Geek Stuff category archive
“Smart Home” Indeed 0
El Reg reports on the con (more at the link).
The fridge in question required a GE RPWFE refrigerator water filter. It has an RFID chip, which the fridge uses to verify the authenticity of the part. The RPWFE filter costs much more than unapproved filters: about $50 compared to $13.
Aside:
The “smart home” trade off is a simple one.
You no longer have to walk across the room to turn on the lights. In return, big data strips you nekkid.
Going Viral on the Disinformation Superhighway 0
After examining what percentage of tweets about the coronavirus contain misinformation and downright falsehoods (hint: far too much), Phil Reed, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, moves on to examine why others pick them up and spread them. His answer will not bolster your faith in humans as rational creatures (but, these days, what does?). Here’s the nub; follow the link for the evidence and citations (emphasis added):
Snow White and the Seven Roombas 0
This article may make you grumpy, but don’t sneezy at it, because it makes a singularity point.
Geeking Out 0
Mageia v. 7 with the Fluxbox window manager, the GKrellM system monitor, QMMP, and Xclock. Claws-mail and Firefox are shaded in a tabbed window.
Meta: Rescheduling 0
I’ve removed a post that I mistakenly posted earlier today because it was out of sequence (hard as it may be to believe, sometimes a little planning–not much, but some–goes into this thing). It will reappear later in sequence.
Geeking Out 0
Mageia v. 7 with the QMMP media player with the Chinese Beauty skin playing music that swings, Claws-Mail and Firefox tabbed and shaded, Konsole (also shaded), GKrellM, and xclock. The Fluxbox window manager is using the sunlense theme.
The background is from my collection.
What’s in a Name? 0
El Reg reports on Microsoft’s relabeling its Office 360 (that’s the one in the cloud on somebody else’s computer) update routines. It’s like American cars in the 1950s and 1960s–rearranging the chrome on the same old same old.
Follow the link for the full box of brand aids.
Geeking Out 2
Ubuntu MATE with the Fluxbox window manager using the zimek-darkblue theme, xclock, and GKrellM. The wallpaper is from my collection.
If anyone can tell me what the building in the picture is, I would be most grateful. It seems clearly to be in Germany or possibly Austria . . . .
Geeking Out 0
Ubuntu MATE with the Fluxbox window manager using the Ubuntu Dark theme on a Zareason media box. The background is from my collection.
If you are a regular visitor, you have probably noticed that Fluxbox is my preferred GUI interface. It is capable of all the eye candy you could want, without the overhead of a desktop environment.
Geeking Out 0
The Fluxbox window manager on Ubuntu MATE with GKrellM, xclock, and the QMMP media player playing The Bishop’s Secret by Fergus Hume. Thunderbird and Firefox are shaded in a tabbed window (and, no, you can’t do that on Windows).
Geeking Out 0
The Fluxbox window manager on Mageia v. 7 with xclock and GKrellM. The background (that’s Linux for “wallpaper”) is from my collection and shows Red Square and the GUM department store.
You Can’t Trust Dr. Google 0
Not that that should surprise anyone.
Geeking Out 0
Ubuntu MATE with the Fluxbox window manager using the “mussel” style running the QMMP media player (playing The Bishop’s Secret by Fergus Hume), GKrellM, and Xclock. The wallpaper is from my collection.
You’ve Been Zoomed 0
If you have been using the Zoom app to work or school from home, or even just to talk with friends, you should know that El Reg reports that it’s even less secure than previously reported. Here’s a snippet from the latest (emphasis added):
When reports emerged that Zoom Meetings are not actually end-to-end encrypted encrypted, Zoom responded that it wasn’t using the commonly accepted definition of the term.
“While we never intended to deceive any of our customers, we recognize that there is a discrepancy between the commonly accepted definition of end-to-end encryption and how we were using it,” the company said in a blog post.
If you have been Zooming, you owe it to yourself to read the rest. Then pick up a landline.
Aside:
Zoom’s mealy-mouthing is positively staggering.
Geeking Out 0
Ubuntu MATE with the Fluxbox window manager, xclock, GKrellM, and QMMP on a Zareason Mediabox. The wallpaper is from my collection.
Lurking from Home 0
El Reg reports on the intrusiveness of the Zoom app, which is trending as more and more persons use it to work from home in these viral times. A snippet:
“What makes this extra creepy is that Zoom is in a position to gather plenty of personal data, some of it very intimate (for example with a shrink talking to a patient) without anyone in the conversation knowing about it. (Unless, of course, they see an ad somewhere that looks like it was informed by a private conversation on Zoom.)”
Read the rest, then pick up the landline.