Geek Stuff category archive
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
In a court case in which Google is contesting the EU’s “right to be forgotten” law, Great Britain’s Information Commissioner contemns Google’s contention that its search results are somehow “journalism.” A snippet:
In plain English, humans (mostly) don’t decide what appears in search results so calling Google’s activities “journalism” is just plain wrong, according to the commissioner.
Walleye Pikers 0
People who live in glass houses . . . .
Three people suffered head injuries, including a middle-aged man who hit his head so hard against a glass window that he was bleeding on his eyebrow and expected to have stitches, according to 911 audio (for a transcript of the calls, click here).
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 (March 1, 2018). 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.
Down at the Farm 0
The blog has not been cooperative today. It threw a “fatal” memory error around lunchtime. After a bike ride–the May weather we are having here at the end of February was too nice not to go on a bike ride–I dug into it and found a workaround and it’s working again.
I will be digging into this a bit deeper during the course of the week, but at least I am back on line so I can bestow my deathless electrons on an uncaring world. . . .
If you notice any erratic or unusual behavior (with the website, that is), please email me at frank@pineviewfarm.net or click the “Email Me” link on the sidebar.
Aside:
This issue was in no way related to the problems viewing this site that occurred in late January and early February. Those issues have been resolved with enhanced security features.
Geeking Out 0
Listening to an episode of Sexton Blake from Old Radio Programs in a VM of Windows 7 in VirtualBox on Slackware v. 14.2 on a Zareason desktop computer. In the background, there’s a VM of CentOS 7.
Facebook Frolics, All the News that Fits Dept. 0
At the San Francisco Chronicle, Audrey Cooper comments on the Zuckerborg’s latest stunt to shape (I originally typed “shave” and am wondering whether that was a typo or a Freudian slip) its news they-laughingly-call-it-a “feed.” A snippet:
The thing is, my relatives will still share fake news on Facebook, and it will show up in my “news” feed under your new rules. I’ll still see the partisan opinion pieces that my friends share. But I won’t see posts from responsible news outlets I choose to follow unless I take several steps to force the newsfeed to prioritize it.
Do please read the rest.
Geeking Out 0
Debian Sid with KDE. Sid calls itself “Debian Unstable,” but it’s unstable only in comparison with Debian Stable. By any other standard, it’s rock-solid.
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 (January 4, 2018). 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.
Geeking Out 0
Virtual Machine of Fedora 27 running the Trinity Desktop under VirtualBox on Slackware –Current.
The Snaring Economy 0
The EU rules that Uber is gypsy cabs with an app. Uber had tried to argue that it was an app with gypsy cabs.
(snip)
Uber had denied it was a transport company, arguing instead it was a computer services business with operations that should be subject to an EU directive governing e-commerce and prohibiting restrictions on the establishment of such organisations.
Facebook Frolics 0
Germany suggests the Facebook is being intrusive. I’m shocked, shocked, I say.
“We are mostly concerned about the collection of data outside Facebook’s social network and the merging of this data into a user’s Facebook account,” said Bundeskartellamt president Andreas Mundt.
He noted that this data gathering “even happens when, for example, a user does not press a ‘like button’ but has called up a site into which such a button is embedded.” Visiting a webpage with a Facebook ‘like’ button on it phones homes some info about the netizen to the Mark-Zuckerberg-run business, in other words.
Facebook Frolics 0
In case you ever wondered why I seldom use Facebook and why, when I do, I do so only in “private” or “incognito” mode, the reason is quite simple.
The Zuckerborg makes the NSA look like amateurs.
