Geek Stuff category archive
Wok’s Cooking? 0
I have a new podcast at Hackerpublicradio.org about learning how to cook with a wok.
Do you have an interest you want to share?
Create your own podcast. HPR makes it easy.
A Case of Selfie-Incrimination? 0
Bruce Schneir thinks it’s quite possible.
Facebook Frolics 0
Facebook tries to claim the word, “book,” as its own.
The Snaring Economy 0
She left her phone in the Lyft. Then she was asked to share.
When she asked if he would return her phone, the driver told the woman he was busy working and that she didn’t “deserve” her phone back, according to the police report.
After the woman called back repeatedly, the driver “said he would bring it back to her if she would have sex with him,” police said in a separate news release.
“Sharing.” Yeah.
Stray Thought 0
Facebook, Twitter, et al., are not “social” media. They are sociopathic media.
They like you only because you have big da-tas.
Make TWUUG Your LUG (Updated) 2
Update: Because of a last minute schedule conflict, the meeting has been postponed for a week. I learned about it by visiting the website as I was at the restaurant wondering why no one else had shown up. The announcement was posted to the forum late yesterday afternoon, but I was occupied with other things and did visit it last night.
Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Learn how to use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do.
It’s not hard; it’s just different.
What: Monthly TWUUG Meeting.
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. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.
When: 7:30 PM till whenever (usually 9:30ish) on Thursday, June 4 June 11.
Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)
Pre-Meeting Dinner at 6:00 PM (separate checks)
Uno Chicago Grill
Virginia Beach Blvd. & Military Highway (Janaf Shopping Center). (Map)
Multi-Tasking Is Bunk 0
Turns out we really can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.
Facebook Frolics 2
Gwendolyn Seidman puts Facebook on the couch at Psychology Today Blogs.
GPS: Global Positioning Singularity 0
Gidget the Gadget takes the con.
There’s a reason I prefer maps–the old-fashioned kind that you can fold up.
“It’s No Secret How Weird My Love Is for You” 0
. . . not if it’s on the innerwebs.
How Stuff Works: The End of Privacy 0
Simon Phipps explains the theft of your privacy. He’s writing specifically about the recent British elections, but it works the same way on this side of the Big Pond. Here’s a bit:
They issue an instruction to block the fields. The objective is unarguably pure and the things that those one or two people are doing are disgusting, so it must be possible, right? If you object to blocking the fields, it only goes to proves that you’re one of those dirty people. Bureaucrats get to work on the demand. They can’t block an open field, so first they build a road across the field. Then they build a police control point in the middle of the road.
Follow the link to find out what happens next.
Facebook Frolics 0
A little fracas down the road a piece:
According to court testimony, the case stemmed from a Facebook post Randall made last year.
Randall wrote that he regretted voting for Moody and referenced the councilman’s “side family.”
In 2013, it became public that Moody fathered a child outside of his marriage.
If saying something to someone’s face would be, as they say, “asking for it,” so too would saying it on Facebook.
Facebook Frolics 0
One more time, teach yourself that the internet is a public place.
Facebook Frolics 0
One more time: the internet is a public place. Govern yourselves accordingly.
The Internet Is a Public Place 0
Buried deep in a longer story about Twitter’s trading travails (the stock is down a bit) is this nugget (emphasis added):
Facebook has so much data on its users, “you could actually target a premium credit card to a businessman you know is traveling all the time,” said Bryan Wiener, chairman of 360i, a digital marketing agency that works with brands like Capital One, NBCUniversal, Spotify, Oreo and Oscar Mayer.
In other words, Twitter needs to up its spying game to up its stock price.
Story via my local rag, print edition.
Make TWUUG Your LUG 0
Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Learn how to use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do.
It’s not hard; it’s just different.
What: Monthly TWUUG Meeting.
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. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.
When: 7:30 PM till whenever (usually 9:30ish) on Thursday, May 7.
Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)
Pre-Meeting Dinner at 6:00 PM (separate checks)
Uno Chicago Grill
Virginia Beach Blvd. & Military Highway (Janaf Shopping Center). (Map)
Persons Fret about the “Surveillance State” . . . 0
Listen Up, Y’Hear 0
I have a couple of new podcasts up at Hackerpublicradio.org, and you can too.
One is about Mutt, a command line email client which manages email the way email was meant to be managed; the other is about vim, a powerful and versatile text editor, but one with an extremely cryptic command set which many, including me, have found intimidating.