Danie

FUTO keyboard is an excellent alternative with good theming and better text prediction due to local language model inclusion. Its source code is fully open, but not free to re-use for commercial purposes. It is therefore in Google Play Store and not F-Droid.

2026-07-11 21:00:58 UTC

HeliBoard is a privacy-conscious and customisable open-source keyboard for Android
This is a very feature packed and functional keyboard. I've found its word suggestions as good as GBoard and other Big Tech keyboards. I managed to import an Afrikaans dictionary and HeliBoard handled multilingual typing well.
There are also quite a few layout tweaks that can be applied, it can pop up more word suggestions, clipboard history, do split keyboard, etc. Interestingly too, in the About menu there is a page that shows a description of hidden features that may go unnoticed. That is a nice touch, and shows how much attention has gone into this keyboard.
It is open-source and fully private, but even has a toggle to enable incognito mode to cut off features such as learning words.
It is not available on the Android store so you either install the APK from their GitHub site, or install it from F-Droid or IzzyOnDroid stores. Their GitHub project has 5.6k stars. The project is about 3 years old and has 67 releases so far, the last one being yesterday. So good to see it is actively maintained by 57 contributors.
It's now my daily driver as a keyboard (you that keyboards can potentially monitor every single thing you type, and cloud connected keyboards that sync your learnt words are all reporting to someone else's home).
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/heliboard-is-a-privacy-conscious-and-customisable-open-source-keyboard-for-android/
#android #opensource #privacy #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Heliboard.jpg

2026-07-09 22:13:24 UTC

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Now thatscaxstorm proof pole!

2026-07-05 21:00:29 UTC

Wallos — An Open-Source Personal Subscriptions Tracker Which Saved Quite A Bit Of Money For Me
Wallos is a free and open-source application that you can self-host and which will help you track what subscriptions you currently have, what they cost (with auto-conversion to your currency), when they renew, notify you before they are due for renewal, and it will also optionally use AI to give you recommendations on what you could possibly save money on.
In the video I also spend some time showing what subscriptions I saved R5,800 (about US$438) per annum on. Wallos will show you where your money is going. Measurement is the first step towards better managing your subscriptions.
Watch
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/wallos-an-open-source-personal-subscriptions-tracker-which-saved-quite-a-bit-of-money-for-me/
#opensource #selfhosting #subscriptions #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/WallosYTThumbnail.jpg

2026-07-03 09:00:08 UTC

Brave Browser just summarily disabled an extension I’m using
I use the Snoozz extension to park browser tabs for later action. I also have some tab that I open at regular scheduled times to do things. So I rely on those tabs to pop up in a week or in a month's time.
Obviously I have no way of recalling right now exactly which tabs they are, as that is why they are parked for later.
So imagine my extreme irritation this morning, when I find that Brave has just broken my workflow without any warning at all. The notice just says "The extension was turned off because it is no longer supported". This is absolutely unacceptable because me as the user is not in control here. I should be given the choice to disable it, and when. This extension was not a security risk requiring any urgent action.
I have tried to see if I can toggle it back on, but no, I cannot override it. This is behaviour I expected of Microsoft, not Brave.
We know that uBlock Origin was not going to be supported any longer, and no data gets lost when that is disabled. But the Snoozz extension is a very different story.
Luckily AI did point me to a log file where the data could be extracted, so I have my snoozed tabs back, and I have them in another extension.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/brave-browser-just-summarily-disabled-an-extension-im-using/
#bravebrowser #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Brave_Extension.webp

2026-06-30 14:51:44 UTC

After a week with my new Pebble Time 2 watch I’m really happy with it
I see it arrived just on a week ago now, and although I've been using it a lot with testing apps, exercising, monitoring sleep, etc the battery is only now dipping below 50%. It is supposed to be good for about 3 weeks of use. Isn't this what a smartwatch should be all about! With all my Apple Watch, Samsung Watches, LG watches, etc it was always about 2 days max battery life.
Pebble Apps's Battery view
I did have one glitch that was really worrying me, and that was the movement detection was just not working at all. So it was not showing any steps being walked, nor any movement during sleep. I had tried re-updating the software, rebooting it, and also using the three-button reset. I filed a bug report from inside the app, and Pebble suggested long pressing the left button for 10 seconds. It rebooted and all was fine again.
The other thing concerning me was that a handful of people had cracked the glass of the watch (out of thousands shipped). The reason is that the glass protrudes slightly above the metal body of the watch. The recommendation many had, was to download a free 3D printing file, and print a bumper to clip on the top of the watch. I did this and found an online service, in South Africa, to print a few and courier them to me. This fits like a glove on top of the watch, and it feels better protected now.
What is great about this watch is that it is open source, so the community is creating tons of useful apps for it. The Time 2 has a colour e-ink screen, a heart rate sensor, 3-axis movement sensor, a speaker and microphone, and a touchscreen. So new apps are still appearing which take advantage of these capabilities. So much can be tweaked for it compared to Big Tech watches where you get basically what they want to let you use.
Pebble App showing sleep and heart rate data
So what am I actually using on it then?
Watch faces
Seeing I was a Casio, and I love classic watch faces, I'm actually using (featured photo at top of this post). The OS is set to sound a chime on the hour (well actually it does a haptic vibration as the speaker is not yet enabled on the firmware). I also like the CORE91 watch face, but the Quartz one is by far my favourite.
Shopping
It has long been a requirement for all of my watches to have OurGroceries running on it, so I could tick off my shopping items, by aisles, as I move through the shop.
I was a bit devastated to find the old Groceries app for Pebble had not been updated since 2015, and it broke by querying an API authentication link that no longer existed. I tried to rewrite the app with Gemini and Claude, but it was just not working. In the end I found and tried Grosh for Pebble and for Shopping. My criteria are I want to set up lists on my web browser, and it must have categories for the aisles so that I can move through a shop logically and not dash back and forth for items.
Grosh fell out of the running with some clunkiness (pity as it was fully free including web browser access).
In the end the free version of AnyList Shopping actually works very well. Yes the paid version would get full web browser access, uploaded photos, prices, and quite a few other interesting extras, but the categories work well, and I can set my lists up on the phone quite fine. I was a bit put out that when opening the list on the watch, you see all 100 checked off items, and need to scroll down to the first unchecked item you want to buy. After checking the item off, it did jump straight to the next unchecked item. But kindly enough, as many open source devs are, the dev added a toggle so I could hide all the checked off items and just see my clean list when shopping. So right now I'm super happy with this shopping app.
AnyList Shopping app view that I see on the watch while shopping
Exercises
The Pebble watch has a pretty good exercise app built in. It records all you need, but there is no GPS in the watch, so what it pushes through to Android Health Connect, is just steps, pace, heart rate, estimated distance and calories. This would sync via Google Fit into Strava, but I wanted the GPX maps and altitudes, etc.
Accuracy-wise I was very impressed as I compared the heart readings with my Polar H10 Chest Strap, and they were either spot on, or off by about 2 to 3 bpm. Yes my Apple Watch was as good (when I had an iPhone) but the last two Samsung watches I had, were incredibly bad, sometimes lagging by 20 minutes into an exercise before it even showed the correct reading (it was so bad I took the first Samsung watch back twice for repairs). The Samsung watches never came right, and that was why I bought the Polar H10 Chest Strap, about which I did a lengthy blog post at .
Official Pebble Workout app
The only way around this is to use an app that works with a companion app ion the phone. That companion app will respond with the GPS tracking, using the phone's GPS. Another way is for the watch app to query the phone's GPS and record that.
So I narrowed it down now to about two apps to try out further. is a watch app that also has a companion app on the phone. The other app is which appears to query the phone's GPS as it has no companion phone app. They both track various types of exercises with a wealth of data.
Iron has numerous customisations one can do to the stats shown on the watch, whilst Pebble Fit seems a bit more preset in this area. The image below shows the view I'm using on the watch. Clicking the middle right button scrolls through the middle row view options you set up, and the bottom right button scrolls that bottom view showing heart rate, altitude, etc graph views.
Iron app on the Pebble Watch
Iron app on phone playing back exercise activity i- I toggled privacy on so it hides the map
I've not tested Pebble Fit in the field yet, but I do like that in its settings you can set how often it should poll for the heart rate in seconds. Also in the app settings is the ability to import a GPX track, and then follow it on the watch (pretty handy for trails). The app defaults to exporting an activity to Google Drive in GPX, TCX or FIT formats. You can also trim the exercise and view it where it shows a map, heart rate zones, heart rate graph, etc. Iron app's screen is probably easier to read though, with its larger font and clean black and white colours.
Pebble Fit screen shown during exercise
A slight "downside" is that neither will automatically export the activity directly to Strava. Part of the reason is that Strava is restricting their free API tier. So what both apps do, is it exports the GPX or TCX file to the phone (you set a folder). I found another Android phone app called , and this will do one or two-way syncing between quite a few online health services. So I've set it up for Strava now. Basically when I finish an exercise I just do a quick export of that file. I open SyncMyTracks and hit sync, and that's it. It knows what it has already synced, and just syncs the new exercise activity to Strava. You could also import that file manually into Strava, but this sync is actually very slick and quick.
SyncMyTracks phone app view
Notes and Memos
I did first try to use the Index feature (the one intended to work with the Pebble Index Ring). It does work perfectly from inside the phone app, but when using the Android home screen widget for quick records, it locks up the app. There is also no way right now to set up any quick launch button on the watch to trigger it (I suppose to not impact Index Ring sales?).
So I'm really tossing up still between and . Both apps activate with a button press, and you record your reminder, task, or thoughts, and they use AI to decide where it needs to go. It can go to the watch's timeline and popup as a reminder, Brain Dump is supposed to also integrate with Google Tasks, Todoist, Nextcloud Notes, and Notion.
Brain Dump though has some issue with authenticating to Google Tasks, and I suspect it is a Google imposed limit for the app based on its beta test status. Whilst Notes to Self certainly pushed a reminder note into the timeline for the correct time, Brain Dump did not pop anything up at the time given (I suspect it wants to send it to one of the connected 3rd party services).
But either ways, these are useful types of apps for quickly recording something while you are driving or busy with something else.
Phone Notifications
I do have it setup to show only very select notifications such as SMS, phone calls, health notifications, notifications from my banking app, etc.
Sleep Tracking
I've long been using with all my previous smartwatches, and they also have an integration with Pebble watches. When I trigger the sleep app, the watch passes through heart rate and movement data to the app. This has been working very well, and I notice that the Pebble built-in sleep tracking also is showing my sleep data on the watch too (probably syncing via Android Health Connection service).
General
I also have the following activated in the Pebble app:
Heart rate – take a reading every 30 minutes throughout the day
Hourly chime – well it vibrates only right now, but nice to know when an hour is passing
I'm using the cool white backlight on high intensity, but you can choose any colour, and there are requests logged to be able to have it as red at night
App Store
The thing is there are tons of apps and watch faces available for a single click install from the Pebble and Rebble stores. There are even alternative notifications apps to give more functionality than the built-in notification view. As new watches are busy being delivered weekly, there are also more devs getting involved and creating new and improved apps and watch faces. You can view available apps and faces at .
App store
Conclusion
I'm really happy to be back on a Pebble watch again. One issue that is sorted out is that the OS is now open source so we should not see an issue again with that. But remember that Rebble stepped in the previous time anyway to fill the gap.
The bigger issue may be more around the hardware longevity (repairability is not yet determined, and most smartwatches are not really easy to fix as an end user). Often it is the battery that needs replacing after 8 or 10 years (I've only kept my previous smartwatches for a max of 2 years).
The other thing may be around newer models to keep users interested and move with the times. Generally though Pebble watch users are not looking for the latest in fl;ashy screens and technology – they want a functional device that does all the basics, has the ability to run 3rd party open source apps, and has excellent battery life.
What we may see in future is new sensors being available as they go mainstream and cost less e.g. like blood-oxygen sensors. Pebble was not intended to be a direct replacement for Apple or Samsung watches – it was stated up front they were not going to be answering phone calls for example, compete with Apple Watch on the level of health data being tracked, or do video meetings.
What we will see though, is creative devs making very innovative use of the existing sensors in the watch, where algorithms can analyse data to provide new notifications of various situations as they arise. The new watches were only really shipped in 2026 so we can expect the app store to still grow dramatically in terms of apps and watch faces that will be available.
I'll likely be updating this webpage as I learn and discover more. I'll keep its date and time pinned though, as I don't want to keep duplicating blog posts going out everywhere. But updates will be indicated with an edit date next to them.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/after-a-week-with-my-new-pebble-time-2-watch-im-really-happy-with-it/
#opensource #pebblewatch #pt2 #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/pebble_screenshot.png

2026-06-30 14:51:44 UTC

Every Physics Teacher (And Student) Should Try This Open Source Software
"Open source software has always been a cornerstone in scientific applications. From supercomputers to CERN labs, handling some of the greatest discoveries of humankind and accelerating particles beyond imagination, open source software has provided the framework for all necessary technological usage. Bringing it down to a simpler level, KDE's Step provides you a platform to test out some of the most important basic concepts in physics, like simple motion, electrostatics and gravitation, and even things like spring (harmonic) motion."
It is said a picture is worth a thousand words, so what would an experimental model be worth in words? This is not just watching, but also being able to chnage parameters and see how it effects the physics.
This is the way educational software should be: Free of costs, free of adverts, free of tracking, and the ability to study how it functions, and adapt it.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/every-physics-teacher-and-student-should-try-this-open-source-software/
#education #opensource #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/kde-step.webp

2026-06-30 14:51:43 UTC

Voicebox is a local-first AI voice studio — a free and open-source alternative to ElevenLabs and WisprFlow
Clone voices from a few seconds of audio, generate speech in 23 languages across 7 TTS engines, dictate into any text field with a global hotkey, and give any MCP-aware AI agent a voice of your choosing.
The two cloud incumbents sit on opposite halves of the voice I/O loop — ElevenLabs on output, WisprFlow on input. Voicebox does both, bridges them with a bundled local LLM for refinement and per-profile personas, and runs the whole thing on your machine.
Apart from full privacy, as you are running it locally, you do not have the token limitations of many online cloud services. There are some good YouTube videos showing how to get going with Voicebox, and also featuring what all it can do. It is not just a simple text-to-speech processor.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/voicebox-is-a-local-first-ai-voice-studio-a-free-and-open-source-alternative-to-elevenlabs-and-wisprflow/
#ai #alternativesto #opensource #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Voicebox.webp

2026-06-16 22:39:35 UTC

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Oh the tax....

2026-06-15 22:32:33 UTC

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Lol yes I hope so!

2026-06-15 19:00:57 UTC

Google Earth’s flight simulator is now available in your browser
“On Friday Google announced it was making a relatively unknown feature of Google Earth available to a wider audience. The desktop version of Google Earth has had a hidden flight simulator mode since 2007, but it’s now easily accessible through a web browser without having to download or install any apps.”
Yes it's not exactly new, but is a lot more obvious now. The site has a lot more too, such as data analysis tools, historical imagery, explore building and solar designs, a measurement tool, and a detect changes over period tool.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/google-earths-flight-simulator-is-now-available-in-your-browser/
#flightsim #gaming #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/GEarth_FlightSim-1536x835.webp

2026-06-13 13:00:58 UTC

How one GPL lawsuit accidentally created the homelab router that changed networking forever
“No company sets out to make a product that exceeds its purpose and becomes a legend. In some cases when it happens, the company might even regret it. I recall a few NVIDIA GPUs, like the 8800GT and 1080 Ti that were so good for the money that people didn't upgrade their cards for a decade. That's great for PR, but not so great for shareholders. Well, among network routers, the Linksys WRT54G was a cheap, unassuming Wi-Fi router that ended up becoming a cult classic for a very weird reason, that had little if anything to do with the actual hardware.”
I still have my WRT54G, and actually the reason I originally bought it, was because I could reflash it with Tomato. So, in actual fact, the sale of the hardware was made because I could open source firmware on it. That is surely a win for a hardware company.
It was interesting to read this linked article to get the backstory on how it actually came to be.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/how-one-gpl-lawsuit-accidentally-created-the-homelab-router-that-changed-networking-forever/
#opensource #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/linksys-wrt54g.webp

2026-06-02 19:58:48 UTC

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Not sure if my DMs are reaching you? Amethyst says something about your account needing to configure inbox relays. It was working OK on your old account.

2026-05-31 21:27:59 UTC

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That's why we keep boxes of old cables, boards, chargers, etc ;-)

2026-05-31 19:33:09 UTC

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This is the inside of our solar nodes https://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/73d15d7d5d394c27d7dca131d2f78d8101977cfe8766bef75aef1121e78ab300.jpeg

2026-05-31 19:24:20 UTC

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It is more boards that were designed for battery and solar so that it senses when the voltage is too low and shuts off, but importantly, comes on only when the power is above a certain level again. So generally is a main board and then a solar charge controller board. Some solar nodes come like that.

2026-05-30 19:28:47 UTC

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SAR is Search And Rescue - what our wilderness search and rescue does in our mountains etc

2026-05-28 16:44:50 UTC

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Yes it is supposed to cut off when voltage too low. Some will restart when voltage goes up, but some don't. We;'ve had to test carefully before we put nodes up at highsites.

2026-05-25 22:00:26 UTC

MeshCore SAR – The final hurdle has been reached for MeshCore
I did a post about a week back when I started investigating a possible migration from Meshtastic radio to MeshCore radio network. I won't repeat that post here, but I'll mention two issues that often came up about MeshCore, and why this is just no longer true.
Myth 1: MeshCore is not open source – since about January 2026 there is an excellent fully open source mobile app called MeshCore Open. It was so impressive for me, that I've actually made it my daily driver, even though I'd paid for the official MeshCore app and the MeshOS app.
Myth 2: Because it does not flood fill locations you can't use MeshCore for search and rescue (SAR), hiking, EMCOMM, etc. Well the open source MeshCore SAR app blows that out of the water now.
MeshCore SAR has:
Rapid mesh chat for both 1:1 and group coordination
On-demand voice (Codec2) and image (AVIF) transfer tuned for low-bandwidth links
Offline-first mapping with tactical overlays and SAR incident markers
Live team location, movement trails, and shareable tactical drawings
It goes as far as low-res image sending as well as short voice clips too
It is not intended for daily use though, as it could be easy to abuse the limited duty cycle requirements in the license-free bands that MeshCore uses.
I did some wardriving today using the Meshmapper app, and managed to get a line of site ping from a repeater 111 km North of Cape Town. So our testing of MashCore so far has just been green ticks all the way.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/meshcore-sar-the-final-hurdle-has-been-reached-for-meshcore/
#emcomm #meshcore #opensource #sar #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot_20260525_151741.jpg

2026-05-23 22:15:14 UTC

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Ditched Postiz as it was hitting 2.5 FB ram on my VPS. Migrated everything to n8n now.

2026-05-22 22:56:21 UTC

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Yes pretty much. The Postiz side is very heavyweight as they seem to have pushed AI and Elasticsearch into it. The real work for me is done in n8n and it is very lightweight. It posts better to Nostr than Postiz did.

2026-05-22 22:00:32 UTC

8 LEGO 3D printing projects to build this weekend
“LEGO and 3D printing may seem like a perfect combination, but there’s more to it than first meets the eye. While you can 3D print LEGO blocks, tight tolerances can produce disappointing results if you aren’t prepared to experiment a bit first. This week’s 3D printing projects are all about making the most out of the LEGO you already have.”
So yes, not about actually printing your own LEGO, but rather supplementing what you have, with 3D printing. There are quite a few innovative ways of replacing tools, and creating pieces that look like LEGO and which enhance what you have.
See
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/8-lego-3d-printing-projects-to-build-this-weekend/
#3dprinting #lego #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/3d-printed-lego-bricks-with-a-minifigure-48x27.webp

2026-05-22 20:36:07 UTC

Switched my social media posting from paid Make to self-hosted n8n and Postiz
For the past few years I've been using the paid service called Make to pull my blog posts from my RSS feed in WordPress, and push that out to various social media services. I am on a grandfathered legacy plan, so I am paying only half of the normal cos, but it was especially complicated to set up for Bluesky. So much so, that in the end I actually ditched make for that and set up a free Buffer account just to post to Bluesky. And make had no support at all for MeWe or Nostr, so those I did manually.
Previous site routing with Make and Buffer
In the end I was posting to 16 places, but doing a manual process for 6 of those services.
I've been eyeing out Postiz for a bit, and finally realised yesterday that it could handle 8 of my destination sites in one go, including MeWe and Nostr. I'd have to drop Tumblr, but to be honest a full year goes by before I get any reply or response on Tumblr. I now only need to manually do the post creation on 4 sites, and that anyway includes my WordPress blog post.
New posting wityh n8n and Postiz
But one thing I realised is that with Make I had tweaked the code so that it shortened posts for Mastodon and Bluesky, and it also picked up that if I used a tag like opensource, it would send that post specifically to my Bluesky open source profile. Postiz could auto-post from my RSS feed, but it would not do the processing to shorten posts for some sites, and route others based on a tag.
Enter n8n. So n8n watches my RSS feed, and does all that logic processing for me. I just needed a code block for the processing, and a switch block to route to the different sites depending on whether it was a technology and/or opensource tag being used. n8n then pushes out to each channel in my Postiz service (see featured image top of this post for the n8n layout). It arrives in Postiz already formatted with the image, tags, etc.
Postiz's view of posts scheduled and sent
There is one thing that is not working, and that is the alt-text for images. Although that is processed inside n8n fine, the final Postiz node in n8n, seems to strip away the alt-text. I've logged an issue for that as I'd like it sorted out.
This is my first post using n8n and Postiz, so hopefully it gets though. It will only include the featured image from my blog post (same as with Make) so one does have to visit my original blog link if it is a more complex post with a number of images in (like this post is).
So my social media posting is again free, open source, and self-hosted.
Strictly speaking I could even post directly from n8n, but some services would require HTTP POST and that can be a bit messy. Postiz gives easy management of reposting, as well as analytics from LinkedIn Pages. Postiz is pretty heavy on resources sometimes peaking to 2 GB of RAM because of Elasticsearch, whilst n8n is super lightweight to run.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/switched-my-social-media-posting-from-paid-make-to-self-hosted-n8n-and-postiz/
#opensource #selfhosting #socialmedia #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/n8n-social-posting.webp

2026-05-22 20:33:11 UTC

2026-05-20 16:07:08 UTC

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Looking good!

2026-05-18 21:44:03 UTC

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I tried it on my Kobo reader and I think I just did a post about that 2 or 3 days ago. Was really very impressed with it and it loads alongside the Kobo software so I did not have to wipe the original software. Packed full of reading stats and some powerful plugisn as well.

2026-05-18 21:40:11 UTC

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Thanks @npub1ge0…jcs3 yes it looks like both are learning from each other (never to interconnect of course). Quite a bit of MeshCore's messaging is actually flood based like Public channels etc anyway. It is really only the direct messages that benefit from the direct routing. I still need to look into those implications of the different byte paths, and I see also filtering on repeaters for regions.
I suppose MeshCore has approached it very much more from a scalability perspective and wanting to keep network traffic lowerr where possible.

2026-05-17 18:57:16 UTC

MeshCore radio network in Cape Town for off-grid communications
Many may be familiar with the Meshtastic network which uses cheap LoRa radios (usually linked to a mobile phone app) to send direct text messages or post text messages to a public or private group. This type of network is very useful for direct commucations with neighbours across your city. It becomes even more useful if the cellular or Internet links go down, as this works independently of them.
MeshCore is a newer type of such a peer-to-peer radio network. It works in the same license-free bands, is also text based chat to friends, or to public and private channels. The same radios can be utilised that Mestastic uses, so no need to buy new hardware.
MeshCore's differences come in with its more efficient network routing protocol (direct messaging follows more efficient routing paths so less traffic), it has more solid read receipt confirmations, and has up to 64 network hops (versus 7 hops for Meshtastic). By default MeshCore also does not switch on telemetry for everything, so overall there is more bandwidth for actual messaging.
Meshtastic has been going for a while in Cape town and in May 2026 there are just over 216 unique Meshtastic nodes that my own radio has picked up. But since we started testing MeshCore in Cape Town this week, it has grown from 7 or so nodes to 16. We are still attrracting new users and planning a few repeater high sites so that new users will be able to connect to others across the city.
If the Meshtastic high site repeater on Du Toit's Kloof mountains is switched over to MeshCore, we'll also have Worcester linked to Cape Town.
I've not been on MeshCore for even a week yet, but I have switched my rooftop node over to MeshCore, and flashed it as a room server. That node now not only performs a repeater function, but also runs a small text based bulletin board where anyone can leave messages for others to read later.
What we really need in Cape Town now, is a few users on higher lying ground, that can run a repeater node, to help with the coverage. One user has a spare solar powered radio node that can be used for this purpose, and is willing to lend it out for that purpose.
MeshCore is not only useful for making local contact with your neighbours and fellow citizens, but it can also perform a vital role during extended communications blackouts, where these solar powered nodes will still keep communications working across the city. Cape Town's communications are generally very reliable, but just between 2025 and 2026 we've had some more rural towns that have had weather related communications blackouts of up to a week at a time (that means zero cellphones and no WhatsApp). Networks like Meshtastic and MeshCore are disaster proof as they do not rely on any central service that can go offline, nor can they be censored by government.
More info about it at https://gadgeteer.co.za/meshcore-in-south-africa
#technology #radio #capetown #meshcore
https://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/149a87df3326085e8638cf7c319bdfb1ae8031d476923c79f13783f5cb81a64d.webp

2026-05-14 18:56:21 UTC

Large Study Finds That Replacing Workers With AI Is Backfiring Badly
“A new study from Gartner immediately caught our eye. As Fortune reports, the research and advisory firm surveyed 350 global business executives whose companies are pulling in at least $1 billion annually to investigate whether all these AI layoffs are paying off in the real world.”
The bottom line right now seems to be that replacing workers with AI gives no real benefit (let's not go into those businesses that lost data by letting AI actually manage their data), and in fact a business loses a lot of experienced workers. Where AI has actually been beneficial from a business perspective, is where it was used by workers themselves to enhance their work capability.
See https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/layoffs-ai-automation-backfire
#technology #AI #workplace
https://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/1d58294e91b9c37ff545e02e1a347a4703037c614f0fc214a9d3e2a5bbe7b3a8.webp

2026-05-10 15:26:59 UTC

South African universities developing their own ChatGPTs that better understand local languages
“From Cape Town to the Free State, local educational institutions recently announced work on language-focused AI models that better understand local languages compared to international giants like ChatGPT. On Monday, researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) announced that they had developed a new AI language model specifically trained on South Africa’s 11 official written languages.”
I'm really glad to see this for two reasons: We should not just be blindly adopting a dependence on foreign owned AI tools, and secondly, we need to develop our own LLMs that can better understand the local cultures and nuances of our country.
This is a practice that should be more widely adopted throughout local industry, and not just for LLMs. It enhances the innovation we have and encourages local skill building. Of course, it will also bring a lot of meaning and involve non-English language groups too.
See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/ai/645787-south-african-universities-developing-their-own-chatgpts.html
#technology #AI #SouthAfrica
https://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/a80ad569345f32ba8b4183443dd053fcde05eabde1b20a2d794772e53fd92b0e.webp

2026-04-23 17:08:56 UTC

25 years later, is it time for a new iPod?
“After being essentially flat for five years, Google searches for MP3 Player tripled since last fall. A Reddit group for fans of digital audio players is now attracting 90,000 visitors per week on average. And this spring, The New York Times published a trend piece on how iPods are suddenly in fashion with teenagers.”
I can imagine many today want a device that plays music without distractions, and where you can buy and install your own music with it being yanked back by some streaming service.
My original Apple iPod still powers up and works just fine today, and the music I had back then, is all still there.
The Sleevenote integrates with online services (for purchasing music and downloading) such as bandcamp, qobuz, amazon music, beatport, bleep, and quite a few more.
See https://www.theverge.com/column/917369/sleevenote-new-ipod-streaming-bandcamp-music or https://sleevenote.com
#technology #music
http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/1b0ab6244455c764e7691bca191030f1a062fb432d9fc433bf8213657add0c35.webp

2026-04-22 17:25:51 UTC

Open-source KOReader is an alternative to the default Kindle interface
“Firstly, KOReader supports way more formats than the default Kindle reader. It can read EPUBs natively (no conversion required). It even loads digital comic book formats like CBZ and CBR natively, which Kindle doesn't. Office formats like DOC, DOCX, RTF, TXT, and HTML also work. PDF files work on both, but on KOReader you can enable text reflow to make the PDF intelligently fit the screen or even crop margins. On Kindle, extra PDF margins have always bothered me.”
Actually the only thing really going for Kindles was that mass of DRM locked content that Amazon sells. When it comes to the interface and features, it really looks like Amazon has not put enough effort into the software over the years.
KOReader makes a pretty good case for 3rd party apps being much better.
See https://www.howtogeek.com/i-put-this-open-source-reader-on-my-kindle-and-i-wish-i-had-done-it-sooner
#technology #opensource #reading
http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/9e6e8b876a0b18f93ebef6575556af1a42e05b95737c6c20b136594ebf4943d3.webp

2026-04-15 20:42:17 UTC

Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit
“An independent privacy audit of Microsoft, Meta, and Google web traffic in California found that the companies may be violating state regulations and racking up billions in fines. According to the audit from privacy search engine webXray, 55 percent of the sites it checked set ad cookies in a user’s browser even if they opted out of tracking. Each company disputed or took issue with the research, with Google saying it was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how its product works.”
Yes, I know this is no surprise to anyone. I suppose one just hopes are many years of fines and negative feedback, there would have been some change.
Other countries, like South Africa, have pretty advanced privacy protection legislation in place too, but there seems to be little evidence of South Africa actually hauling any of these companies over the coals. For example, Meta's T&Cs for WhatsApp clearly state they'll share user metadata with partners.
See https://www.404media.co/google-microsoft-meta-all-tracking-you-even-when-you-opt-out-according-to-an-independent-audit
#technology #BigTech #privacy
http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/63ba5d14a14185dd4749149332022c4df770a794d119439617404e8a8190775a.webp

2026-04-13 11:17:52 UTC

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If everything were centralised yes. But many of these are transactions that also happen at 3rd parties so they are not in the stock exchange, and that is why some equities take 2 days to clear. These are separate ledgers. Centralising gives the stock exchange total control over everything and 3rd parties are often not for that. A centralised system means all control is central, 3rd parties could be locked out, have no control over escalating costs, etc.
Centralised control was very much the mainframe era of operations (or possibly that is actually coming back with cloud computing now) but many things have decentralised for good reasons. I am not at all a fan of centralised systems having total control over costs, lock-out, access to my data, etc.

2026-04-11 14:20:52 UTC

Instead of upgrading your motherboard you may be able to use your spare PCIe x1 slot
It's true that most often we just use one slot for the video card and there are another two or three empty slots waiting to be used.
Such a slot can easily accept a card that will provide upgraded Wi-Fi, Ethernet ports, extra USB ports, allow mounting on NVMe drives or extra SATA drives, and more.
It's not going to make your CPU faster, but it could mean not having to replace the whole motherboard and matching CPU in the shorter term. I did realise this when I wanted to install a NVMe drive a year back. Mounting a single NVMe drive on my motherboard meant giving up two of my SATA drives (their share the same data lanes), but buying an add-on card could have allowed the mounting of multiple extra NVMe drives without sacrificing my SATA drives.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/pcie-x1-slot-more-useful-than-many-pc-upgrades
#technology #upgrades
http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/8a73dbf7793f26bd577bca15f5aaec9d863a225bab6ad8c8cbdaddabd8985ab3.webp

2026-04-11 10:47:19 UTC

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There can still be scenarios apart from decentralisation e.g.
1. Quicker settlements in equity markets where intermediaries like clearinghouses are involved (these settlements are currently often take a day or two).
2. Assets (equities, bonds, ETFs, private equity) can be issued as tokens on-chain enabling fractional ownership.
3. Where I was specifically thinking of it though was: multiple parties (brokers, custodians, clearinghouses) maintain separate ledgers that must be reconciled (and that is not centralised).
4. But also for automating corporate actions like distributing dividends and stock splits and even managing shareholder voting.
There are probably more examples, but it is really where multiple parties are involved and ensuring traceability, timestamping, and being immutable.
So yes not for actual decentralisation of a stock exchange itself, but more its decentralised activity tracking, reporting, etc.

2026-04-11 10:26:47 UTC

Immich Kiosk turns any screen into a photo display
“No processing happens on the tablet, it is just a display for the image output. In fact, you won't even have much of configuration options since all of that is done through a config file. My tablet, which feels sluggish for practically everything, can handle this within the browser just fine. It loads quickly, transitions are smooth, and it doesn't crash. What else can you ask for?”
Any old tablet that at least has a browser on it, can run this kiosk mode view of Immich photos, albums, people, memories, and a lot more. Good to see in the config that you can limit it to specific albums or people only, or hide specific albums or people. So the admin will just need to apply their mind to that side of things.
Another alternative to this is Immich Public Proxy which requires each album to be configured and shared manually, but has the ultimate security as a result.
Immich Kiosk's website also has a demo that you can try to see how it actually works.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/turned-old-tablet-into-immich-powered-photo-display or their project site at https://github.com/damongolding/immich-kiosk. I did a video about Immich Public Proxy at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkPtL4lxszA
#technology #Immich #opensource
http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/50b61629f71b384b5814ce865e97cfab2100a7094c846f6d3b4387203926c671.webp

2026-04-10 20:59:49 UTC

This Bicycle Bell Can Even Be Heard by People Wearing Noise-Cancelling Headphones because its 2026
“The unique Škoda DuoBell bicycle bell is a classic example of a completely analogue solution to a problem caused by digital innovation. Its ringing sound bypasses the noise-cancelling capabilities of modern headphones, which often isolate the wearer from outside noises all too well.”
LOL we need new solutions to 2026 world problems. I'm wondering if cars won't also need something like this fitted. ANC headphones and ear pods are definitely becoming more prevalent. Seems the low frequency used here, is something that ANC does not easily mask.
Although it is a frequency tone, bells have long been tuned for specific frequencies, so an analogue device can actually do this perfectly well.
See https://www.wired.com/story/skoda-duobell-bike-bell-can-be-heard-by-people-wearing-noise-canceling-headphones
#technology #cycling #ANC
http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/f95483f9869de4cc464ac447e53b84ede857335039eb9fcd4a0d9074d692e634.webp

2026-04-10 19:40:03 UTC

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Thing is though that statement can be quite correct. Blockchain is a broader concept than just finance or currency itself. It can be used in logistics or artwork or for tracking any changes in anything. One application is for financial value and yes then there may be many different names and implementations.
But if a stock exchange wants to use blockchain on the broader sense to track all financial transactions and movements say of stock, that is a valid concept as I understand it. It does not mean the stock would be traded in Bitcoin or whatever. The currency of blockchain is anorrower scoping of the broader use of blackchain.

2026-04-10 17:12:35 UTC

France's government is ditching Windows for Linux, calling US tech dependence a strategic risk
“The French government has decided that enough is enough. It has announced that it will shift away from proprietary technologies from outside the European Union and focus more on open-source solutions — and part of that means ditching Windows for Linux.”
The South African government made the same statement in the mid-2000's but mysteriously abandoned the implementation after the success of the pilot project. Brazil, Russia, China, and some others had also committed to similar objectives and have actually been making some stead progress.
So time will tell in this case too. That said, it is actually right and proper that any government should want to invest money in localised efforts and ensure the digital sovereignty of their data. From the beginning I've not been a proponent of external cloud services. Ideally a government should consolidate all its various departments onto its own platforms, or at least have them fully managed locally by local companies.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/frances-government-ditching-windows-for-linux
#technology #France #opensource #Linux
http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/5e52d958dd5a28df6832ca591805212cc54881d5edb085c7dbbc6b0c136367a8.webp

2026-04-10 16:58:58 UTC

LinkedIn secretly scans for 6,000+ Chrome extensions, collects data
I initially ignored the first post about this after LinkedIn had stated it did not dispute that it detects specific browser extensions, telling BleepingComputer that the info was used to protect the platform and its users. The company also claimed the report was from someone whose account was banned for scraping LinkedIn content and violating the site's terms of use.
But others have been digging deeper into this issue, and it does appear that the data collection is a lot broader than the reasons that LinkedIn gave. For example LinkedIn is scanning for over 6,000 extensions (most of which have nothing to do with scraping of data from websites), and they do this by scanning the files on the drive for those extensions, as well as collecting other data about the user's machine.
It was not verified though that LinkedIn is actually sharing this data with any other parties. My own website's Matomo stats engine for example does also collect machine data (type of device, browser, pages visited, and city) but the data stays on my platform and I don't identify anyone from it.
It is just worth remembering that there are some companies who do aggressively collect data and some (like Facebook) who openly state they share that with upstream providers and 3rd parties (yes you can assume data brokers). If I ever visit a Facebook page it happens in a private browser via a VPN.
In LinkedIn's case I suppose we do need to remember it is owned by Microsoft, and they have an AI service. Their record around security and privacy has also not been great over time.
See https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/linkedin-secretly-scans-for-6-000-plus-chrome-extensions-collects-data
#technology #privacy #LinkedIn
http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/e2052a84d35f0bad594890f637ae576a7ba63446904feee3805897bd8c916239.webp

2026-04-10 16:29:00 UTC

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Yes playing on noStrudel browser client but not on Jumble browser (gives open link option but just shows text in browser page)

2026-04-10 15:42:41 UTC

You Should Be Using Reddit on Your RSS Reader
“You may know that Reddit can be a treasure trove of useful information and opinion, and that RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a clean and straightforward way to keep up with what's happening on the web—but you might not be aware that you can combine both Reddit and RSS in numerous ways.”
So yes no real news that RSS is already baked into Reddit, and that can be a cleaner way of ensuring you don't miss posts for s specific Subreddit, or a keyword search.
But what I did not realise is you can also put some qualifiers on at the end of the URL to sort, limit the number of posts, filter on top posts only, etc. You can even combine two or more feeds into one.
See https://lifehacker.com/tech/rss-reader-on-reddit
#technology #RSS #reddit
http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/8b234cbb6c839138902d280b73da825e21af84569e44a7dc62913b5d115c6645.webp

2026-04-10 15:33:27 UTC

The EFF is quitting X
“Last year, our 1,500 posts earned roughly 13 million impressions for the entire year. To put it bluntly, an X post today receives less than 3% of the views a single tweet delivered seven years ago.”
I don't think many legacy corporations have really been looking deeply into their numbers on X. We've seen in the past that X faked the advert views, so one also has to be careful of accepting X's numbers at face value as well. Many accounts on X today are also bot accounts and actually not real human views at all.
See https://www.theverge.com/tech/909550/eff-electronic-frontier-foundation-leaving-x-twitter
#technology #X #twitter #socialmedia http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/46fc8c4c10cfde51387adfad8a3dc67a2ea6e24db8a9446532a27540ee5c1f20.webp

2026-04-10 11:45:18 UTC

Yes Blossom shows an image / blob for my media post!
http://blossom.gadgeteer.co.za/116caffeface772e02a78a55e512f247e81e051b0921f5eb531743fff43a9dff.webp
#nevent1q…u8wn

2026-04-04 18:32:06 UTC

Turn paper hiking maps into real-time GPS guides with Matchy Maps
“Trails may not be visible on the digital map, but things like roads, rivers, ponds, lakes, and other natural features are. The app allows you to take a photo of a physical map in the real world—whether it’s a paper brochure or a trailhead sign—and precisely line it up with those natural features on the digital map. Then you can see your real-time location displayed on top of the physical map. It’s a great trick.”
The name actually says it all. The app superimposes a photo of a paper map, and allows you to rotate and scale it to fit precisely over the digital map. Paper maps have really great local detail which is often better than many generic global digital maps, so this marries functionality with that. A skilled navigator can certainly find their way around with just a paper map, and of course the paper map does not have a battery that goes flat either. Seeing you already have the paper map, it can still go with as a back-up.
The app is available on Android and iOS for a one-time payment of US$4.50 and there is no AI nor data collection in the app.
See https://www.howtogeek.com/turn-paper-walking-maps-into-interactive-gps-maps-with-this-app
#technology #navigation #maps #hiking
https://npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6.blossom.band/e39ab279caeff485ba1a0aa40d6c39aee146025be64ff9e2034c4a7d7ba51999.webp

2026-04-03 10:27:12 UTC

- reply

This needs to be read with some concerns raised about this service at https://www.sambent.com/proton-meet-isnt-what-they-told-you/

2026-04-01 19:48:38 UTC

Sweden goes back to basics, swapping screens for books in the classroom
So why did Sweden pivot? In an email to Undark, Linda Fälth, a researcher in teacher education at Linnaeus University, wrote that the “decision to reinvest in physical textbooks and reduce the emphasis on digital devices” was prompted by several factors, including questions around whether the digitalization of classrooms had been evidence-based. “There was also a broader cultural reassessment,” Fälth wrote. “Sweden had positioned itself as a frontrunner in digital education, but over time concerns emerged about screen time, distraction, reduced deep reading, and the erosion of foundational skills such as sustained attention and handwriting.”
Yes implementing digital devices across many schools and classrooms also comes at a financial cost, and then they get outdated, lost/stolen, have licensing costs, Internet outages, etc too. Often we have great ideas, but they may not be based on real evidence. I have seen cases where analogue technology is just more reliable and robust than the latest digital technology. I've realised too how vulnerable digital technology is — great while it works, and then we get paralysed when it doesn't.
Considering the cost etc of digital devices, have educational results noticeably improved?
See https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/sweden-goes-back-to-basics-swapping-screens-for-books-in-the-classroom
#technology #education
https://npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6.blossom.band/9d5c9cd21ae428fd40ef8e9f3a2bec28a2431576d7e20aba60688fe921aeb63d.webp

2026-04-01 13:48:01 UTC

Proton launches new “Meet” privacy-focused conferencing platform
“Meet provides end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) calls to protect the confidentiality of the conversations and does not require a paid plan or even a Proton account to use. It is free for one-hour meetings of up to 50 participants. Proton says Meet was created in response to the increasing need for privacy-first, EU-based alternatives that make it easier to comply with GDPR, or even CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), addressing the complexities of laws such as the US Cloud Act, and overcoming challenges posed by an increasingly unstable geopolitical environment.”
Supposedly no AI training in this video conferencing tool. Good to see adding other people is as easy as sharing a link, so no need to install an app first.
Also, Proton is not retaining records of who met with whom, and there is no sensitive data to be hacked from the servers.
Of course there is also still Jitsi Meet as another alternative which is open source and can be self-hosted.
See https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/proton-launches-new-meet-privacy-focused-conferencing-platform
#technology #privacy #videoconferencing
https://npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6.blossom.band/4db3f03b7fa1d32bf470650535d38e39e4426be4d55b28b935d12e5d24b445b1.webp

2026-03-31 19:34:39 UTC

Dangerzone — an open source app to safely open suspect PDFs, office docs, or images
Dangerzone works like this: You give it a document that you don't know if you can trust (for example, an email attachment). Inside a sandbox, Dangerzone converts the document to a PDF (if it isn't already one), and then converts the PDF into raw pixel data: a huge list of RGB colour values for each page. Then, Dangerzone takes this pixel data and converts it back into a PDF.
It has been independently audited and apart from the obvious use by journalists and similar professions, even every day users can be most often targeted by attachments that carry payloads of malware. This is exactly how bad actors bypass firewalls, and secure messengers like Signal.
I would not necessarily put every document I receive through this process as it does at least double or triple the size of the file (converts every page to an image). But from anyone you don't know, this is a useful tool to have ready to use. Everything is processed locally on your machine, and it will install on Linux, Windows, and macOS.
See https://dangerzone.rocks
#technology #security #opensource
https://npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6.blossom.band/ab4010ab05e54c70b2c3f176204004228b373b9fab19f5f6bf686a86e1f5aee7.webp

2026-03-29 15:42:59 UTC

Easy way South Africans can find fuel stations with the cheapest diesel
“Unlike petrol prices, retail diesel prices are unregulated in South Africa. Only the wholesale price at which suppliers may sell to stations is fixed by the government.”
I thought both diesel and petrol prices were regulated in SA so this was news to me (I don't drive a diesel car). With the price increases coming, anything to improve competitiveness between suppliers is going to be good for consumers.
The linked article discusses the use of MyTank and Pitstops apps for this purpose. I actually use the Fuelio app already to track all my fill ups, and it also crowdsources the prices.
But either way, all the apps really rely on the users who input the prices, so the most used one in the country is probably going to provide the better value.
See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/smartphones/636728-easy-way-south-africans-can-find-fuel-stations-with-the-cheapest-diesel.html
#technology #southafrica #diesel

2026-03-19 19:07:31 UTC

US Federal Cyber Experts Thought Microsoft’s Cloud Was Garbage — They Approved It Anyway
“The government relies, in part, on third-party firms to vet cloud technology, but those firms are hired and paid by the company being assessed. The tech giant’s ‘lack of proper detailed security documentation’ left reviewers with a ‘lack of confidence in assessing the system’s overall security posture,’ according to an internal government report reviewed by ProPublica. Or, as one member of the team put it: ‘The package is a pile of shit.’”
Not only are many countries outside the USA very worried about potential access by the US NSA and others to their sovereign data, but even the US federal government is just as worried about the security of their own data in the Microsoft Cloud. Yet Microsoft sees no slowdown in terms of cloud adoption, probably tanks to wonderful marketing and other economic leverage that is applied worldwide.
One can also now realise why the term Microslop is taking hold so effectively in 2026.
It is all our own faults though as there are truly reasonably good alternatives to Microsoft's cloud. It is just a matter of also separating the glosssy marketing wants versus the real needs for document management. As I pointed out in another post earlier in the week, we do not all have to be on the same brand of document software to exchange documents (just think of different e-mail providers like Proton, GMail, Zoho, Outlook, and many more all talking together).
It's up to us if we want to see change.
See https://gizmodo.com/federal-cyber-experts-thought-microsofts-cloud-was-garbage-they-approved-it-anyway-2000735237
#technology #microslop #security #USA

2026-03-19 18:25:09 UTC

OpenSpeedTest an Open-Source Self Hostable HTML5 Network Performance Estimation Tool
“OpenSpeedTest is written in Vanilla JavaScript. No Third-Party frameworks or libraries were used. The unexpected side effect of using Vanilla JavaScript is High Performance. OpenSpeedTest contains only STATIC Files like HTML, CSS & JS, so you don't need to worry about Security Updates or Hidden Exploits that may compromise your secure environments.”
You may want to use something like this if:
* You have employees working from home, and they want to do a basic speed test to the office to check their connection is OK.
* You want to stress test or benchmark your home network from various devices to a server, a media machine, etc.
* Or to test between two client devices across your LAN.
* By doing the test from various locations around the home, you can see how your Wi-Fi speed varies from different places.
* Also test from a private browser window to see if extensions are slowing your browser down.
* Do tests before and after network changes to see what impact it has e.g. when adding a LAGG interface between the server and the router.
* Host it on a public web server for users to check their connection speed.
The server side stores no data so it is just a question of spinning up a docker container, and connecting with any browser to run the test (nothing to install on the client device). My docker container used 0% CPU while not doing a test, and used about 45 MB of RAM. It jumped to 17% CPU during the test.
You can optionally save speed test results to a database, but it points to an external database that you have running somewhere.
See https://github.com/openspeedtest/Speed-Test
#technology #networking #speedtest #opensource #selfhosting

2026-03-18 14:12:58 UTC

Not a Firefox or Chrome Fork! Kagi's Orion Browser Arrives on Linux as a Public Beta
“Orion is a web browser built on WebKit, the same engine that powers Safari, with a strong focus on privacy and customisation. Unlike most browsers you will come across on Linux, Orion is not a Chromium derivative or a Firefox fork. It is a fresh build that has earned a reputation for being fast, lightweight, and flexible, with support for extensions from Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.”
It is not really ready for daily use on Linux yet, but it is worth taking note of this browser and what it does. We hear so many moaning that everything comes back to Chromium and Firefox, so this is the opportunity to use something completely different.
The weakest point of every browser is usually it's 3rd party plugins, so we'll have to see how Orion is going to manage this.
Note though it is not open source software so what goes into it, you can't be too sure about, and it won't be able to be forked in future. It would be the end of the road if it stops getting support (like the Flock browser I used to love decades ago).
See https://itsfoss.com/news/orion-browser-linux-beta-release or https://orionbrowser.com
#technology #browsers

2026-03-16 21:21:18 UTC

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This is really more about having a good searchable history of the sites you have visited (including content of pages) without having to bookmark anything. Hister has zero impact really on Internet data as it is getting its info locally from your browser as you browse, not going out to fetch anything.

2026-03-15 10:39:01 UTC

Hister indexes every web page you visit and lets you search the full text of your browsing history offline
“Have you ever wished your browser history was more than just a collection of URLs? As it is, the standard search history is kind of useless. Sure, you can see the title of the page you visited, maybe a bit of metadata, but not much more than that. For any actual functionality, like searching for a specific page you visited that you can't quite remember the name of, your browser's built-in history search falls flat on its face (like my six-month-old did as I was writing this sentence). That's where Hister comes in. This open-source, self-hosted tool does more than just track your activity; it indexes every site you visit, capturing the contents of the page for easy search and retrieval later.”
I was a bit sceptical on first reading this, especially where browser extensions are involved, but it is an open source project, and there is this privacy statement in their documention: Hister clients only communicate with the designated server, and the server does not “phone home” or share any of your browsing history with anyone else. The source code is publicly accessible, so we can be audited by anyone who wants to check!
What is interesting is that many self-hosted server applications that do this sort of thing, have quite resource intensive browsers running, and are often fooled by anti-bot detection. Hister actually has your browser doing this so no wasted resources, and you have the full power of your main browser at hand.
The server needs to be available, but could also run on your own PC so no NAS etc setup needs to be run. However, the server side can also run in a docker container if you already have that setup. It can on something as light as a Raspberry Pi.
As far as I can see it is only saving the text of pages you visit, and not PDF or HTML archives of the pages, so again this side is extremely lightweight.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/hister-indexes-every-page-visit-search-full-text-browsing-history/ or https://hister.org.
#technology #search #history #browsers #opensource

2026-03-10 20:50:44 UTC

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Ah OK, yes unfortunately since I retired I've packed a lot onto my plate so my two servers, blocking, YT videos, disaster management volunteer work, etc is just swamping me right now. I'd certainly keep an eye on it and see where I can help maybe on promoting it etc.

2026-03-10 16:21:32 UTC

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Yes possibly, but what is involved?

2026-03-07 12:09:00 UTC

More than 800 gamers took an exam to prove they could complete an '80s adventure game without peeking at a walkthrough—and only 2 passed
“Designed by developer Woe Industries, the AGAT challenged players to complete an '80s adventure game without using a walkthrough. Players weren't told what adventure game they'd be playing in advance, and they were monitored via webcam and microphone by a legitimate online proctoring software to determine if they were looking up hints on a second window, using their phones to cheat, or getting help from someone off-screen.”
I remember playing Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, etc back in those days, probably then on my Commodore C64 or Amiga. These were more difficult than Doom as you did have to think quite a bit. These games seemed advanced back then as prior to these it was text adventure games without any graphics. Also, no Google Search so you sat for hours being stuck somewhere in the game until you got past the block.
The linked article also has a link to a Twitch stream of the game during the test. Needless to say I already thought I knew where the key was, and see I was right.
Back then it was not about the fancy graphics, it was about the storyline, the puzzles, etc.
See https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/more-than-800-gamers-took-an-exam-to-prove-they-could-complete-an-80s-adventure-game-without-peeking-at-a-walkthrough-and-only-2-passed
#technology #gaming #retro

2026-02-14 15:15:28 UTC

These video doorbells don’t rely on the cloud or subscriptions
“Picking a video doorbell that doesn’t rely on the cloud means you can save footage locally and not rely on pricey subscriptions. Pair it with a smart home platform like Home Assistant, and your doorbell will keep working when the internet doesn’t. Here are some ideas for video doorbells that work offline, even if they do have optional cloud subscriptions.”
Obviously when I bought my last Ring doorbell, there were no Reolink doorbells yet available. Reason is, I already have Reolink NVR with POE and cameras running. For me, in future, this will be a no-brainer choice. I especially like the POE option, as not only is that a nice clear signal, but there is no messing with the odd 19 AC power that a wired Ring doorbell wants.
See https://www.howtogeek.com/these-video-doorbells-dont-rely-on-the-cloud-or-subscriptions
#technology #security #doorbells #privacy

2026-02-14 13:09:04 UTC

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Yes it's been around a long time and has a pretty good track record with self-hosting too.

2026-02-14 13:08:13 UTC

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Yes that is a good idea - I should see if I can get it to work. Have a good 50 containers some with ports on isolated networks, and some on host. That is where it gets messy when same ports are across different networks. Good practice is to true not expose external ports at all and only use container names with internal port number. That does keep things a bit simpler too, but there will always be external ports on the front facing stuff.

2026-02-11 21:05:45 UTC

This Docker Compose visual builder is the tool I wish I had as a beginner
“If you’ve ever attempted to run too many containers on the same machine, you may have encountered failed deployments because multiple services tried accessing the same port. Fortunately, DCM sidesteps that issue by checking for port conflicts in your multi-container Compose files. Going back to our network stack example, Nginx and Pi-hole both use ports 80 and 443 on the host. If you try to deploy these services with the same Compose files, DCM detects the port conflicts and assigns different numbers to the second container.”
With over 40 to 50 containers running on one of my servers I constantly run into that ports clashing issue (when ports are exposed to the host machine). This tool does look quite interesting as well as how it handles volume mappings.
It also makes me realise how Portainer really needs to take a few steps forward with regard to better stack editing.
I'm going to be looking a bit deeper into this app. It looks like it will work in tandem with Portainer too. Basically DCM will help you create a clean and functional docker-compose file to paste into Portainer.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/this-docker-compose-visual-builder-is-the-tool-i-wish-i-had-as-a-beginner or the project site at https://github.com/ajnart/dcm
#technology #docker #selfhosting

2026-02-10 09:14:03 UTC

Matrix secure chat is quietly becoming the chat layer for governments chasing digital sovereignty
"Matrix is currently talking to circa 35 countries about FOSS communications infrastructure. For instance, Hodgson told us the United Nations is on board: it's using Matrix as the basis of its own in-house air-gapped communications tool, which helps it to remain independent of any country or hosting provider. It's also being adopted at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which as The Register reported in October 2025 is busily ditching Microsoft Office. After the Trump administration imposed sanctions on ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan, he reported losing access to his email and banking, disrupting the court's work.”
Yes any government can host their own Matrix instance and have full control over it. Matrix is actually implemented inside of other messaging tools, so many are using it without even knowing about it.
See https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/09/matrix_element_secure_chat
#technology #privacy #digitalsovereignty #chat #opensource

2026-01-27 18:28:39 UTC

Meet Roomy: An Open-Source Discord Alternative for the Decentralised Web
“Roomy is an open-source Discord alternative built on the AT Protocol (ATProto), the same protocol that powers Bluesky, with ActivityPub (the protocol behind Mastodon, Pixelfed, Pleroma, and others) planned for the near future. Currently in alpha, it sits somewhere between Matrix and Discord in terms of its practical position in the broader chat ecosystem.”
It is built on open protocols (no lock-in) and right now you can sign into the web interface using an existing Bluesky login, to be followed soon by any ActivityPub based ID (Mastodon, Pixelfed, Pleroma, etc). Interestingly, it will be bridging many diverse and decentralised networks.
From what I understand of it, posts that each person makes to this service, physically go to their own registered servers (decentralised) with Roomy providing the merged view.
It seems there are quite a few features still to be implemented such as Fediverse login, moderation regarding removing of users from a room, encryption, self-hosting of Roomy, desktop/mobile apps, and more.
Right now Bluesky users can use their login to test it out.
See https://itsfoss.com/roomy-discord-alternative and Roomy at https://a.roomy.space
#technology #opensource #socialnetworks #decentralised

2026-01-24 14:06:29 UTC

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It what was mentioned

2026-01-23 13:23:33 UTC

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Thanks yes I think the point the article was making was, there were no further follow-up audits after the last 2024 audits to verify the fixes and how the Electron vulnerabilities were dealt with. The new owners certainly need to have that done.

2026-01-17 14:44:45 UTC

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Instead of an index maybe read the article as they mention two specific risks, both potential yes, but they need to be kept in mind versus the others on the list:
1. Who they and what the new owners are.
2. Since the issues from the first independent audit were addressed, there has not yet been another independent audit to verify security.
Security risks constantly are in ebb and flow situations. But they do point out there is no actual risks shown yet - that is why an up-to-date independent audit should have been done.

2026-01-16 13:27:37 UTC

Threema Encrypted Messenger Service Sold to Private Equity Again
“Your encrypted messages sit on infrastructure controlled by a German private equity firm whose previous acquisitions include Cloud7 premium dog beds and The Tofoo Company.”
Right now there is no immediate problem or risk identified, but the situation is that a company which now owns Threema has no real knowledge or focus on how it works, and they could change the terms and conditions that protect privacy, in the future.
So this is just something to note for now. The article does touch on some of Threema's previous security audit issues, and notes that no new independent audits have verified the fixes.
If you are concerned, then Signal, Session, SimpleX, and a few others are good alternatives. I don't find many friends using Threema or Session, but Signal and SimpleX are pretty busy for me.
See https://www.sambent.com/threema-sold-to-private-equity-again
#technology #privacy #messengers

2026-01-12 18:48:34 UTC

DarkMX is a decentralised comms app that utilises Tor and I2P to have an anonymous, reliable, and censorship-resistant presence on the internet
* You can chat
* You can share files
* You can search other people's files
* You can keep a contact list and send private messages to your friends
* You can create your own custom .onion site, available to anyone with a Tor Browser
Like many services which use Tor or I2P network, users tend to remain anonymous, and pretty well much everything goes, so this is not a child-friendly network. The focus on this particular network though is more around all sorts of file sharing, with zero moderation, so you want to be careful about what you actually download.
But despite that, the app works with a built-in Tor client. If you want to use the I2P network, like I do, then you will need to install your own I2P or i2pd client app to run your I2P router node. I2P can be more private and resilient than even the Tor network. Just note that the app needs to connect to your I2P router for a good 30 minutes to discover peers and get communication going. Thereafter, it will be a lot quicker. The screenshot shows also where you can find the diagnostics for both networks. If I2P is accessible, the Tor connection is paused.
The app also plays a role as a server of files to any Tor browser. So if you want to share files, music, or whatever (legally of course) then you can turn on Web Access, and separate you files into different groups if you wish to keep some separate, and then copy the link to share.
Have a look at:
From I2P network http://mv3qjsjk4cw3oywhsgkjqumn2cdlom6y5z7cuq6f6g4vhlhrynga.b32.i2p/DarkMX/site/index.txt
From any Tor browser http://svdiwvzqmpozcicznynjxc3fcv3a4znv7c7nc6ycnrtsf677652gbzid.onion/DarkMX/site/index.txt
Or try HTM for a Tor browser http://svdiwvzqmpozcicznynjxc3fcv3a4znv7c7nc6ycnrtsf677652gbzid.onion/DarkMX/site/index.html
You should see a web page, but the DarkMX application needs to be running on my side otherwise nothing will be visible, as there is no 24/7 server service. It is PC to PC.
But it is not just files and web pages. A Channel can also be used for just chatting or discussion topics as well.
It has apps for Android, Windows, and Linux.
You will note that hidden services are sometimes mentioned. This is because the Tor as well as I2P networks are not indexed by Google and other clearnet (normal HTML TCP based web services).
See https://darkmx.app
#technology #decentralised #privacy #Tor #I2P
https://npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6.blossom.band/1263950e7a739e6f448973ff20425c1cdd34ae0ecd81d7d27f01a7f49da3df72.webp

2026-01-11 12:55:07 UTC

SSD thumb drives could be better than cheap USB flash drives
“Instead of getting a cheap but very sluggish flash drive, consider buying a USB SSD that looks like a regular thumb drive but is way faster and only slightly more expensive.”
I haven't bought a cheap flash drive for quite a while, so did not really realise these SSD thumb drives were available. But they look worthwhile considering especially if the data volumes are a bit more. They are certainly a lot more compact and mobile than carrying around whole external SSD drives.
See https://www.howtogeek.com/dont-buy-a-plain-old-usb-flash-drive-but-this-instead
#technology #storage

2026-01-06 17:58:20 UTC

I replaced Trello, Toggl, and TickTick with free, open-source Super Productivity
Well I have not done so myself, as I still see a shortcoming around not being able to set custom repeats based on a first Wednesday of every month, or the last weekday of the month. It does though have repeats based on fixed schedules as well as completion date, which is important if you want to repeat something after you finished a task e.g. cleaning my weather station 3 months after I did it last.
But apart from that it has a very nice modern look to it, and is pretty powerful in many other aspects. It has a few powerful productivity views such as Eisenhower Matrix and Kanban, procrastination buster, AI productivity prompts, etc (some are plugins). It also has a great review at the end of the day, with a lot of stats and scoring.
I like the tag and project views so you can see different groupings of your tasks. It has quite a focus on timers, taking breaks, etc too.
Migrating from a different todo planner is not so easy so as there is no importer from say TickTick at all. It seems there is no global standard for importing/exporting todos across apps. Someone has created a bridging app that may help with this, but for me to fully migrate my 149 unique tasks to this, could be pretty painful as mine have lots of custom repeats, sub-tasks, etc in.
It is free with no paid cloud sync service. It will sync via Dropbox, Google Drive, WebDAV, or local file sync (like Synthing). But it is syncing a file, so if two clients edit offline, only the last one will win on re-connection. This is a bit like I had wit Obsidian Notes when using Syncthing. So even if you self-host it in Docker, that is just a web client that must still sync to Dropbox or wherever (unlike say Joplin Notes which is a proper centralised sync server).
See https://www.howtogeek.com/i-replaced-trello-toggl-and-ticktick-with-one-free-open-source-foss-app
#technology #productivity #todo

2025-12-23 17:07:06 UTC

Stop Manually Checking GitHub Releases — These Tools Automatically Install & Update Apps on Linux
“Package managers are essential tools on Linux systems. They help you install, update, and remove software packages with simple commands. Most distributions come with their own package managers, like apt, dnf, or pacman. However, many modern tools are distributed as pre-compiled binaries via GitHub releases. Developers using languages like Go, Rust, and Deno often release their software this way. New projects that are not included in the official distro repository yet have to opt for this method. This creates a gap between traditional package managers and these GitHub-hosted releases.”
This is probably going to be of more interest to those using Debian and Fedora based package managers, as these are the most popular packages, which are typically generated directly on code hosting sites.
But some interesting options to consider between deb-get, Autonomix, Eget, Install Release, bin, stew, and AFX.
See https://itsfoss.com/github-binaries-tools
#technology #Linux #opensource

2025-12-23 13:33:38 UTC

Windows fatigue continues to push thousands of gamers to switch to Bazzite Linux distro
“Bazzite, a Linux distro that has a lot in common with Valve's SteamOS, is designed specifically with gaming in mind, offering a console-like experience that ditches the majority of Windows 11's most annoying features. In recent usage statistics posted to X, Bazzite shared weekly growth of roughly 1.25x over the past 30 days. To put the number in perspective, this means that Bazzite pulls in roughly 50,000 weekly users.”
There are tons of different Linux distros, but they can actually all do the same things (same Linux kernel underneath). The presentation, included packages, and the package manager type, are what really separates them a bit. So you can really pick any distro you want, and make it work. I use Manjaro KDE, and it is playing all the games I want (including Windows-only games), it does all my browsing, document creation and editing, video creation and editing, and lots more.
What is different about Bazzite, is that it has specialised around making gaming work well from the get-go, and it has a focus on newcomers to Linus as well. Interestingly, it also has a rollback function for any system updates that may cause problems.
Best of all, it's fast, has no adverts, no TPM v2 requirements, and no AI Copilot.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/windows-fatigue-pushes-thousands-of-gamers-to-switch-to-bazzite or their website at https://bazzite.gg
#technology #Linux #Windows11 #gaming

2025-12-20 11:30:43 UTC

Portmaster is an open source application firewall built to monitor and control network activity on Windows and Linux
“Every packet is visible to the service, and any packet can be stopped before it leaves the system. The software matches traffic to the app that created it by using eBPF and the proc filesystem on Linux or a kernel driver and the IP Helper API on Windows. This approach lets users see each connection while still setting rules per application. It also helps the service sort out unusual cases. Portmaster can recognize Snap packages, AppImage apps and scripts on Linux as well as Windows Store apps and system services that run under svchost.exe.”
I love that it shows per application how many, and what countries, connections are being made to the Internet. It also intercepts DNS queries that may have bypassed your user settings.
The linked article does link directly to the GitHub project, where you can get the files to install it.
See https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/12/03/portmaster-open-source-application-firewall
#technology #opensource #security

2025-12-19 20:00:20 UTC

Decentralized YouTube Alternative PeerTube Adds Creator Mode
“PeerTube is a free and open source video hosting platform that serves as an alternative to YouTube. Unlike centralized platforms, it allows anyone to create their own video hosting instance while connecting with others through federation. It is developed by Framasoft, a French non-profit organization focused on digital freedom. Before you ask, the organization keeps itself afloat on donations rather than advertising or scraping people's data. The project recently hit two milestones: PeerTube v8 was released, bringing collaborative features and design improvements. Just a week later, the mobile app received its long-awaited Creator Mode.”
PeerTube has steadily been improving this year and playback has also been getting much better. A year or so back, it was still plagued sometimes with buffering.
It works much the same way as Mastodon and other Fediverse networks do so you can host your own PeerTube instance if you want to. There are some biggish YouTube creators there too, but it does not pay money like YouTube does as there are no adverts shoved into everything.
I also post my videos there at [email protected]. But yes, my follower count there is way lower than on YouTube, because I suppose so many love the YT ads. ;-)
See https://itsfoss.com/news/peertube-8-release
#technology #peertube #opensource

2025-12-19 19:42:48 UTC

Affinity, as an alternative to Photoshop, runs as an AppImage on Linux
“Canva, after acquiring the team behind Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher, launched the free Affinity app that brings together all three of the aforementioned apps. And while it doesn't officially support Linux, the community has stepped up to fix that. So, if you're someone working in image and photo editing, Linux is one step closer to perfection.”
Although the linked article does give a Python code snippet to install this via an installation script on Linux, many may feel more comfortable just downloading and running the AppImage version as this packages the WINE files with it, so it all runs sweetly.
The first run will be slow as it creates the WINE folder files etc inside ~/.AffinityLinux-Appimage/, and thereafter it will start quickly. At initial startup, it prompts for a DPI setting, and it is probably best to leave that at the default (mine was 96) otherwise I notice it displays for a much larger screen.
From https://www.xda-developers.com/thought-needed-windows-for-photoshop-this-linux-project-good/ and you can get the AppImage at https://github.com/ryzendew/AffinityOnLinux/releases
#technology #Linux #photoediting

2025-12-17 15:13:21 UTC

Easier Than Nano! Fresh is a Fresh New Rust-based Terminal Editor for Linux
“Fresh is a new Rust-based terminal text editor that takes a different approach. It uses standard keybindings like Ctrl+S for saving, Ctrl+F for searching, and Ctrl+Z for undoing. It works like a GUI editor but runs in your terminal.”
Newer versions of Nano do, I think, default to similar easy to remember common keybindings. If not, it certainly can be set to use them, but every now, and again I still hit Nano with the old keybindings on some devices I work on. That said, I don't think Nano has any built-in file explorer, though.
Fresh certainly looks well worth trying out. It installs on macOS, Linux and Windows (binaries on the GitHub site).
See https://itsfoss.com/fresh-terminal-text-editor
#technology #opensource #texteditors

2025-12-16 16:48:09 UTC

Valve Has the Secret to Playing Your Games Everywhere, and It’s Not Streaming
“Last month, Valve showed off the Steam Machine, a console-like box with PC guts, along with a Steam Frame VR headset. The secret sauce of the headset is down to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU, a mobile-focused chip based on ARM microarchitecture. Valve claims the Frame will be able to play your Steam games, both over local streaming and through an open-source x86 emulator called Fex. When you put on a Steam Frame, it will be running SteamOS, same as the Steam Machine. It’s basically a Steam Deck for your face, but it’s much more distinct than that because of the underlying hardware.”
So, this could be a bit like what the Proton compatibility layer has done for Windows games on Linux (and that has been huge, with more than 24,300 games rated as at least playable with Proton).
See https://gizmodo.com/valve-has-the-secret-to-playing-your-games-everywhere-and-its-not-streaming-2000699887
#technology #gaming #opensource

2025-12-04 12:07:11 UTC

Been waiting for this! Proton now has a Google Sheets clone with end-to-end encryption
Spreadsheets are finally rolling out over the next few days for Proton users. I actually use spreadsheets more often than documents, for product comparisons or purchase decisions. So this is something that has been holding me back a bit from using Proton Drive more fully.
Yes, the feature set is going to be rather minimal right now compared to more mature products, and it also is not (yet) exporting to ODF format.
"Proton Sheets is protected by end-to-end encryption, ensuring that no one else, not even Proton, can access your spreadsheet and the information it contains. Whether you’re tracking your home budget or managing a multi-team project, Sheets can help you get the job done. Use built-in formulas to perform analysis, turn raw data into easily understood charts, and collaborate with remote teams knowing your information is safe."
See https://www.howtogeek.com/proton-now-has-a-google-sheets-clone
#technology #privacy #spreadsheets

2025-11-28 20:18:17 UTC

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are better to use for major social network services than their mobile apps
Yes, you do lose a few things like instant notifications and some performance, but the benefits are no app in the background that tracks your location the whole time, sometimes storing masses of data on your phone, and also sometimes chewing data in the background too.
But if you are trying to break free from doomscrolling, then using a PWA instead may be just what you needed. PWA uses your browser but saves the icon on the homescreen, so it starts up pretty well much like a mobile app, and all the usual browser buttons and other menus are hidden, so it is quite a clean experience.
Importantly, a PWA is sandboxed by your browser, so now that social network service can't see your photos, texts, or other apps unless you give it explicit permission.
See https://www.androidpolice.com/delete-native-apps-hello-web
#technology #privacy #socialnetworks

2025-11-26 11:01:02 UTC

Why I Ditched My Smartwatch for a Retro-Styled Casio Watch
This video takes you through my decision-making process and reasons for ditching my Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (and other smartwatches) for a modern, retro-styled Casio ABL-100WE watch.
The video starts with the straw that broke the camel's back, and concludes with two other possibilities I'll weigh up early in 2026.
Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BtlVV-lfT0
#technology #smartwatches #retro #Casio #gadget

2025-11-16 14:17:53 UTC

Viseron is a self-hosted camera monitoring app and the perfect Frigate alternative
“If you've ever wanted to keep an eye on your surroundings without sending data to third-party servers, you've probably heard of Frigate. The open-source is a popular choice as an NVR that runs locally and taps into the power of AI to detect people, cars, and more. But Frigate isn't the only game in town. There's another contender worth looking at. It's called Viseron, and it's a self-hosted camera monitoring platform that offers a polished interface, widespread hardware support, and, most importantly, it works on your local network. Viseron is designed from the ground up to be simple, flexible, and private. There are no subscriptions to worry about, no hidden restrictions, and, of course, no cloud dependencies to worry about.”
Having any CCTV cameras running 24/7 in or around your home has to be a concern for privacy. We have seen way too may vulnerabilities, with even a website dedicated to showing you everyone's exposed cameras, which included children's nursery cams. My own cameras are restricted to a VLAN that has no Internet access (ingoing or outgoing).
So it is good to see more and more self-hosted alternatives becoming available for everyone. This one even has AI-powered object detection, which my much older Reolink system does not have.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/self-hosted-camera-monitoring-app-perfect-frigate-alternative
#technology #privacy #opensource #CCTV

2025-11-13 20:36:20 UTC

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If one only wanted a cheap device, yes you are quite correct. I think though they were aiming at those who want the newer Wi-Fi standards every year or two as they come out (with the benefits of greater throughput, lower energy, better range, etc) and just being able to swap a module out instead of a device. Some people replace their mobile phones every two years, only to find they have old Wi-Fi routers which they don't replace as often (my previous Wi-Fi router was probably in use a good 8+ years).

2025-11-09 07:21:19 UTC

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I have a Protectli firewall device myself but it did not have a built-in Wi-Fi module, I had to buy an additional Wi-Fi access point to connect to it. Supposedly the Wi-Fi module that Protectli offers is firstly not a high-end one, and secondly is not recommended for heavy-duty Wi-Fi use as I understand it.

2025-11-08 19:59:14 UTC

This OpenWrt-Based Router Has Swappable Wi-Fi Modules for Future Upgrades
“Their Turris router project started as an internal research effort focused on understanding network threats that has now evolved into offering commercial products with rock-solid security and convenient features. Now, they have launched the Turris Omnia NG, the next generation of their security-focused router line. Like its predecessors, the router is manufactured in the Czech Republic.”
Yes, part of the news is the swappable Wi-Fi hardware modules, but also very interesting is that the router comes with an open source operating system based on OpenWrt. I really like that!
That means that you can do a lot more with it than just being a basic, cripple proprietary router. It can work as a NAS, VPN gateway, run LXC containers or even full Linux distributions like Ubuntu or Debian on virtual machines, or a self-hosted cloud server running Nextcloud.
Try doing that on a commercial Asus or T-Link router!
See https://itsfoss.com/news/turris-omnia-ng
#technology #opensource #routers #openwrt

2025-10-23 19:22:15 UTC

No surprise: Research shows you cannot believe everything on social media
“An analysis of how tools to make non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes spread online, from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, shows X and search engines surface these sites easily.”
Everyone seems to be noticing social media has just becoming worse and worse all around. If it was not trolling, it was scams and worse, it was harassment, incitements to violence, and often there seems to be a decided tendency towards trying to rile users up through the use of various triggers (politics, war, religion, discrimination, etc are all great triggers that rarely fail).
I used to blame this on just masses of people getting online, and it taking all sorts, including the bad sorts. But in fact, a lot today seems to be driven by bots and even AI.
What the study also seems to show (it does not state directly) is those networks and search engines, which use algorithms to lift out viral posts, are the very worst by a long shot. This makes sense as algorithms will exponentially raise visibility of some posts versus networks that just show who you are following with posts sorted chronologically.
The Enshitification of social networks and search engines (including manipulated AI) is truly here.
So, it is good to remember that a LOT of what you read may well be fake and just calculated to rule you up, and also that there are quieter networks where this sort of thing does not happen as much. I'm also hearing more of my friends saying they just don't read newspapers or look at social media anymore. Many have decided to just skip it all. So don't be fooled either by all those likes and reshare numbers that you see. Don't feel guilty either to just block people — no don't waste your time trying to report them as I can tell you from experience reporting posts on both Facebook and X, NEVER resulted in any positive action (“the post did not contravene our guidelines”, is the standard reply, if you get one).
The most effective way to solve such a problem, if it becomes too much for you, is to just delete your account and move to another network or search engine. There are plenty of options out there.
See https://www.404media.co/deepfake-tools-spread-on-social-media-research
#technology #socialnetworks #enshitification #deepfakes

2025-10-15 19:18:45 UTC

Free Software Foundation announced its Librephone project to bring mobile phone freedom to users
“Librephone is a new initiative by the FSF with the goal of bringing full freedom to the mobile computing environment. The vast majority of software users around the world use a mobile phone as their primary computing device. After forty years of advocacy for computing freedom, the FSF will now work to bring the right to study, change, share, and modify the programs users depend on in their daily lives to mobile phones.”
There are of course a few such phone freedom projects on Android, but most have a few shortcomings still, and one of the shortcomings has often been that binary blobs are still included for various firmware drivers.
Such devices of course eliminate all the corporate spyware and tracking that Google, Apple, etc tend to pack into their phones. Bearing in mind of course if you install the Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google Search, etc apps into this phone, you are just wide open again.
An issue for me though, on my last LineageOS phone, was my bank was detecting the phone was not locked down even though I had Magisk modules to mask the rooting. So we are also seeing in some cases that certain security apps may not run properly either. You just have to venture carefully into changes of phone OS and be sure what you need to use, will in fact work fine.
But more options are always good to see.
See https://www.fsf.org/news/librephone-project
#technology #privacy #tracking #opensource #android

2025-09-26 20:28:09 UTC

Tecmint's 6 Best Linux Distros for Gaming and Playing Windows Games
“The good news is that gaming on Linux has improved dramatically in recent years. Besides the many native Linux titles already available, you can also play a huge selection of Windows-only games using compatibility tools like Proton (built into Steam) and Wine. In fact, nearly 80% of the most popular Windows games now run on Linux with little to no extra effort.”
For myself, I've been using Manjaro Linux the last few years, and I am playing all the games I've needed to so far on Linux. My list includes:
* Snowrunner
* War Thunder multiplayer
* Ships at Sea
* Assetto Corsa EVO
* Assetto Corsa Competizione
* BeamNG Drive
* Train Fever
* Euro Truck Sim in multiplayer
* American Truck Sim
* FORZA Horizon 4
* Hell Let Loose
* Red Dead Redemption II
* Dirt Rally 2.0
* rFactor 2
* Train Sim World 5
All in all, it is 77 games, so I have more than enough to keep me playing. I've not got Microsoft Flight Sim 2024 so cannot comment on that one, but the only one that I think did not play for me on Linux was World of Subways 3.
See https://www.tecmint.com/linux-distros-for-playing-windows-games
#technology #linux #gaming
https://npub1g2jpj7x9rjcqd9dp3hnvja2tjr3q3hf362z3ulrfzpyfnsdw5qlqyayjj6.blossom.band/d118a68f2517048a81f7287189e51cd85994fd4e06902a1306dfb7c99b038d5b.webp

2025-09-17 20:22:25 UTC

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https://github.com/meshtastic

2025-09-10 21:26:20 UTC

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The Founders were immigrants themselves. I don't get this US hang up about "immigrants" as it is probably the country most constituted out of immigrants whether they go back one or more generations back. It has long been a melting pot of different cultures, religions, etc. It's actually what gives the US the strength they have - a strength in diversity. Some immigrants were slaves, and others came from all the other continents.
In my own country, my family immigrated here back in the mid-1600's, but even that has become a debate about whether this should be my home country because my family originated from Europe, and not Africa. So the question really is when is one an immigrant, and when not?
And if so, how does anyone "go back" to a country they were never born in? They are not recognised as from that country, either. It's pretty complex.

2025-09-10 20:04:20 UTC

New Movie “Python: The Documentary” Traces the Language’s Story
“Some things in the open-source ecosystem are absolutely foundational—they’ve shaped it into what we know today. One of the biggest is the Python programming language. And now, it’s giving its global community something a little different—and pretty exciting. A movie!”
This is one of the most popular programming languages in the world, and known for its quirky sense of humour. The documentary should be entertaining to watch.
There is a link to the movie in the linked article below.
See https://linuxiac.com/new-movie-python-the-documentary-traces-the-languages-story
#technology #Python #programming

2025-09-09 11:35:02 UTC

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Yep default should always be client, unless there is a special purpose as mentioned for selected high sites

2025-09-09 09:58:05 UTC

Pessimists Archive educates people on and archives the history of technophobia and moral panics
Pessimists Archive is a project to jog our collective memories about the hysteria, technophobia and moral panic that often greets new technologies, ideas and trends. Explore the timeline of technologies at the footer of their site.
“We believe the best antidote to fear of the new is looking back at fear of the old. Only by looking back at fears of old things when they were new, can we have rational constructive debates about emerging technologies today that avoids the pitfalls of moral panic and incumbent protectionism.”
It's quite true, I suppose that having a bigger picture context of things, does help put them in perspective. I typically think back to the early 1900s about the panic spread about motor vehicles and having to have a person walking in front of the car with a flag to warn pedestrians. Similarly, with the early steam locomotives that were rumoured to stop cows producing milk, and also travelling too fast so that humans on them would not be able to breathe properly.
So much FUD that we have just forgotten about (for good reason). And of course we must not forget that many legacy industries spread all sorts of propaganda and ideas specifically to discount some new advances, because it is in their interests financially to prevent people moving away from using their product or service.
The site really deals mainly with the long forgotten technophobia issues, and not with some of the more current ones. It is always best to look back historically, as there is less emotion and personal involvement with those times. They do interestingly enough tie some technophobia together that relates to similar fears, just which re-appear later with newer technology.
See https://pessimistsarchive.org
#technology #conspiracytheories #FUD

2025-09-08 18:33:55 UTC

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Yes I wonder, but in today's world it seems popularist to be dissatisfied with everything ;-)

2025-09-04 20:14:35 UTC

Switzerland releases its own AI model trained on public data and its open source
“Switzerland launched an open-source model called Apertus on Monday as an alternative to proprietary models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, reports SWI as spotted by Engadget. The model’s source code, training data, model weights, and detailed development process are available on the AI model platform HuggingFace.”
Of course, being Switzerland, this is an attempt to adhere to the European Union’s copyright laws and voluntary AI code of practice, which may set it apart from some other AI models. Some may argue then it is won't be as good as some other AI models, but I suppose the analogy may be a thief could be richer than most workers who earn their honest dime through their own hard work.
See https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/770646/switzerland-ai-model-llm-open-apertus
#technology #privacy #AI #opensource

2025-08-21 08:40:03 UTC

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But still way way better than what WhatsApp does!

2025-08-21 08:37:42 UTC

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@nprofile…0cce too true, as mostly one does never need to really go deep under the hood. Yep I remember back in the mid-2000's there were some irritations which we have all forgotten about now ;-)