Geek Stuff category archive
Geeking Out 0
Slackware –Current with the XFCE desktop running in a VirtualBox virtual machine on Mageia v. 7 with the Plasma desktop, xclock, and GKrellm.
Geeking Out 0
Mageia v. 7 with the Plasma desktop running on a Zareason desktop. The running applications are shaded (or rolled up, to use another term). The background is from my collection.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
At The Seattle Times, Ev Ehrlich recalls the optimism that accompanied the creation and early growth of the internet, the belief that it would become, in Al Gore’s words, the “information superhighway.” He argues that the reality is less than optimal, if not downright dystopian. A snippet (emphasis added):
Dumb Watches 0
El Reg reports that, when it comes to monitoring your health, your smart gadget ain’t so smart. Here’s bit from their story:
However, the technology isn’t foolproof. Like all deep learning models, ECG ones are susceptible to adversarial attacks: miscreants can force algorithms to misclassify the data by manipulating it with noise.
The report goes on to point out that, in tests, properly trained real live human beings did better at identifying and discounting said “noise.”
Left Unchecked 0
I have never used a “grammar checker” in a word processing program.* (I can diagram my own sentences quite nicely, thank you.)
Turns out my instincts were correct. At the Hartford Courant, Mark McFadden explains that automated computerized grammar checkers don’t.
____________________
*I do use spellcheckers, but never the “automatic” ones. Also, do grade schools still teach grammar, or has it gone the way of civics?
Make TWUUG Your LUG 0
Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do. Learn how to use GNU/Linux and its plethora of free and open source software to get stuff done with computers.
It’s not hard; it’s just different.
When: Monthly TWUUG meeting at 7:30 p. m. on the first Thursday of the month (February 6, 2020). Pre-meeting dinner at Chicago Uno, JANAF shopping center, 6:00 p. m. (map)
Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.
Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room (map). (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.
What Puts the “Anti-” in “Social” Media? 0
Gene Geher, an admitted Facebook Frolicker, suggest that “social” media presents us with an “evolutionary mismatch.”
He identifies ten specific problems; follow the link for a brief discussion of each one.
- People can be nasty behind screens.
- Social media creates unhealthy social echo chambers.
- Social media is not for the impulsive at heart.
- Infidelity rates have increased due to social media.
- Social media makes bullying easier.
- Social media creates permanent records—of just about everything.
- Cell phones are truly addicting.
- The natural world is suddenly less interesting than the virtual world is.
- Social estrangements are made too easy on social media.
- People can deceive in the domain of mating* like never before.
_____________________
*Not just in mating, folks.
We’ve Gone App Sappy 0
We are a society of electronic stupid.
(snip)
After Paul says Gig Share suggested that she and her companion sleep in the car overnight on the side of the road, she called for a tow truck “to move us three miles down the road where there is cell service so we can start our car[.] The future is dumb.”
Follow the link. You may find this difficult to imagine, but it gets stupider.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
At Science 2.0, Hank Campbell explores the role of “social” media in fomenting untruth and the sometime complicity of journalism in perpetuating the disinformation.
Methinks that “distrust but verify” is a good guideline as regards “social” media.
Stray Thought, Textual Interpretation Dept. 0
Judging from the activity of my telly fones, the “Do Not Call List” is thoroughly castrated, so I reckon that my wish for a “Do Not Text List” is a lost cause. But, honest to Betsy, I’m sick of unsigned texts from unknown phones asking me to support/contribute to/vote for this or that pol/cause/campaign.
If they signed their names, I might feel more charitabl–On second thought, no.
Obnoxious and intrusive is obnoxious and intrusive, signed or unsigned.
Make TWUUG Your LUG 0
Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do. Learn how to use GNU/Linux and its plethora of free and open source software to get stuff done with computers.
It’s not hard; it’s just different.
When: Monthly TWUUG meeting at 7:30 p. m. on the first Thursday of the month (February 6, 2020). Pre-meeting dinner at Chicago Uno, JANAF shopping center, 6:00 p. m. (map)
Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.
Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room (map). (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.
“Smile, You’re Candid Camera” 0
Yes, you are starring in your own television’s show.