● 11.29.21

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Links 29/11/2021: FWUPD’s ‘Best Known Configuration’ and Glimpse at OpenZFS 3.0

Posted in News Roundup at 12:50 pm by Dr. Roy SchestowitzContentsGNU/LinuxDistributionsDevices/EmbeddedFree Software/Open SourceLeftovers

GNU/Linux

=> ↺ 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: November 28th, 2021

• This week has been full of great releases, despite the fact that it was Thanksgiving week in the US. We managed to test drive the MX Linux 21 AHS edition, new Deepin Linux, Alpine Linux, Endless OS, IPFire, and Clonezilla Live versions, as well as to update our VirtualBox, LibreOffice, Tux Paint, and Proton installs.

• On top of that, this week brought us a new Linux laptop from TUXEDO Computers targeted at business users. You can enjoy these and much more in 9to5Linux’s Linux weekly roundup for November 28th, 2021, below! Don’t forget to also check out our YouTube channel for the latest reviews.

Audiocasts/Shows

=> ↺ Chill out. The Steam Deck’s immutable filesystem solves our biggest problem. – Invidious

• I’ve seen a lot of comments complaining about the Steam Deck’s immutable filesystem on the Dev Stream Deep Dive video. We need to clear up the misconceptions.

=> ↺ Open Source Security Episode 299 – Experts From A World That No Longer Exists – Open Source Security

• Josh and Kurt talk about an article about how expertise has a limited lifetime. We are all experts in something, but some of us will find our expert knowledge to be outdated eventually. We discuss what that means in the context of security and tech and disagree about how to best keep your skills up to date.

=> ↺ WP Briefing: Episode 21: All Things Block Themes!

• In episode 21 of the WordPress Briefing, Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, talks all things block themes with developers and theme specialists Maggie Cabrera and Jeff Ong.

=> ↺ Linux Action News 217

• Fedora’s massive endorsement this week that went unnoticed, why RISC-V mobile devices might be getting near, and the significant change coming to a critical open-source tool.

Kernel Space

=> ↺ Kernel prepatch 5.16-rc3 [LWN.net]

• The 5.16-rc3 kernel prepatch is out for testing. “So rc3 is usually a bit larger than rc2 just because people had some time to start finding things. So too this time, although it’s not like this is a particularly big rc3.”

=> ↺ Bootlin contributions to Linux 5.14 and 5.15

• It’s been a while we haven’t posted about Bootlin contributions to the Linux kernel, and in fact missed both the Linux 5.14 and Linux 5.15 releases, which we will cover in this blog post.

• Linux 5.14 was released on August 29, 2021. The usual KernelNewbies.org page and the LWN articles on the merge window (part 1 and part 2) provide the best summaries of the new features and hardware support offered by this release.

=> ↺ Richard Hughes: Firmware “Best Known Configuration” in fwupd

• I’ve just deployed some new functionality to the LVFS adding support for component s. These are used by server vendors to identify a known-working (or commercially supported) set of firmware on the machine. This is currently opt-in for each vendor to avoid the UI clutter on the components view, and so if you’re a vendor reading this post and realize you want this feature, let me know and it’s two clicks on the admin panel.

=> ↺ FWUPD Linux Firmware Updater Prepares “Best Known Configuration” Feature – Phoronix

• The Linux Vendor Firmware Service (LVFS) and FWUPD on their great upward trajectory has in recent times been expanding beyond their initial focus of desktop/laptop hardware to supporting more server platforms for firmware updating. The latest feature driven by their growing server interests is “best known configuration” handling for where there are multiple independently-versioned firmware packages for a given system and may be support recommendations or potential version conflicts between the the different firmware packages.

=> ↺ OpenZFS 3.0 Introduced at Developer Summit

• The ninth annual OpenZFS Developer Summit took place November 8th and 9th online with iXsystems proudly returning as a Gold sponsor. The OpenZFS community remains vibrant and is continuing to develop features at a rapid pace. This blog summarizes some of the more interesting talks.

Benchmarks

=> ↺ Amazon Linux 2022 Benchmarks – Offers Competitive Performance Against Ubuntu, CentOS

• Last week Amazon Web Services released Amazon Linux 2022 in preview form and since then I’ve been trying out their new cloud-optimized Linux distribution. It’s been working out well on AWS (to no surprise) but also great was the level of performance provided by this now-Fedora-based distribution.

• Amazon Linux 2022 transitions to being a Fedora-based Linux distribution that AWS intends to support for at least the next five years. Amazon Linux to this point had been based on a combination of RHEL and Fedora packages. Besides shifting the package base to Fedora, AWS engineers have adjusted various defaults of the distribution, employed extra kernel hardening, other package updates/changes, forthcoming kernel live patching, and other alterations in the name of security and AWS performance.

Applications

=> ↺ Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Apple Photos

• In 2020, Apple began the Apple silicon transition, using self-designed, 64-bit ARM-based Apple M1 processors on new Mac computers. Maybe it’s the perfect time to move away from the proprietary world of Apple, and embrace the open source Linux scene.

• Apple Photos is a photo management and editing application. It lets you organize your collection into albums, or keep your photos organized automatically with smart albums.

• What are the best free and open source alternatives?

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ How To Install Apache Server on Fedora 35 – idroot

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Apache Server on Fedora 35. For those of you who didn’t know, Apache HTTP is a popular web server for Linux servers. It is a free cross-platform web server that is supported on various operating systems. Developers prefer Apache for its speed, security, reliability, robustness, and ease of customization. In addition, Apache is able to meet the needs of many environments as it allows the installation of various extensions and modules.

• This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you through the step-by-step installation of the Apache webserver on a Fedora 35.

=> ↺ How To Easily Set Up Secure OTA Firmware Updates On ESP32 | Hackaday

• Fortunately, over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates are a thing, allowing embedded devices to be reprogrammed over their wireless data connection instead of with a physical hardware device. Security is of course a concern, and thankfully [Refik] explains how to set up a basic framework so that ESP32 OTA updates can happen securely, allowing one to deploy devices and still push OTA updates in confidence.

• [Refik] begins by setting up a web server using Ubuntu Linux, and sets up HTTPS using a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt, but a self-signed SSL certificate is also an option. Once that is done, the necessary fundamentals are in place to support deploying OTA updates in a secure manner. A bit more configuration, and the rest is up to the IoT devices themselves. [Refik] explains how to set things up using the esp32FOTA library, but we’ve also seen other ways to make OTA simple to use.

=> ↺ How To Install UVdesk on Debian 11 – idroot

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install UVdesk on Debian 11. For those of you who didn’t know, UVdesk is a free, open-source, and SaaS-based helpdesk solution for any business process to deliver the best customer service. It is a simple, flexible, user-friendly, and alternative to other popular support platforms. Uvdesk supports Enterprise service desk features like workflow, Email piping, knowledgebase, Mailbox, Ecommerce and Multichannel Integration.

• This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you through the step-by-step installation of the UVdesk helpdesk system on a Debian 11 (Bullseye).

=> ↺ How to Copy Files Between Kubernetes Pods and Your Machine – CloudSavvy IT

• Containers running in Kubernetes Pods are meant to be self-contained compute units that you don’t need to manually interact with. Sometimes you might have to copy files to or from a Pod’s filesystem though, perhaps because you’re debugging a problem and want to archive logs, config files, or caches stored in a container.

• Here’s how to move files between your machine and containers in a Pod, using Kubectl’s built-in transfer feature or a manual alternative.

=> ↺ How to Install Firefox Next (Beta) or Firefox Quantum (Nightly) on Linux Mint – LinuxCapable

• Mozilla Firefox is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation. Firefox utilizes the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current and future anticipated web formats and standards.

• For the most part, Firefox is often up to date with the latest stable release on Linux Mint and Ubuntu-based desktops, however non-stable builds such as beta or the more bleeding edge nightly builds can be installed tested the new features or test your websites before its hits the stable repository.

• For the most part, the beta build is what curious users should be installing, and the nightly build should never be used by anyone other than sysadmins or developers looking to test a particular feature.

• In the tutorial, you will learn how to add and install the beta and nightly build for Firefox using a PPA maintained by the Mozilla team.

=> ↺ How to Install Grafana 8 on Ubuntu 20.04

• Grafana is a tool for monitoring, analysis, and visualization of real-time system data. From a series of data collected, we will obtain a graphical panorama of the situation of a company or organization. It generates graphs and dashboards from a time-series database (Graphite, InfluxDB, or OpenTSDB). It also allows you to share them as snapshots with other users.

=> ↺ How to Repair File System Errors in Debian Based Systems

• In Linux, using heavy hardware components can be checked and recovered. Specifically, on Ubuntu and Debian systems, finding out the hard-disk bad sectors is easy. Once your hard disk or drive gets some bad sectors or gets corrupted, it gets spread day by day. On Ubuntu and other Debian Linux machines, you can use a few tools or commands to find out the file system errors and repair the errors. Not fixing errors or bad sectors might make your system boot slower and can also affect initialization.

=> ↺ How to Securely Transfer Files between Ubuntu Systems Using Croc – VITUX

• Croc is an open-source CLI-based tool that allows to securely transfer files between systems. During file transfer, a code is generated for the sender and the receiver systems to use for end-to-end encryption. Whether the sender and receiver are on the same network or the different networks, Croc can easily and quickly transfer files between them without the need for port forwarding. Croc can be installed and used on Linux, Windows, and MacOS, allowing you to share files between different operating systems.

• In today’s tutorial, we will install Croc to securely transfer files between Ubuntu systems. To install Croc on Ubuntu, you should have root or sudo privileges.

• Note: The procedure has been demonstrated on Ubuntu OS. You can use the same installation procedure for Debian OS.

=> ↺ How to Set or Change Hostname in Linux System

• Hostname is the label of a system or in other words it is a human readable name of a system, after setting up the hostname of the device then it becomes easy to manage and access based on their label or hostname.

=> ↺ How to Setup SSH Login Without Password

• In this article I will show you how to setup SSH login without passwords in a Linux operating system by using key-based authentication.

• SSH is used to remotely log into servers for running the commands and programs. However, sometimes you might want or even need to automatically log in to an SSH server without entering your username and password.

• The two most popular mechanisms to log into remote systems via SSH are password-based authentication and key-based authentication.

• Username and password combination is the most common authentication method for SSH and is a suitable method for most people. But if you regularly use SSH to connect to remote servers, the key-based authentication method is best for you.

• So, can you SSH without a password? In short, yes! Here’s how to do it.

=> ↺ How to create a VPC Peering between 2 VPCs on AWS

• A VPC peering connection is a connection between two VPCs that enables you to route traffic between them. We can create a VPC peering connection between our VPCs, or with a VPC in another AWS account. The VPCs can also be in different regions.

• We can peer the VPCs across accounts to create a network filesystem and we can also use a VPC peering connection to allow other VPCs to access resources we have in one of our VPCs.

=> ↺ How to install Travis CI on Ubuntu 20.04 – NextGenTips

• In this tutorial, I am going to take you through the installation of Travis CI on UIbuntu 20.04.

• Travis CI is a hosted continuous integration service used to build and test software projects hosted on Github and Bitbucket. Travis CI provided services to Open-source projects for free.

• Travis CI enables teams to test and ship apps with confidence. You can easily sync your projects with Travis CI. Travis CI automatically detects when a commit is made and pushed to the GitHub repository that is using Travis CI, and each time this happens, it will try to build the project and run tests.

=> ↺ How to list all running & stopped Docker containers – Linux Shout

• Docker is the popular platform to run container virtual machines using the pre-built app images. The installation and its usage are pretty simple, yet, if you are new to it and want to know how to list all the created or stopped Docker containers to delete or manage them easily. Then here are the commands to follow.

=> ↺ How to monitor domain expiry date using shell script in Linux

• The shell is an interface that helps users to operate the system through different commands, scripts, and utilities provided by Linux and Unix-based operating systems.

• For most of the Linux distros, Bash shell is the popular and default shell. You can identify your current shell using the following command.

=> ↺ Getting access to somebody else’s Ansible Galaxy namespace | die-welt.net

• TL;DR: adding features after the fact is hard, normalizing names is hard, it’s patched, carry on.

• I promise, the longer version is more interesting and fun to read!

• Recently, I was poking around Ansible Galaxy and almost accidentally got access to someone else’s namespace. I was actually looking for something completely different, but accidental finds are the best ones!

=> ↺ Fedora Magazine: Use Diffoscope in packager workflows

• In the role of a packager, updating packages is a recurring task. For some projects, a packager is involved in upstream maintenance, or well written release notes make it easy to figure out what changed between the releases. This isn’t always the case, for instance with some small project maintained by one or two people somewhere on github, and it can be useful to verify what exactly changed. Diffoscope can help determine the changes between package releases.

• Diffoscope is a “smart binary diff” tool that was born in the Reproducible Builds project in Debian, which is also available in Fedora. It “knows” about various types of text and binary formats, and will try to recursively unpack and compare two blobs. In particular it knows that some objects need to be decompressed before comparing, that archives need to be unpacked, and how to deconstruct binary objects like ELF programs and libraries, Java .jar files, Windows .cab files, etc.

=> ↺ A Step-By-Step Guide to Installing Xubuntu 20.04 Linux

• Xubuntu is a popular lightweight Linux distribution that is based on Ubuntu. It ships with an Xfce desktop environment which is light, stable, and highly configurable.

• Being a lightweight distribution, Xubuntu is a perfect choice for users who are running modern PCs with low RAM and CPU resources. It also works quite well on older hardware.

=> ↺ How to Install PostgreSQL 14 in Ubuntu 20.04

• There are specific database software attributes that make PostgreSQL stand out against other database platforms. The first and obvious attribute is its open-source nature.

• This PostgreSQL trait puts it on continuous developmental milestones. Both its community and developers seek to evolve PostgreSQL into an enterprise-class performing software.

• Existing PostgreSQL community platforms help users deal with emerging bugs, and also understand its various functionalities and use cases.

• Other PostgreSQL strengths are in its unique functions like Store Procedure, Diverse Indexing Techniques, Flexible Full-text search, Diversified Extension Functions, and Diverse kind of Replication.

=> ↺ How to upload an ISO image to the Proxmox Server – Unixcop the Unix / Linux the admins deams

• Hello, friends. We have already shown you how to install Proxmox and we noticed that the process is easier than you might think. Now I will show you how to upload an ISO image to the Proxmox server. To do this, I will use the graphical method or through the terminal.

• With Proxmox we will be able to virtualize systems professionally and to do many things more like cluster, backups, and others. However, to start with the virtualization we have to have an ISO image of the system.

• So, with a server that is far away from our location, how to do it? How to have the ISO image on the server so that Proxmox can manage it? Well, that’s what I will show you today.

• Let’s go for it.

=> ↺ How to install FreeOffice 2021 on Ubuntu 20.04 Linux – Linux Shout

• One of the best free alternatives to Microsoft Office is FreeOffice, developed by a German software company- SoftMaker. Recently, they have upgraded their Office suite to version 21. And here we learn the steps to install FreeOffice 2021 version on Ubuntu 20.04 Linux using the command terminal.

• This free office suite is a part of the commercial one from the same developers known as SoftMaker Office 21 (also available for Linux), of course, the premium will have more features but that doesn’t mean the free version- FreeOffice 2021 deprives to full fill all daily office documents (MS-Word alternative) related requirements. It offers a Microsoft office ribbon-like interface and three modules- TextMaker 21 to create documents; PlanMaker 21 to create sheets (Excel alternative) and Presentations 21 for making slides like MS-Powerpoint.

=> ↺ How to verify checksum on Linux | FOSS Linux

• A checksum is small-sized data obtained from a block of digital data used to detect errors. The checksum value uses a transmission message to represent bit numbers. Extensively, it has been used and still is in use by IT experts to detect high-level errors that might happen during data transmission. Before transmission, every bit of data is assigned a checksum value after running a cryptographic hash function.

• Checksum sometimes is termed as a hash sum or hash value. It is a long data string that contains various numbers and letters. They work by providing the receiving end information about the data transmission to deliver the full range of data. Checksum acts as a fingerprint for files since it contains a long string of numbers and letters. It aids in obtaining the number of bits included in a transmission.

• Suppose the checksum value calculated by the end-user is slightly different from the original checksum value of the file. In that case, it alerts all parties involved in the transmission that a third party corrupted the file. The receiver can then investigate what went wrong or try re-downloading the file. Standard protocols used to determine checksum numbers are the transmission control protocol (TCP) and the user diagram protocol (UDP). TCP is more reliable for tracking transmitted packets of data, but UDP may be beneficial to avoid slowing down transmission time.

=> ↺ How to create and extract cpio archives on Linux Examples

• Although the cpio archiving utility is nowadays used less than other archiving tools like tar, it is still good to know how it works, since it is still used, for example, to create initramfs images on Linux and for rpm packages, which are used mainly in the Red Hat family of distributions. In this tutorial we see how to create and extract cpio archives using the GNU cpio utility, and how to obtain a list of the files they contain.

=> ↺ How to hash passwords on Linux

• Passwords should never be stored as plain text. Whether we are talking about a web application or an operating system, they should always be in hash form (on Linux, for example, hashed passwords are stored in the /etc/shadow file). Hashing is the process through which, by the use of some complex algorithms, a password is turned into a different string. Such process is one-way: there is no way to revert an hashed password to its original, plain text form. Hashing often involves the use of random data as additional input for the hash algorithm, so that the same password, hashed two times, doesn’t produce the same result. This random data is called salt. In this tutorial we explore some methods we can use to hash passwords on Linux.

=> ↺ A Decade with Jekyll

• Today I’d like to look back on my experience with Jekyll, the static site generator (SSG) that I’m using to publish this site and my other blogs Meta Redux and Emacs Redux. Back in the day Jekyll was a trend-setter – it basically defined the SSG category and every subsequent tool in it was compared to Jekyll. A lot has happened since 2011: [...]

=> ↺ ZFS Storage pool layout: VDEVs

• The storage pool of ZFS constitutes one or more virtual devices that are, in general, called vdevs. A Vdev is either a single disk, or two or more disks which mirrors each other, or a group of disks that organizes together. The RAID layout sets on each vdev as opposed to the storage pool. Similarly, data that is present in the storage pool strips across all vdevs which also means that the loss of one vdev would result in pool failure.

=> ↺ The Basic Guide to Working with ZFS

• RAID-Z1 replaces RAID5 in a traditional setup. Performance is pretty equivalent, but the benefit is in some of the features. As mentioned before, you get healing or at least detection of bit rot or a bad sector, it’s a lot easier to set up with mixed drives, etc. RAID-Z2 (equivalent to RAID6) performs better from my experience than any traditional RAID6 setup I’ve used with equivalent drives on an equivalent machine.

Desktop Environments/WMs

=> ↺ Top 15 Window Managers for Linux

• A window manager is a software responsible for the placement and appearance of windows of various applications. It allows you to use any number of displays and utilize the screen to its full potential. The advantage is that it increases your productivity and improves your multitasking experience. But what exactly can one do with a window manager?

• The article describes some of the best floating and tiling window managers available for Linux.

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

=> ↺ Kalendar Beta v0.3.0 Introduces a Windows Version Along With Essential Improvements

• Kalendar is KDE’s open-source calendar app that is still in development as of now. It could potentially replace the calendar that you get with KOrganizer.

• There have been a few beta releases already. But, with the 0.3.0 beta release, it looks like the Kalendar app might be gearing up to add essential features while heading to its v1.0 release.

• Furthermore, an exciting development follows—a Windows version is also available?

• Let us take a look at it.

Distributions

Reviews

=> ↺ Endless OS Review – Desktop Linux Done Right for the Masses

• We review the popular Endless OS as Linux Desktop with the new features and updates of the latest version 4.0. 

=> ↺ Review: LockBox 1.0

• LockBox is one of the most recent additions to the DistroWatch database. LockBox (sometimes referred to as LBX) is a Linux distribution derived from Ubuntu and elementary OS. It is especially intended for storing and managing cryptocurrencies. It includes several hardened configuration changes for security purposes, a highly restrictive firewall setup, several applications designed for data backups, a password manager, and the Brave Internet browser. LockBox is available for x86_64 machines exclusively and its install media is 3.4GB in size.

• In a curious case of life imitating art, the LockBox website currently describes the project using a quote from the DistroWatch information page about the distribution.

• One of the first things I discovered about the distribution is LockBox will not boot in Legacy BIOS mode. A boot menu will appear and begin a countdown from five seconds. When the countdown reaches zero, or when we select any of the boot options, the counter simply resets to five seconds again. The boot menu offers to let us “Try or install elementary OS” or “Check disks for defects” and both options simply reset the boot menu counter. When trying to launch the distribution in UEFI mode, only the Try/Install option is presented and choosing it boots the distribution’s live environment.

• When the live system boots we are shown a graphical window where we can choose our preferred language from a list. We are given the choice to try the live desktop, which loads the Pantheon desktop. Alternatively we can launch the system installer. I’ll talk about the Pantheon desktop later in this review.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ How Ubuntu Boosts Developer Desktop Productivity | Ubuntu

• Seventeen years after its first release, Ubuntu is firmly established as the Linux developer desktop of choice around the world. From education through to enterprise, Ubuntu delivers the tools developers need to succeed across their careers. In this blog, we will cover the main aspects that contribute to this success.

• [...]

• Developers start their careers with Ubuntu, and 69% of student developers reported that they prefer Ubuntu as an OS. It’s not surprising. With Ubuntu, they gain access to the best of open source, including AI/ML frameworks, such as Pytorch and TensorFlow, ROS for robotics and LXD and multipass for virtualisation. Open source technology is now a critical part of any enterprise, and familiarity with open source is a key consideration in hiring.

• As a result, getting new developers onboarded and productive quickly is easier with Ubuntu. It’s a system they’re familiar with. It’s flexible and customisable. And, as an operating system, it spans both the workstation and the cloud, providing a consistent development experience across your technology stack.

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ CaribouLite RPi HAT open-source SDR Raspberry Pi HAT tunes up to 6 GHz (Crowdfunding)

• CaribouLite RPi HAT is an open-source dual-channel software-defined radio (SDR) Raspberry Pi HAT – or rather uHAT – that works in the sub-GHz ISM range and optionally the 30 MHz – 6 GHz range for the full version.

• Developed by Israel-based CaribouLabs, the micro HAT is equipped with a Lattice Semi ICE40LP1K FPGA, a Microchip AT86RF215 RF transceiver, two SMA antenna connectors, a Pmod expansion connector, and designed for any Raspberry Pi board with a 40-pin GPIO header.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Our 12 favorite Arduino UNO projects | Arduino Blog

• The UNO wasn’t Arduino’s first board, and it won’t be its last. There have been many varieties of microcontroller and maker boards before and after the UNO, but none have been as iconic. As we cross the epic milestone of 10 million UNOs sold and the launch of the UNO Mini Limited Edition, we decided it was time to take a look back at some of our favorite UNO projects from the last 10 years.

• And we want to hear about yours, too. Join us over on social media to share your favorite UNO projects, whether you built them yourself or marveled at someone else’s electronic creation.

=> ↺ Personal computer maker Raspberry Pi plans London listing

• The company behind Britain’s best-selling personal computer is preparing the ground for a spring listing which is expected to value it at more than £370m.

• The trading arm of the Raspberry Pi Foundation has hired bankers from Stifel and Liberum to advise on a London float after securing a $45m (£33m) investment in September.

• The Cambridge-based foundation offloaded stakes to Lansdowne Partners and the Ezrah Charitable Trust to fund product development and marketing after seeing booming demand for its miniature personal computers during lockdown.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Octo4a app installs OctoPrint server on Android smartphones – CNX Software

=> ↺ Best gear to switch from iPhone to Android – 9to5Google

=> ↺ Wear OS gets redesigned ‘System updates’ screen – 9to5Google

=> ↺ Android users warned of dangerous malware which has infected nine million phones – is yours at risk?

=> ↺ How to download applications on the television with Android TV from the mobile – How smart Technology changing lives

=> ↺ How to Play Steam Games on an Android TV | Beebom

=> ↺ Samsung One UI 4.0 (Android 12) update tracker: Eligible devices & more

=> ↺ List of Nokia smartphones eligible for Android 12, release date- Nokiapoweruser

=> ↺ Google Pixel Android 12 bugs, problems, & issues tracker

=> ↺ Xiaomi is testing MIUI 13 internally, with Android 11 and Android 12 bases

=> ↺ TWRP 3.6.0 released with support for devices that launched with Android 11

=> ↺ android: Vivo’s next Android device to be powered by Snapdragon 870 chipset – Times of India

=> ↺ Save serious money on these Android and Chromecast streaming sticks | Android Central

=> ↺ Wallpaper Engine for Android is finally available on the Google Play Store

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

Web Browsers

Mozilla

=> ↺ Mozilla Privacy Blog: Mozilla files comments on UK Data Protection Consultation

• Mozilla recently submitted its comments to a public consultation on reforming the UK’s data protection regime launched by the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. With the public consultation, titled ‘Data: A New Direction’, the UK government set out to re-evaluate the UK’s approach to data protection after no longer being bound by the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We took this opportunity to share our thoughts on data stewardship and the role effective regulation can play in addressing the lopsided power dynamics between large data collectors and users.

• For Mozilla, privacy is not optional. It is an integral aspect of our Manifesto, which states that individuals’ security and privacy on the internet are fundamental and must not be treated as optional. This is why privacy is at the core of our product work and why we have long promoted robust data protection in our policy and advocacy work. Further, Mozilla’s Data Futures Lab is exploring alternative approaches to data governance and promoting data stewardship through original research and support to builders.

SaaS/Back End/Databases

=> ↺ 42 things I learned from building a production database

• In 2017, I went to Facebook on a sabbatical from my faculty position at Yale. I created a team to build a storage system called Delos at the bottom of the Facebook stack (think of it as Facebook’s version of Chubby). We hit production with a 3-person team in less than a year; and subsequently scaled the team to 30+ engineers spanning multiple sub-teams. In the four years that I led the team (until Spring 2021), we did not experience a single severe outage (nothing higher than a SEV3). The Delos design is well-documented in two academic papers (in OSDI 2020 and SOSP 2021). Delos is currently replacing all uses of ZooKeeper at Facebook.

• Here are some of the things I learned as the tech lead for Delos. My intent in publishing this is to help others in similar roles (leading teams that are building new infra at large companies); much of it may not generalize to different settings.

Leftovers

=> ↺ A Film for Our Time

• What hype? “We’re just doing our job.” What job? Terrorizing an old man because he lives in a NY tenement, and says no? They imagine lurid crimes occurring behind all the cheap slum doors with their many locks and sheet-steel façade reinforcements. It took the cops 40 minutes to break in, to finally invade the apartment of a low income retired black former Marine whose only need for attention was a heart condition. And shoot him to death.

• The name of the film is “The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain” [Directed by David Midell, Produced by Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary]. It is about an incident, correctly represented in the film’s title, which occurred in White Plains, NY, on November 19, 2011. You can watch it on YouTube. It has won many film festival awards.

=> ↺ YouTube Comments Discontinuation

• I have disabled the ability for people to comment on my YouTube videos directly on YouTube and the rest of this will explain why. If you want to contact me, please email me at [email protected] or any of the other contact methods listed at christine.website/contact.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ Pain Machine

• The American health care system is a notorious disaster. On the one hand, even “good” private employer-based insurance is often a nightmare to actually use, while tens of millions of people have much worse coverage or none at all. At the same time, our system is also incredibly expensive—eating up 17 percent of the US gross domestic product, or nearly twice what peer rich nations spend on average.

=> ↺ WHO, South Africa Urge Nations to Lift ‘Naive’ Omicron Travel Bans

• The World Health Organization on Sunday echoed calls by South Africa’s president for countries to eschew travel bans targeting southern Africans amid the spread of the heavily mutated Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

• “The cat’s already out of the bag, so to speak.”

=> ↺ Instead of Travel Bans, Let’s Defeat Omicron Variant With Global Vaccination

Integrity/Availability

Proprietary

=> ↺ Israel and Iran Broaden Cyberwar to Attack Civilian Targets

• The latest attacks are thought to be the first to do widespread harm to large numbers of civilians. Nondefense computer networks are generally less secure than those tied to state security assets.

• No one died in these attacks, but if their goal was to create chaos, anger, and emotional distress on a large scale, they succeeded wildly.

Security

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ GDMR: this one simple regulation could end surveillance capitalism in the EU

• No, you didn’t misread it and, no, it’s not a typo. GDMR – the General Data Minimisation Regulation – can end surveillance capitalism in the EU.

• The problem is that no such regulation exists.

• So, let’s change that, starting now.

=> ↺ International coalition calls for action against surveillance-based advertising

• In a new report, the Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) sheds light on the negative consequences that this commercial surveillance has on consumers and society. Together with 55 organizations and more than 20 experts, NCC is asking authorities on both sides of the Atlantic to consider a ban. In Europe, the upcoming Digital Services Act can lay the legal framework to do so. In the US, legislators should seize the opportunity to enact comprehensive privacy legislation that protects consumers.

=> ↺ One year of #ProjectPanoptic

• IFF’s Project Panoptic was launched on November 27, 2020 to track and raise public awareness around the rapid proliferation of facial recognition technology (FRT) in India. In this post, we take a look at what we have been able to achieve in the one year since as well as how we aim to take this project forward.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ Opinion | The US Military Does Not Truly Care About Civilian Casualties

• So far, the Democratic-led Senate Armed Services Committee has refused to open an investigation into the Baghuz attack or any other possible war crimes by U.S. forces in the war against ISIS.

=> ↺ The White Supremacy Lie: The Rittenhouse Trial and Rightwing Media Fabrication

=> ↺ EU Joins Rights Group in Condemning Israel’s ‘Day of Destruction’ of Palestinian Homes

• The European Union on Friday joined a prominent Israeli human rights group in condemning last week’s demolition of multiple homes in occupied East Jerusalem, an illegal action that displaced 22 Palestinians including 15 children.

• “We reiterate our call to halt demolitions and any other unlawful practices that coerce Palestinians out of their homes,” the European Union Delegation to the Palestinians (DPAL) tweeted.

=> ↺ Opinion | Death in Texas

• Texas once again demonstrates that it can show the rest of the country the way and is now doing so at considerable expense to itself, by arguing a death penalty case in the United States Supreme Court.

=> ↺ US Islamist Groups Call for ‘Lady al-Qaeda’ to Be Set Free

• The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), and the Muslim American Society (MAS) all have their foundings linked inseparably with militant Islamic ideologies. For CAIR and AMP it was Hamas, ICNA, Jamaat-e-Islami, and MAS, the Muslim Brotherhood. This month, not unlike numerous occasions in the past, the four have come out in support of terror. This time, it is to call for the freedom of female al-Qaeda operative Aafia Siddiqui, who was convicted for attempted murder of US officers in Afghanistan. The agenda of these four groups could not be any clearer.

=> ↺ Over 137,000 People, 100 Security Agents Have Been Killed By Fulani Herdsmen In Benue—Governor Ortom

• It also decried its involvement in the arrest and incarceration of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho in Benin Republic, while failing to arrest bandits and herdsmen whom he said no longer wear masks when they kidnap and kill innocent Nigerians.

• The governor also lamented that about 137,000 residents and over 100 security personnel have been killed by ravaging bandits in Benue State.

• Ortom revealed this while briefing journalists in a video clip obtained by SaharaReporters on Wednesday.

Environment

=> ↺ Opinion | This Is How Amazon Is Fueling the Climate Crisis

• One benefit that Amazon has provided society with is a reduction in shopping-related violence. The once legendary fights over low-priced electrical items have moved online, and the fight is now between who has the fastest fingers and the fastest internet connection. Black Friday, however, continues to supercharge an already hyper-consumerist society and push us closer to climate breakdown. Extinction Rebellion (XR) decided to call out the major online retailer on its most profitable day by blocking fifteen fulfillment centers in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. The fulfillment centers blockaded account for 50% of Amazon deliveries in the UK. In all, more than thirty arrests were made as the environmental group brought attention to Amazon’s wasteful business practices, tax avoidance and worker exploitation.

Energy

=> ↺ [Cryptocurrency] enthusiasts want to buy an NBA team, after failing to purchase US Constitution

• Thousands of cryptocurrency investors recently raised more than $40 million and nearly — but ultimately fell short of — purchasing a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

• Now, a separate group of crypto fans is building momentum with another acquisition target: An NBA franchise.

Finance

=> ↺ Workers Deserved Bernie’s Build Back Better, But They’ll Likely Get Manchin’s

=> ↺ Disability Advocates Give Tepid Welcome to Build Back Better’s Home Care Funding

=> ↺ Omar Condemns GOP for Letting Boebert’s “Anti-Muslim Bigotry” Go Unpunished

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ Trump Has Already Laid the Groundwork to Subvert the 2024 Election

=> ↺ Uber Survived the Spying Scandal. Their Careers Didn’t.

• The men who gathered intelligence for Uber were supposed to be ghosts. For years, they were un-Googleable sentries, quietly informing executives about the actions of competitors, opponents and disgruntled employees. But the secrecy of the tightknit team ended abruptly in 2017 when one of its members turned on the others, accusing them of stealing trade secrets, wiretapping and destroying evidence.

• They flouted the law while carrying out Uber’s dirtiest missions, their former co-worker, Richard Jacobs, claimed in an April 2017 email sent to top Uber executives. His lawyer followed up with a letter that said the team went so far as to hack foreign governments and wiretap Uber’s own employees.

=> ↺ Huge fines and a ban on default passwords in new UK law

• Recent research from consumer watchdog Which? suggested homes filled with smart devices could be exposed to more than 12,000 attacks in a single week.

• Default passwords for internet-connected devices will be banned, and firms which do not comply will face huge fines.

Misinformation/Disinformation

=> ↺ Generation Z Is Forging Healthy Social Media Practices for the Benefit of All

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ Iran: Release arbitrarily detained rights activist at imminent risk of flogging

• Narges Mohammadi is the vice president of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders in Iran and worked with the Campaign for Step-by-Step Abolition of the Death Penalty (known as Legam, its Persian acronym). Following the November 2019 nationwide protests and unlawful killing of hundreds of protesters, Narges Mohammadi vocally supported bereaved family members seeking truth and justice for their loved ones’ killings.

• In May 2021, Branch 1188 of Criminal Court Two in Tehran sentenced Narges Mohammadi to two-and-a-half years in prison, 80 lashes and two separate fines for charges that include “spreading propaganda against the system.” Four months later, in September, Narges Mohammadi received a summons to begin serving this sentence, but she did not respond as she considered the conviction unjust.

=> ↺ Jailed Iranian Rights Defender At ‘Imminent Risk’ Of Flogging, Amnesty Warns

• Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately release prominent human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, who it said is at imminent risk of receiving 80 lashes following her arrest earlier this week.

• The London-based human rights watchdog said on November 18 that Mohammadi was arbitrary arrested in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, two days earlier while attending a memorial for a man killed by Iranian security forces during nationwide protests in November 2019.

=> ↺ EU condemns Iran sentence, lashes for rights campaigner

• The new charges against Mohammadi include “propaganda against the system,” defamation and rebellious conduct while incarcerated. She had issued a statement against the death penalty and alleged torture and harassment while in prison, which the Etemad newspaper reported.

Monopolies

=> ↺ EU Companies File Formal Complaint Against Microsoft, Fight For A Level Playing Field – TFiR

• In a repeat from earlier monopolistic actions, Microsoft is bundling its OneDrive, Teams and other services with Windows and aggressively pushing consumers to sign up and hand over their data to Microsoft. This limits consumer choice and creates a barrier for other companies offering competing services. Nextcloud, along with almost 30 other European companies, has formally complained to the European Commission (EC) about Microsoft‘s anti-competitive behavior in respect of its OneDrive (cloud) offering.

• The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition exists precisely for the purpose of preventing this kind of abusive behavior and keeping the market competitive and fair for all players. Nextcloud said that it has filed an official complaint with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition about the abusive practices of Microsoft related to OneDrive.

Copyrights

=> ↺ “The Pirate Bay Can’t Be Stopped ,” Co-Founder Says

• The Pirate Bay quietly turned 18 this year. The site survived several shutdown attempts and remains online. Nonetheless, one of the lawyers who fought The Pirate Bay in court says that the lawsuits and raids were worth it. Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde disagrees and believes that the torrent site can’t be stopped by rightsholders.

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