across-devices-without-cloud
#technology #selfhosting #opensource #clipboard

2025-12-10 21:09:53 UTC

Henson Razors are engineered to give a spectacular shave with dirt-cheap generic blades, and it's on sale
“Razors are one of the most heavily and competitively marketed products in American capitalism. Made with steel and plastic that costs a few pennies but sold for a thousand-percent profit, the razor market is the subject of vigorous academic study and debate. The founder of Gillette famously came up with a model of basically giving away the razor handle so he could sell the blades. Canadian startup Henson has the opposite model, charging $79 for a razor that can give you an excellent shave with dirt-cheap disposable blades that cost about 15 cents each.”
I've not used one of these Henson razors yet, but seeing I have been using safety razors and DE blades for the last 15 years or so, I can attest to it costing a lot less than cartridge razors, the shave is pretty good, and it takes about the same time. It should be a no-brainer, but the Gillette PR machine has so many people convinced that they need the latest vibrating 8-blade razor.
Two tips I can give with wet shaving with double-edged blades, is not to skimp on the quality of the razor as you're going to use it for decades, and the other is to buy a blade sample pack. The reason for the sample pack is, everyone's skin is different, and razors have differing aggressiveness angles, as do the blades. With those three factors, you want to find the sweet spot. A sample pack helps you test a few popular blades out with your razor.
Of course, this type of shaving opens up all sorts of opportunities for gifts from razor stands, to custom handles, to shaving soaps (yes you don't want to use aerosol shaving cream anymore), to shaving scuttles, and so on. It becomes a whole hobby in itself.
I was also pleasantly surprised to see in the last month, quite a few youngsters asking on Reddit about how they could get started with traditional wet shaving, as well as one lady who wanted to convert her spouse to it as well. So it is ever-growing, as can be seen from the number of artisans making shaving soaps, handles, razors, etc.
I can safely say (that's a pun, by the way) that I will never ever go back to multi-blade cartridge razor shaving. Sorry Gillette.
See https://www.wired.com/story/the-best-razor-ive-ever-used-is-on-sale
#technology #retro #traditionalwetshaving

2025-12-10 20:52:09 UTC

Pikimov is a free video editor that runs entirely in your browser
“Pikimov is a free, browser-based motion design and video editing tool developed by Clément Cordier as an alternative to Adobe After Effects. You don’t have to download anything, and you don’t even have to create an account to use the entire app. However, you are encouraged to support the project via Patreon. Just like After Effects, Pikimov uses layer-based editing, a composition system, and a familiar panel layout. So anyone coming from AE should feel right at home, and its simplicity will feel like a breath of fresh air compared to Resolve. Pikimov is the perfect tool for anyone who wants to create animations or edit videos but doesn’t have the hardware, doesn’t want to pay a subscription, or doesn’t have the patience for learning heavyweight tools.”
I was actually a bit lost trying to use it, but I'm more used to DaVInci Resolve and Kdenlive video editors, and have never used Adobe After Effects. But seeing it all runs locally in my browser (versus uploading to the cloud) it actually loaded my test video very quickly and scrubbing through it was very quick as well.
It says it runs in Chrome and Edge browsers, but it did not load in my Brave browser. It did however load fine in my Vivaldi browser.
But it does show again how incredibly powerful browsers can be, and I do like the local first, no account registration needed.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/pikimov-free-video-editor-runs-entirely-in-browser
#technology #videoediting

2025-12-10 17:13:00 UTC

This new Steam game lets you dissect and repair an Atari 2600
“If you're someone who likes dissecting every piece of technology that you come across, especially older retro tech, then keep an eye on this newly revealed Steam game. At the Wholesome Snack: The Game Awards 2025 Edition indie game showcase, I Am Future developer Mandragora and Hello Neighbor publisher tinyBuild revealed ReStory, which is set to launch on Steam in 2026.”
I needed this game back in the early 1980s, as I remember taking our family TV apart to build an oscilloscope. The oscilloscope worked, but the TV did not, and my dad had to get a TV technician to repair the TV. Back then, we also did not have smartphones to take photos of things as you were removing their insides.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/restory-preview-new-steam-game
#technology #gaming #retro

2025-12-09 18:31:25 UTC

4 productivity Docker containers that don't require 24/7 runtime
Yes, these services need not be run 24/7, just when you actually want to use them.
It's true, too, that BentoPDF is way lighter on resources than SterlingPDF, but with it's zero-knowledge and ultra-light footprint it also remembers nothing. So, if moving between PDF tools, you will need to save the PDF and re-open it in the next tool to work further. If they could introduce some local persistence, it could be a great tool.
The services covered are:
* Excalidraw
* BentoPDF
* Budget Board
* BookLore
See https://www.xda-developers.com/on-demand-productivity-docker-containers
#technology #selhosting #opensource

2025-12-08 17:45:41 UTC

The Intel N100 killed the Raspberry Pi for home servers
Yes, Pi prices have gone up, as have requirements for hosting a few services. I already found myself migrating off my original Pi, and even my Intel NUC device as a home server.
It is worth keeping in mind what your requirements are vs the total cost of ownership.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/intel-n100-killed-raspberry-pi-home-servers
#technology #raspberrypi #selfhosting

2025-12-08 15:14:38 UTC

8 tiny open source utilities that can instantly make your Linux desktop feel faster
I'd not heard of these apps before, so would be interested to hear if anyone has had good experiences with them?
* Zram-generator
* Preload
* Profile-sync-daemon
* Ananicy-cpp
* Nohang
* Wl-clipboard
* FSearch (had heard of this one)
* Vicinae
See https://www.xda-developers.com/tiny-utilities-instantly-make-linux-desktop-feel-faster
#technology #Linux #opensource

2025-12-08 14:58:45 UTC

I tried this text adventure game from 1977, and it was better than I expected
Back in the early days, before graphics and even block graphics, we had text adventure games. This sort of goes back to the dial-up bulletin board days.
They were actually a lot of fun, and one of the reasons why was, because we used our imagination instead of 4K graphics on a plate.
Even my Hewlett-Packard HP-41CV programmable calculator had a great text adventure game called Hunt the Wumpus, where you had to navigate 20 interconnected caves with pits, bats, and try to find and shoot the Wumpus.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/i-tried-text-adventure-game-1977-better-than-expected
#technology #gaming #retro

2025-12-05 08:12:59 UTC

Big Microsoft 365 price increases coming next year
This should also be a call to those of us (personal or organisations) who have been using free and open source alternatives such as LibreOffice, FreeOffice, ONLYOFFICE, and many others for the last decade or two, to make a small donation to those projects for keeping their office suites free and open source, as well as free of vendor lock-in.
See https://techcentral.co.za/big-microsoft-price-increases-coming-next-year
#technology #opensource

2025-12-04 16:54:49 UTC

The Rest Is History has received the 2025 Apple Podcasts Award for Show of the Year
“The Rest Is History does a phenomenal job in taking a subject as vast as human history and captivating a global audience,” said Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Podcasts, Apple Music, Apple Sports, and Beats. “Tom and Dominic have created something special that represents the very best of what's possible with podcasting — it's educational, it's hilarious, and it has fostered a true sense of community.”
It is worth noting though if you are not using Apple Podcasts, it is available for free elsewhere too. I did a search in my AntennaPod podcast player and found it. Just look for The Rest is History by Goalhanger.
See https://www.macrumors.com/2025/12/04/apple-announces-2025-podcast-of-the-year
#technology #podcasts #history

2025-12-04 12:07:11 UTC

Been waiting for this! Proton now has a Google Sheets clone with end-to-end encryption
Spreadsheets are finally rolling out over the next few days for Proton users. I actually use spreadsheets more often than documents, for product comparisons or purchase decisions. So this is something that has been holding me back a bit from using Proton Drive more fully.
Yes, the feature set is going to be rather minimal right now compared to more mature products, and it also is not (yet) exporting to ODF format.
"Proton Sheets is protected by end-to-end encryption, ensuring that no one else, not even Proton, can access your spreadsheet and the information it contains. Whether you’re tracking your home budget or managing a multi-team project, Sheets can help you get the job done. Use built-in formulas to perform analysis, turn raw data into easily understood charts, and collaborate with remote teams knowing your information is safe."
See https://www.howtogeek.com/proton-now-has-a-google-sheets-clone
#technology #privacy #spreadsheets

2025-12-02 20:47:51 UTC

[RAMBLE] offers privacy-respecting user forums similar to Reddit
You may have seen many Reddit alternatives popping up on the Fediverse over the last few years, and some of them are pretty busy. I've done posts over the years on BeeHaw and similar sites there.
And although they are decentralised servers, they are still IPv4 (clearnet) servers that can be blocked. [RAMBLE] is a similar type of social site that is accessible on clearnet, I2P, Tor and Yggdrasil. Interestingly though, you can ONLY log in on I2P though if you want to post, comment, or vote.
Why the I2P network? The I2P (Invisible Internet Project) network excels in providing strong anonymity and privacy through its decentralised, encrypted overlay on the regular internet, ideal for peer-to-peer communication without revealing user identities or locations.
By users being forced to use the I2P network to actually log in, their privacy and anonymity is better protected by default, and of course, it is also not easy to actually locate and block the [RAMBLE] site itself.
So is [RAMBLE] then all criminal and dark web? Actually, no, it is not. It is about protecting privacy and preventing freedoms of speech censorship. It's rules actually prohibit buying or selling anything illegal, prohibit explicit sexual images including those of minors, no calls for violence, no hate speech (e.g. racism, bigotry, discrimination against other groups, etc), no trolling or harassment of other users.
It has no age verification requirement.
You can access it at:
* Clearnet (read only): https://ramble.pw
* Yggdrasil (read only): [200:b846:2eaa:4ed5:260c:a883:4df4:f79f]
* Tor (read only): http://rambleeeqrhty6s5jgefdfdtc6tfgg4jj6svr4jpgk4wjtg3qshwbaad.onion
* I2P (log in): http://ramble.i2p
#technology #socialnetworks #alternativesto #privacy
https://npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6.blossom.band/cd411d252e813631b130e629f64fd86fdf7a3a818ebfe4d072d3fa9030de4bfc.webp

2025-12-02 18:31:17 UTC

How Tor Can Help You Be More Anonymous on the Internet
Whilst a Tor browser can access normal HTTPS websites, it can also access onion websites and the dark web (where there is no age verification required). The linked article is quite comprehensive in that it also mentions some downsides like slower speed, and some exposure on both sides of the link (entering and exiting the Tor network) namely your ISP seeing the Tor protocol being used, and the Tor exit node.
But importantly the article gives some suggestions on improving privacy, and also highlighting that the Tor network can be used for perfectly legitimate sites on the dark web — many being news sites, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, etc. In some countries, VPNs and Tor are used to gain access to news and e-mail that may otherwise be blocked. So Tor also bypasses censorship attempts by governments.
Some browsers like Brave browser will actually fire up their own private window with Tor, so no need to install the Tor browser itself.
See https://lifehacker.com/tech/what-is-tor
#technology #Tor #privacy #darkweb

2025-12-02 14:56:50 UTC

5 Docker Compose tricks that made my home server more reliable
This was an interesting article. I did not know about the limiting of restarts up to a defined number of failures. That is pretty useful to prevent a container continuously restating, and then sometimes showing as green for running.
The other intriguing one was using curl for health checks. Just note you must use the internal container port as it is running inside the container. If curl is not present in your container, the wget command can be used instead.
The syntax for both, that I found worked, were:
`test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -f http://localhost:8080 || exit 1"] ` and
`test: ["CMD-SHELL", "wget -q --spider http://localhost:8080 || exit 1"] ` so I hope that helps others.
Another trick, where some containers only respond when using the container IP address (which changes) is to use something like this for the IP and port: `http://$(hostname -i):8080`.
I had one stubborn container, a MQTT one, that refused to respond to any querying, so I used this instead `test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pgrep mosquitto || exit 1"] ` which checks if the process is running inside the container.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/docker-compose-tricks-that-made-my-home-server-more-reliable
#technology #docker #containers #selfhosting

2025-12-01 10:22:44 UTC

5 open-source projects that secretly power your favourite apps
"You've heard that the world's infrastructure runs on Linux, and how important Free and Open Source (FOSS) software is to just about all the technology we enjoy every day, but there are some (to bring out the old cliché) unsung heroes of FOSS without which your stuff just wouldn't work—and you should at least know their names."
It is true, too, that most open source projects are built using other open source projects, but these are a few of those that sit in the background powering many popular projects.
I love the article's comment about Electron. I suppose it is the same as for Flatpaks, AppImages and Snaps. They make things possible across distros.
See https://www.howtogeek.com/open-source-projects-that-secretly-power-your-favorite-apps
#technology #opensource

2025-11-29 15:43:49 UTC

Filedropshare uses WebRTC for local peer-to-peer (P2P) file transfers without the cloud
This is not the first service to do this, as Pairdrop does something similar. It should not be confused though with Localsend, as Localsend requires the apps to be installed on each device it works with. Syncthing too is something different, and apart from apps being installed, Synthing also requires configuration for the ongoing syncing of files.
All Filedropshare requires is a browser. The central site does the WebRTC signalling to establish contact, but the filers are not actually uploaded to that site.
If Fieldropshare makes you a bit nervous (not having any published open source software) then Pairdrop may be a better option as it is open source at https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/PairDrop and https://pairdrop.net. You can also self-host and instance of Pairdrop if you wish to.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/wish-knew-about-local-file-transfer-tool-before-trusted-cloud
#technology #filetransfer #privacy

2025-11-28 20:18:17 UTC

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are better to use for major social network services than their mobile apps
Yes, you do lose a few things like instant notifications and some performance, but the benefits are no app in the background that tracks your location the whole time, sometimes storing masses of data on your phone, and also sometimes chewing data in the background too.
But if you are trying to break free from doomscrolling, then using a PWA instead may be just what you needed. PWA uses your browser but saves the icon on the homescreen, so it starts up pretty well much like a mobile app, and all the usual browser buttons and other menus are hidden, so it is quite a clean experience.
Importantly, a PWA is sandboxed by your browser, so now that social network service can't see your photos, texts, or other apps unless you give it explicit permission.
See https://www.androidpolice.com/delete-native-apps-hello-web
#technology #privacy #socialnetworks

2025-11-27 17:49:50 UTC

The Astrion smart remote is a game-changer for Home Assistant users
"Every once in a while, some piece of smart home tech launches that's genuinely different to those that came before it, and one that I came across at this year's Maker Faire in Shenzhen is the Astrion remote by Sanytron. Astrion is a dedicated universal remote built specifically with Home Assistant users in mind. Sanytron is a Chinese company that specialises in human–machine interaction hardware for smart homes and custom install systems, and the Astrion is a remote designed to look like a regular TV remote."
Yep it's not that cheap at $145 but for those that make use of the functions it supports, it could be pretty useful.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/astrion-smart-remote-game-changer
#technology #homeassistant #selfhosting

2025-11-26 19:39:34 UTC

- reply

It will be negligible compared to other smart watches as this only has Bluetooth low energy that comes on for one minutes 4x a day, only if you have the auto time sync activated.
Privacy should be fine as location tracking only comes on if you activate it manually, and then only to the Casio app, as it does not sync to any other services. So location is defaulted to off. That said, the watch itself has no GPS so any location would be by the phone.

2025-11-26 19:35:00 UTC

- reply

Not sure on this one yet as I'm still using my Reolink CCTV setup until it finally fails ;-)

2025-11-26 11:01:02 UTC

Why I Ditched My Smartwatch for a Retro-Styled Casio Watch
This video takes you through my decision-making process and reasons for ditching my Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (and other smartwatches) for a modern, retro-styled Casio ABL-100WE watch.
The video starts with the straw that broke the camel's back, and concludes with two other possibilities I'll weigh up early in 2026.
Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BtlVV-lfT0
#technology #smartwatches #retro #Casio #gadget

2025-11-24 20:31:38 UTC

By now, we should know you CANNOT believe all you see on social media
“Elon Musk’s social media echo chamber X-formerly-Twitter introduced a new feature over the weekend that shows the location where its users have been tweeting from — a move that has exposed an embarrassing problem for the social network: that many of its most politically inflammatory users are actually foreign scammers cashing in on gullible and outrage-hungry Americans. As the New York Times reports, it didn’t take long for online sleuths to notice that accounts that post MAGA ragebait weren’t actually tweeting from the United States; instead, they’re based in Eastern Europe, Thailand, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and other parts of the world, often linked to online scams and schemes.”
Especially if there is an algorithm to be gamed, and one based on outrage or inflaming emotions, then be very wary of actually believing what you see are genuine people. If they're not AI driven bots, they're going to be people click baiting to get viral responses. The behaviour today makes old-fashioned trolling look positively tame by comparison.
I think that for many people, a sense of apathy has set in when using social media. Certainly on the centralised algorithm driven services, it has been many years since I saw any real-life friends or family actually posting anything.
There is hope though in the many decentralised, and better moderated, social media network platforms. They don't have algorithms to game (apart from chronological ordering of posts) and they don't have ads paid for by views, so there is little to drive that sort of behaviour.
Of course there is always the geopolitical angle, with efforts to try to undermine or railroad elections in countries, but again, it is difficult to get a viral foothold without an algorithm driving views. Users are generally just seeing posts from those who they follow.
And on clicks and views, especially on Twitter, as those views are what generates revenue for them from advertisers, it also appears that those may have also been faked from back in the old Twitter days. This according to something mentioned on the Revolution.Social podcast this last week. Before Elon Musk even came along, Twitter saw that faking these numbers could increase their revenue! After Elon Musk took over? Well, we don't know for sure, and maybe he is running it all by the book.
So, we should just remember that on profit-driven social networks which have paid advertising, and where ragebaiting and trolling can easily go viral, not everything you see is going to be true, and maybe there is an attempt to just push your emotional buttons. If you remember this, your visits to some social media platforms may be a lot less stress inducing.
See https://futurism.com/future-society/new-twitter-feature-maga-scammers-foreign
#technology #socialnetworks #ragebaiting