Geek Stuff category archive

VirtualBox VM of POP!OS on Mageia v. 7 using the Fluxbox window manager. The POP! wallpaper is from the POP! library. The host wallpaper is from my collection.

I find it eerie to wake up and find my internet connection is working. As I mentioned earlier, I was experiencing connectivity issues. Were it not for my cellphone hotspot, I would not have been able to maintain my stream of drivel . . . .

Last week, I prevailed upon my ISP to send a tech to my house, and he seems to have fixed it. I will admit that I have some grumps with my ISP, but their tech support is excellent.

I had earlier switched out my modem for a “new” modem from my ISP’s local store, and it turned out that the new modem was dodgy (if I were an ISP and someone moved away and returned their modem, I would repackage it too). The support tech did his thing and installed a different modem, and the connection has been rock solid ever since. But I am still somewhat surprised to get up in the morning and find that the connection is still working.

Of course, with my luck, when I wake up tomorrow, it probably won’t be working.:{

The Fluxbox window manager on Ubuntu MATE. The wallpaper is a photo I took of a Lantern Asia display at Norfolk’s Gardens by the Sea.

Ubuntu MATE with the Fluxbox window manager. The wallpaper is from my collection.

I do like me my pretty pictures.

VirtualBox virtual machine of Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop environment on Mageia v. 7 under the Fluxbox window manager.

Ubuntu MATE with the MATE desktop. Firefox is shaded toward the top of the screen; Swisswatch is in the upper right and GKrellM with the “glass” theme is in the lower right. The wallpaper is from my collection.

I think I’ve shot the trouble I was having with internet connectivity.

Now I need a break.

Connectivity issues. I’ll be troubleshooting some connectivity issues on my home network this afternoon.

Addendum:

So, of course, when I go to shoot the trouble, everything is working smooth like butter.

Intermittent problems are the hardest to solve.

Listening to Murder at Bridge in VLC on Ubuntu MATE using the MATE desktop.

I tried to install a plugin to make this site more mobile friendly and it broke my WordPress.

I had my hosting account open at the time, so I went to phpMyAdmin, opened the file manager, navigated to the WordPress plugin directory, deleted the plugin’s directory, and everything worked again.

(Wiping brow) I got off easy that time. And I learned something.

Last time something went wrong, I was offline for a month.

A wallpaper from my collection in the Plasma desktop on Mageia v. 7.

Afterthought:

Speaking of felines, one of the cats knocked my little bedroom television to the floor, taking a lamp and the answering machine with it, last night. It took me half an hour to get everything reconnected this morning.

I haven’t gotten the culprit to confess.

Yet.

The Plasma desktop on Mageia v. 7. Claws-Mail and Firefox are shaded near the top of the screen. The wallpaper is from my collection.

Ubuntu MATE with the MATE desktop. The wallpaper is from my collection.

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Mageia v. 7 with the Enlightenment window manager. The wallpaper is from my collection.

The Plasma Desktop on Mageia v. 7. The wallpaper is from my collection.

The Plasma Desktop on Mageia v. 7. The wallpaper is from my collection.

It’s no surprise to those who pay attention that you can buy likes and followers and sharers (choose the term favored by your particular “social” media platform of choice) for your “social” media presence. What is surprising is how cheap it is to do so.

Researchers from the center, a NATO-accredited research group based in Riga, Latvia, paid three Russian companies 300 euros ($368) to buy 337,768 fake likes, views and shares of posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok . . . .

That’s about a thousand fake friends for a dollar. Never has love been so cheap.

Follow the link for more about the study in question.

The Plasma Desktop on Ubuntu MATE. The wallpaper is from my collection.

Listening to an episode of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater in Firefox on Ubuntu MATE with the Plasma desktop. The Konsole terminal emulator is open to the left of Firefox. The wallpaper is from my collection.