Geek Stuff category archive
Geeking Out 0
Debian 9 with the Fluxbox window manager on a ThinkPenguin E-Box.
Debian, for some fool reason, does not include the “Fluxbox Regenerate Menu” script in its Fluxbox package. To regenerate and then customize the menu, I had to copy the script from another instance and run it under Debian.
So you don’t have to go through this annoyance, I have published the “Fluxbox Regenerate Menu” script here.
And in case you are wondering, yes, I do quite like Fluxbox. It combines the eye candy of a desktop environment with the simplicity of a window manager. I’m currently defaulting to it on all of my machines.
“The Suit” 0
My local rag has a fascinating story about the protective gear that bomb disposal techs wear.
I commend it to your attention.
Facebook Frolics 0
Just the kind of guy we would want guiding our children’s educational experiences.
Man, you see stuff like this and can’t help wondering, “Don’t these folks know how to behave in public?” Then you realize that “social” media purposefully lulls its “users” into forgetting that the internet is a public place.
Walking the Walk 0
I think Atrios is onto something here.
How Stuff Works, Everyone’s a Clickit Dept. 0
Sunday’s New York Times offered a detailed exploration of the lucrative business of selling ersatz “views” of YouTube videos, duplicitous “likes” on Facebook, and spurious listens on SoundCloud.
Have Cake, Eat It Too 0
The Bangor Daily News, using Alex Jones as a starting point, calls out Silicon Valley “social” media’s self-serving sophistries.
Geeking Out 0
Mageia Linux v. 6 with the Fluxbox window manager using the OxAR style, with the venerable xclock and GKrellM system monitor.
Twits on Twitter 0
Bob Molinaro, sportswriter extraordinaire:
I have mixed feelings about this stuff. On the one hand, dammit, my parents taught me how to behave in public, and these kids should have known how to behave in public. On the other hand, social media outfits aggressively try to convince their users that said outlets are somehow intimate spaces where they can betray all their most intimate secrets to marketeers express themselves freely.
And teen-aged boys do stupid things.
I know.
I was a teen-aged boy.
As I said, mixed feelings.
Make TWUUG Your LUG 2
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 (August 2, 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.
Farcical Recognition 0
Remember, much of the tech stuff you see on your telly vision is not forensic science, but rather forensic science fiction. In real life, when it doesn’t work as expected, the repercussions can be devastating, if not fatal, to the mis-recognized. For example:
More accurately, the 28 members of Congress were falsely matched with mugshots from the 25,000 publicly-available arrest photos (the ACLU did not specify where it got the photos). (Though Lewis was, in fact, arrested during civil rights protests in the 1960s, the ACLU’s blog post on the test implied these photos were not part of their test.)
Eleven of the falsely identified Congresspeople were people of color, 40 percent of the erroneous matches, despite people of color making up less than 30 percent of Congress.
Much more at the link.
The Snaring Economy 0
Thank you, no, I’ll call a cab.
It’s called “vomit fraud,” a scam repeatedly denounced in social networks yet still taking place around the world. . . .
What is it? Passengers request Uber cars, which deliver them to their destination. So far so good.
But soon the passenger receives a note from Uber reporting an “adjustment” in the bill and an extra charge that can range from $80 to $150, depending on the driver’s degree of crookedness.
The story goes on the describe how unresponsive Uber is to the victims of this sick attack.
Geeking Out 0
RealPlayer playing on Windows Seven running in VirtualBox in seamless mode on Slackware 14.2 under the Fluxbox window manager. Note that you can see both the Windows menu from the virtual machine and the Fluxbox menu from the host machine. By the way, it’s a legit paid for and registered copy of Windows Seven.
A Simple Stand for an E-Box 0
I mentioned earlier that, thanks to a lightning strike, I recently purchased a ThinkPenguin E-Box computer. To free up some desk space, I built a simple little stand for it using bits and pieces of lumber in my scrap this-will-come-in-handy pile.
Meta: Up and Running 0
I mentioned earlier that we had a lighting strike that took out a computer, a printer, a KVM switch, a television, and two mini-boxes from the cable company.
I’ve got the replacement computer up and running with Debian 9 running the Plasma desktop. (The new television is up and running also.) As an aside, our cable company replaced the mini-boxes without a question. I must admit that I have some gripes with my cable company, but customer service is not one of them.
I had some truly oddball hardware issues with the computer when I first hooked it up and I have nothing but praise for ThinkPenguin’s support. When you want a new computer, think penguin.
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 (June 6, 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.
DIY External Hard Drive Rack 2
Earlier this week, a freak lightning incident took out my 23-inch Lenovo graphics tablet, along with my printer, a KVM switch, and two mini-boxes from my cable company. The Lenova was a fine machine and I will miss it, but it was also eight years old; I half-way expected it to die soon of natural causes, but I did not anticipate that it would be assassinated.
Oddly enough, the other computer attached to the KVM switch seems to be fine.
Over the years, a rat’s nest of wires, external drives, and hubs had built up behind the Lenovo and I decided this would be a good time to clean up the mess. Because I’m chea–er–frugal, I did on the chea–er–frugal.