Geek Stuff category archive
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 (April 5, 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.
Facebook Frolics, Phoning Home Dept. 0
Pap and Farron discuss how Facebook has “scraped” phone calls and contacts using its Android app.
A Troll under the Internet 0
In the Hartford Courant, Matthew Kauffman tells a fascinating tale of how he toyed with an internet fraudster for two weeks. From the opening of his article:
Give it a read.
Facebook Frolics 0
In related news, Daniel Ruth points out that Facebook’s targets users are hardly blameless. A snippet:
After all, Facebook is nothing more than a huge, honking privacy violation machine. It is not an egalitarian social network uniting the world in a common bond of friendship and sharing. Like so many other cyber platforms, Facebook has become a propaganda weapon, a troller’s paradise and an opportunity to sell all manner of stuff. It’s the General Motors of hubris.
Geeking Out 0
Slackware 14.2 with the Fluxbox window manager with the “green tea” style. The wallpaper is from my collection.
Facebook Frolics 0
A frolicker sees the light: Interactivity is not sociability.
Facebook Frolics 0
Follow the link for a thoughtful column on privacy and social media. Frankly, I think the columnist is somewhat naive and doesn’t fully get the extent to which the internet is a public place that never forgets, and that one should conduct oneself accordingly, but I think his musings provoke enough thought to be worth a read.
Facebook Frolics, No Place To Hide Dept. 0
The Electronic Frontier Foundation provides guidance on how to better protect your privacy on Facebook.
An iKey for Your iJunk 0
El Reg reports:
The GrayKey site itself is hidden behind a registration wall, and maker GrayShift simply says the product “is not for everybody”. The biz did not respond to a request for comment.
Antivirus outfit MalwareBytes says it was able to get a closer look at the device and its underlying technology, and the company does not like what it sees. Researcher Thomas Reed said the device carries with it some “significant security risks”.
Facebook Frolics, Biometric Boog-a-Loo Dept. 0
Mike Papantonio talks with Brigida Santos about why a judge is ordering Facebook to face trial over its collection of data from personal images.
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.