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● 08.12.23

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● Links 12/08/2023: Firefox 116 on POWER, FSF Board Candidate Discussions in Second Round

Posted in News Roundup at 1:34 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Desktop/Laptop

=> ↺ India’s Defense Services Are Switching to GNU/Linux

• However, the attacks in and of themselves are less of a problem than the fact that a large, and increasing, number of them are successful against that aging legacy desktop operating system.

• For India to pull this off successfully, they must study how their opponent has maneuvered over the years against GNU/Linux deployments and in particular look at case studies like Kerala, Munich, Lower Saxony, Vaasa, and Turku. India’s opponent in this move has had many programmes, years ago one was EDGI, and a long standing mandate that “under NO circumstances lose against Linux”.

=> ↺ MS Poweruser ☛ India’s Defence Ministry to ditch Windows for homegrown Ubuntu-based Maya OS

• India’s Defence Ministry is planning to replace Microsoft Windows with a new operating system called Maya in all its internet-connected computers, as part of a major overhaul of its cybersecurity system.

• The move is a response to the growing threat of malware and ransomware attacks, which have become more frequent and severe in recent times, targeting the country’s critical infrastructure and defence systems. The idea of Maya OS was conceived in 2021 after India faced several cyberattacks from foreign actors that targeted its critical infrastructure and defence systems. The Defence Ministry decided to create its own operating system that would be more secure and reliable than Microsoft Windows.

=> ↺ India ☛ Desi Maya OS: ‘Safer’ Ubuntu Wins As India Says NO To Microsoft Windows

• It’s free. It’s safer. And no more annoying Windows updates! The Indian government is looking to replace the Windows operating system on computers used in the Defence Ministry with a new indigenous operating system called Maya OS. Having a new operating system (OS), that too for the government is a challenge but the Ministry claims that Maya OS is being introduced to thwart cyber threats and also reduce the dependence on OS made by global tech companies, like Microsoft. Not to forget, Maya OS is free, so, the government will no longer have to spend on getting genuine Windows licences or pay for expensive Microsoft Word and other services.

Server

=> ↺ IDrive Compute

• Each server uses NVMe storage, and you can outfit one with a Linux distribution, such as AlmaLinux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Rocky Linux, and Ubuntu. Like Digital Ocean, IDrive lacks the Windows Server operating system. Check out AWS or Google Cloud Platform if you need that OS.

Graphics Stack

=> ↺ Mike Blumenkrantz: Dumber

• I just got back from lunch and have to work off some cals, and that means it’s time for another big lift on the blog. Today’s topic: how dumb can a driver’s compiler stack be?

• As I outlined in the previous post, zink’s compiler stack is about to get a whole lot dumber for various reasons. But what exactly does that look like?

• Lesser bloggers would simply link to the MR and say “figure it out”.

• Here at SGC, however, I put in the extra effort so my readers can comprehend all the stringy awfulness that goes into each individual graphical sausage that this triangle factory is pumping out.

Applications

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ 10 Best Free and Open Source Neovim GUIs

• To use Neovim, you can use the program in a terminal emulator. Alternatively, there’s the option of using a third party GUI designed for Neovim. Neither Vim nor Neovim were built for beauty. However, many users prefer a graphical interface combined with the power of Neo(vim). One interesting aspect of Neovim’s RPC support is that developers can create new front-ends for Neovim that are outside of the terminal.

• This article seems to highlight the best free and open source front-ends for Neovim. We make the following recommendations captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style chart. The vast majority of the software featured in this article is cross-platform.

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ 6 Best Free and Open Source Mail Notification Tools

• Email is arguably one of the most popular and useful functions of a Linux system. Fortunately, there is a wide selection of free email software available on the Linux platform which is stable, feature laden, and ideal for personal and business environments.

• A mail notification tool lets you know when new emails are received. A prominent feature of these tools is the non-obtrusive passive notification about important emails which will let you concentrate on your work and avoid unnecessary interruptions.

• When all you want to do is be notified when you have a new e-mail message the last thing you want is software chugging along in the background using up valuable system memory. Fortunately, the programs are lightweight in nature.

• We make the following recommendations captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style chart. All of the programs are free and open source goodness.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ Benjamin John Hardill ☛ Network Booting Rapberry Pi

• There are a couple of solutions these days with anything newer than a Pi 3 you can boot from a USB drive or totally from the network.

• You can configure the boot device and order using the raspi-config tool, under Advanced -> Boot Order.

=> ↺ Linux Handbook ☛ Various Ways to Increment or Decrement Counters in Bash

• Incrementing/decrementing is mostly used in a loop where the user has instructed the script/program to increase/decrease value based on the given condition.

=> ↺ budgie-desktop >= 10.7.2-6 update requires manual intervention

• When upgrading from budgie-desktop 10.7.2-5 to 10.7.2-6, the package mutter43 must be replaced with magpie-wm, which currently depends on mutter. As mutter43 conflicts with mutter, manual intervention is required to complete the upgrade.

=> ↺ Parabola GNU/Linux-libre: [From Arch]: budgie-desktop >= 10.7.2-6 update requires manual intervention

=> ↺ TecMint ☛ How to Enable Collaboration on Drupal with ONLYOFFICE Docs on Ubuntu

• If you feel like building your own website or blog, you can always find a professional developer who could get this done for you in the shortest possible time.

• However, it might be much more exciting and challenging to create something on your own. Modern software tools make the process of website creation simple, and even average Linux users with no deep technical background are able to do that.

=> ↺ Make Tech Easier ☛ How to Create Your Own VPN in Linux With OpenVPN

• Virtual private networks (VPNs) allow you to hide your online data transmissions and enhance your security while browsing the Internet from public places. Many online service providers offer both free and paid VPN options for you to use. However, even the best paid plans can be unreliable or slow at times.

• Here we’ll discuss how you can use OpenVPN to create a secure connection on a Linux machine.

=> ↺ HowTo Forge ☛ The Perfect Server – Debian 12 (Bookworm) with Apache, BIND, Dovecot, PureFTPD and ISPConfig 3.2

• This tutorial shows how to prepare a Debian 12 server (with Apache2, BIND, Dovecot) to install ISPConfig 3.2. The web hosting control panel ISPConfig 3 allows you to configure the following services through a web browser: Apache web server, Postfix mail server, Dovecot IMAP/POP3 server, MySQL, BIND nameserver, PureFTPd, SpamAssassin, ClamAV, and many more.

=> ↺ FOSSLinux ☛ Linux Permissions Demystified: SUID, SGID & Sticky Bit

• Meta (160 characters): Dive into Linux permissions: Understand the intricacies of SUID, SGID, and the sticky bit. Enhance your system’s security and functionality with these tools.

• Introduction:

• In the vast universe of Linux, permissions play a pivotal role, governing who can do what with files and directories. While regular permissions (read, write, execute) are straightforward, advanced permissions like SUID, SGID, and the sticky bit are vital tools that can enhance, or in some cases, jeopardize your system’s security.

=> ↺ SSH Permission Denied (publickey) Solved: Troubleshooting and Fixes

• Encountering the “SSH Permission Denied (publickey)” error while trying to connect to a remote server can be frustrating. This error typically occurs when the SSH server doesn’t recognize your public key or when your local SSH client is unable to authenticate using the provided key. In this guide, we’ll walk you through troubleshooting steps and solutions to resolve the “SSH Permission Denied (publickey)” error. Step 1: Verify Your Public Key Ensure that you are using the correct public key for authentication.

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Throw FreeCAD Some Curves

• [Mango Jelly] got a question from someone trying to model a phone box with a complex curved roof. We have to admit that when we saw it, we knew it would be hard to model well. Naturally, there are several ways it could be one, but [Mango Jelly] used the curves workbench in FreeCAD to produce a wireframe of the shape, and you can see how that works in the video below.

=> ↺ Own HowTo ☛ How to fix “/var/lib/pacman/db.lock” error on Arch Linux

• I was trying to install firefox today on my Arch Linux machine, and I couldn’t do it because of the error ” Failed to init transaction (unable to lock database)” .

=> ↺ TecAdmin ☛ How to Identify a Bash Script is Sourced or Executed Directly

• Bash scripting is a powerful tool that developers can leverage to automate tasks on Unix and Linux systems. One common use-case is to source a script in another script, allowing the sharing of variables and functions between them.

=> ↺ TecAdmin ☛ How to Remove (Delete) PPA from Ubuntu Linux

• If you’ve been using Ubuntu for a while, you’re probably familiar with the term PPA, which stands for Personal Package Archive. PPAs are a great way to install and update software that isn’t available in the official Ubuntu repositories.

=> ↺ How to Install and Use Scala on Linux

• Scala (stand as “Scalable Language“) is a general-purpose programming language built on the Java virtual machine that combines functional programming and object-oriented programming language paradigms.

=> ↺ Deploying virtio-win-0.1.229-1.noarch.rpm on Arch Linux Distributions (Manjaro, ArcoLinux, EndeavourOS)

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install GCC on AlmaLinux 9

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install GCC on AlmaLinux 9. For those of you who didn’t know, GCC, developed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), is a collection of compilers for various programming languages, including C, C++, and Fortran.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install InfluxDB on Debian 12

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install InfluxDB on Debian 12. InfluxDB, the powerful open-source time-series database, has emerged as a go-to solution for managing high-frequency data streams in various domains. From monitoring system performance to handling Internet of Things (IoT) data, InfluxDB provides a robust foundation for real-time analytics.

=> ↺ Viewing Test Automation as a Software Project: A Jenkins Perspective

=> ↺ The Power of Visualization in Jenkins Workflow Management

=> ↺ The Role of Conventions in Streamlining Jenkins Processes

=> ↺ Navigating the Expanding Landscape of Jenkins Test Frameworks and Commercial Choices

=> ↺ Addressing the Issue of Starving QA/Integration Servers in Jenkins

=> ↺ Keeping Up with Jenkins: A Guide to Reading and Understanding the Change Log

=> ↺ Minimizing Human Bottlenecks in Jenkins: Strategies and Best Practices

=> ↺ Efficient Jenkins Workflows: The Benefits of Offsetting Work to Jenkins Nodes

=> ↺ Avoiding Groupthink in Jenkins: Ensuring Individual Input in Collective Decisions

=> ↺ Building Jenkins Expertise: The Importance of Training and Community

=> ↺ OSNote ☛ Install and configure Rainloop Webmail in Debian

• In this guide, you will learn how to install and configure the latest version of Rainloop Webmail in Debian to retrieve emails from popular email services such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and Microsoft Outlook.

Games

=> ↺ Talospace ☛ Tonight’s game on OpenPOWER: Doom64EX and Doom64EX-Plus

• However, unlike most of the re-creations we’ve talked about before, there’s no getting around it: if you’re not playing the remaster you’ll need an N64 ROM. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. If you have the N64 cartridge and a dump of it, play Doom64EX (it can’t play the remaster); if you bought the remaster and have the data files, play EX-Plus (it can’t play the original).

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Humble has a new bundle with Jupiter Hell, Coromon, Songs of Conquest

• Now this is a tasty looking bundle full of tactical goodies! The Take Your Turn & RPGs Bundle is live and it has a really nice set of games to pick up. One not to be missed.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Escape Simulator is getting a free Portal cross-over DLC

• Pine Studio have announced that their popular puzzle game Escape Simulator is getting a Valve-approved Portal themed free DLC with Escape Simulator: Portal Escape Chamber.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Proton Experimental fixes Street Fighter 6 and disables NVAPI for Rachet & Clank

• A small update for Proton Experimental launched on August 10th for Steam Deck and desktop Linux to fix issues with two problematic games. Valve launched a bigger update only a day ago so this is just cleaning up more issues.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Fanatical has Play On The Go Summer Bundle for Steam Deck

• Fanatical is currently doing their own special Summer Sale with new bundle launches like the Play On The Go Bundle – Summer Edition, a free game and lots of discounts.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Survival horror deck-builder Draft of Darkness launches August 23rd

• Blending together survival, horror, a deck builder and roguelike dungeon exploration – Draft of Darkness has a little bit of everything. Currently in Early Access the developer has now announced it will launch in full on August 23rd.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Celebrate QuakeCon and Quake II Remastered with this Steam Sale

• Earlier we reported about how id Software and Nightdive Studios had come together once more to remaster Quake II for a new generation and shadow dropped it at QuakeCon. Well, that was only one part of the festivities as id and Bethesda have put a bunch of their hit games on sale to celebrate QuakeCon, with games from Doom to Hi-Fi Rush receiving discounts.

=> ↺ Ubuntubuzz ☛ Recommended Games on Debian 12 Bookworm

• We collected ten games you can play on Debian 12 Bookworm GNU/Linux. They are all native games provided by Debian themselves and they are free software. You can immediately install and play these games by following command lines we provided under each one below. As a premiere bonus, we can also learn a lot of lessons about free software community so you can spread education about free software by playing with students at your school or friends at your office. Now choose your game and let’s play!

• We often mention the term ‘free software’ in this article. When we talk about free software, we do not mean price, but we mean freedom, meaning the user is free, that the user have the full rights to control the software (thus, the game) both individually and socially. This meaning aligns with Debian principles. See Free Software Definition.

Desktop Environments/WMs

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

=> ↺ Nate Graham ☛ This week in KDE: Plasma 6 development continues

• Much bugfixing happened this week, and as a result, the number of open issues only rose by 2 compared to last week. In addition, feature work and planned UI changes are in development and getting merged!

• More 1st-party widgets and System Tray icons are now always monochrome and symbolic no matter the thickness of the Panel they live on, even if there are colorful icons at large sizes. This includes the Trash, Folder, and Minimize All widgets and KTeaTime’s System Tray icon.

=> ↺ Volker Krause ☛ OpenID Connect/OAuth2 with KDE’s Gitlab

• With KDE’s contributor account management moving from the deprecated identity.kde.org and my.kde.org systems to Gitlab as the central identity provider we need to adapt all applications requiring a login to use OpenID Connect/OAuth2 for authentication. While that is largely done for the web-based ones, native client applications remain a challenge.

• Before we start: This is not a definitive guide on how to set things up properly. It is rather my current understanding on how things could be done, and a request for review/feedback by people with more experience on this subject.

=> ↺ Scarlett Gately Moore: KDE: Post Akademy Snap Wrap Up and Future

• It has been a very busy couple of weeks in the KDE snap world! Here is a rundown of what has been done: [...]

=> ↺ Timothée Ravier ☛ Timothée Ravier: Testing latest KDE software, from Apps to the Plasma desktop

• Software has bugs! One way to find bugs is to have users test changes.

• To make that possible, we need to deliver pre-release versions of our software in a way that is accessible to our users which are usually not developers.

• Remember that even as a developer, you are always the user of someone else’s project. The technology stack is now so complex that it is mostly impossible to understand every single projects included in a modern desktop environment, even if it is fully open source.

• Testing pre-release software also has to be reasonably safe regarding user’s data, as it’s often not practical to ask users to backup everything all the time and testing a small fix for an application should not have your entire system crash.

=> ↺ Timothée Ravier ☛ Timothée Ravier: Introducing Kinoite Nightly (and Kinoite Beta)

• Update: Kinoite Nightly & Beta images are temporarily paused while we work on making Kinoite image with Plasma 6 content available.

• As announced during the Fedora Kinoite “Hello World!” (slides) last year at the Fedora 35 release party, one of the goals for Fedora Kinoite is to make it easier for everyone to try and test the latest KDE Plasma desktop and Apps, without having packaging, compiler or development knowledge.

• We are now much closer to that goal with the introduction of Kinoite Nightly, an unofficial variant of Fedora Kinoite based on stable Fedora plus nightly packages for KDE software (Plasma desktop and a base set of apps).

• Alonside Kinoite Nightly, we are also introducing Kinoite Beta, which is also an unofficial variant of Fedora Kinoite, also based on stable Fedora but with KDE Plasma Beta packages. This variant is based on fresh release of KDE Plasma 5.27 Beta.

• While the Nightly variant will be built daily and will always be available, the Beta variant will only be built and available during KDE Plasma Beta testing phases.

=> ↺ Timothée Ravier ☛ Testing latest KDE software, from Apps to the Plasma desktop

• This is the transcript of the talk I gave at Akademy 2023.

GNOME Desktop/GTK

=> ↺ This Week in GNOME ☛ This Week in GNOME/Felix Häcker: #108 Sandboxed Images

• Update on what happened across the GNOME project in the week from August 04 to August 11.

Distributions and Operating Systems

SUSE/OpenSUSE

Dominique Leuenberger ☛ openSUSE Tumbleweed – Review of the week 2023/32Dear Tumbleweed users and hackers,At least over here where I live, the last few days we had slightly less summery time and more rain – and bad weather means more work in front of the screen. The same thing likely happened to other contributors, looking at the things we passed through staging or are still there. This week has seen 7 snapshots (0804..0810).The most relevant changes during this week were:openSSL 3.1.2Linux kernel 6.4.8 & 6.4.9Libvirt 9.6.0Perl 5.38 (incl all perl modules rebuilt)LibreOffice 7.6.0.1 & 7.6.0.2QEmu 8.0.4

=> ↺ Silicon Angle ☛ Oracle, SUSE and CIQ launch Open Enterprise Linux Association to target Red Hat

• SUSE SA, Oracle Corp. and Ctrl IQ Inc. announced Thursday the formation of a new industry alliance forming the Open Enterprise Linux Association, OpenELA, a new organization that aims to encourage the development of distributions compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

=> ↺ SUSE’s Corporate Blog ☛ Join SUSE at Google Next 2023 August 29 – 31, 2023 in San Francisco – Booth #1625

• Google Next 2023 is a showcase of inspiration, innovation and education and SUSE is excited to be a Velocity sponsor at this event. We’re eager to hear the great keynotes, learn about Google’s latest innovations, share ideas and network with you.

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ Fedora Infrastructure Status: Fedora Copr outage – updating servers

• This outage impacts the Fedora Copr Frontend.

=> ↺ DaemonFC (Ryan Farmer) ☛ Libera Chat Is a Toxic Troll Farm. Bonus: Code of Conduct Ticket Filed Regarding Fedora Moderator “Khaytsus”.

• Libera Chat Is a Toxic Troll Farm Full of Corrupt Moderators That Don’t Apply Their Own Code of Conduct to Each Other.

=> ↺ SDx Central ☛ Red Hat describes how open source and infrastructure at scale drive genAI [Ed: Openwashing and HEY HI buzzwords salad. Also failing to disclose that Red Hat has been paying this publisher for all those puff pieces, which Red Hat Official ☛ it later links to.

=> ↺ SDx Central ☛ Red Hat describes how open source and infrastructure at scale drive genAI [Ed: Openwashing and HEY HI buzzwords salad. Also failing to disclose that Red Hat has been paying this publisher for all those puff pieces, which Red Hat Official ☛ it later links to.

• Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is an exciting technology on its own, but the way access to large-scale infrastructure has changed is the real story, according to Red Hat‘s Sherard Griffin, senior director of engineering for AI services.

• AI technology has been around for a while, but the infrastructure needed to run complicated AI workloads has finally caught up, Griffin told SDxCentral. “Generative AI is not about AI in its own right, in terms of what it’s doing with generative AI. But it’s thinking about how it’s now so readily accessible,” he said. “To me, that’s the exciting part.”

=> ↺ Red Hat Official ☛ Find your top tasks on the new Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS learning hub

• Interested in Red Hat OpenShift Service on Amazon Web Services (ROSA) but not sure where to start? Our new ROSA learning hub page may be just the thing you need. This hub page speaks to the various stages of adopting and utilizing a managed Red Hat OpenShift service running natively on AWS. From high-level learning, to procedural walkthroughs about deploying workloads, there are several avenues for a user to find what they need.

=> ↺ Dark Reading ☛ Kubernetes and the Software Supply Chain

• The ability of organizations to gain value from Kubernetes — and, more broadly, cloud-native technology — is being hampered by concerns around security. One of the biggest concerns reflects one of the industry’s biggest current challenges: securing the software supply chain.

• Red Hat’s “2023 State of Kubernetes Report” found that Kubernetes security is in question at some companies. Based on a survey of DevOps, engineering, and security professionals from around the globe, the report finds that 67% of respondents have delayed or slowed deployment due to Kubernetes security concerns, 37% have experienced revenue or customer loss due to a container/Kubernetes security incident, and 38% cite security as a top concern with container and Kubernetes strategies.

=> ↺ Video ☛ Chris Wright Talks OpenShift AI

Debian Family

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ Debian Systems Now Patched Against “Downfall” and “INCEPTION” CPU Flaws

• The Debian Project released today updated kernel and intel-microcode packages for all supported Debian GNU/Linux releases to address the recently disclosed “Downfall” vulnerability affecting Intel CPUs, as well as the “INCEPTION” hardware vulnerability affecting AMD Zen CPUs.

• Discovered by Daniel Moghimi, “Downfall” (a.k.a. CVE-2022-40982) is a GDS (Gather Data Sampling) hardware vulnerability that allows unprivileged speculative access to data that was previously stored in vector registers.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Linux Mint planning new ‘EDGE’ ISO, plus Linux Mint 21.3 due in December

• There’s some interesting plans ahead coming from the Linux Mint team including a new EDGE ISO for running Mint on newer hardware, info on the next Linux Mint release and their concerns with Ubuntu and Snap.

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ Linux Gizmos ☛ Texas Instruments LaunchPad taps Arm Cortex-M0+ processor

• The LP‑MSPM0L1306 is a Texas Instruments Launchpad based on a 32-bit Arm Cortex M0+ microcontroller. The evaluation module includes an onboard debug probe, thermistor, light sensor, among other features.

=> ↺ Linux Gizmos ☛ Low-cost dev platform features Lattice ICE40 FPGA

• The UPduino v3.1 is an affordable development platform that showcases the capabilities of the Lattice ICE40 Ultra Plus 5K FPGA. This device is also fully compatible with the open-source graphical design tool, IceStudio.

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ MainsailOS: A Raspberry Pi OS based distribution for 3D Printers.

• MainsailOS is an exceptionally user-friendly and efficient Raspberry Pi OS-based distribution that has been specifically designed to cater to the needs of 3D printer enthusiasts. This feature-packed distribution is equipped with a web-based interface that enables you to manage and control your 3D printer with ease.

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ SmoothStream: Webcam and PiCamera Streaming over the Network with Python

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ Chart confirms higher level of Raspberry Pi restocks

• Earlier this month, we noted that Raspberry Pi supplies were improving mostly from tweets from Eben Upton who provided data about shipped boards since the beginning of the year. But there are also third-party data that confirm this since RPILocator provides statistics for restocks of Raspberry Pi hardware from approved resellers. The chart below shows weekly data of restocks since January 2022 until today, and we can clearly see a jump in restocks in recent weeks, especially for the Raspberry Pi 4, so there’s no need to steal old boards from discarded scooters anymore 😉 The ramp-up really started on week 25 (June 19-25) and peaked on week 28 (July 10-16) possibly to fill back orders, and restocks have been going down in recent weeks but still at a higher level than previously.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Arduino ☛ UNO R4 Stars: Meet Monica Rikic

• Rikic has also already developed a new project leveraging the UNO R4 Minima variant: “It’s a weird machine that generates infinite classical music, in collaboration with Rodo. Visitors at the Palau de la Musica can modify the output as they get closer to the installation, speak or even sing to it.”

=> ↺ Raspberry Pi ☛ How to build a laser range finder

• Why use an ordinary measuring tape when you can measure things with a laser? If there is ever an opportunity to incorporate lasers in everyday activities, we must take it. Here, Hesam Moshiri shows you how to build your own laser ranger finder using our RP2040 chip.

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ Raspberry Pi Used To Hijack Casino Card Shuffler

• Gambling is big business, and a casino’s revenue will make the highest of high-stakes bets on the floor look like peanuts. Therefore, casinos implement rigorous procedures and processes, to make sure there is no cheating by customers. However, compared with computers, some security researchers reckon gambling regulations and security technologies are “a bit out of date.” and this leads to interested parties fabricating its own proof of concept tools, using the Raspberry Pi Zero.

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ Lo-Fi ESP32-S3 board features LoRa module for low-power long-range connectivity (Crowdfunding)

• SB Components’ Lo-Fi is an ESP32-S3 board equipped with a LoRa module for low-power long-range connectivity, and the company has also introduced two LoRa USB dongles with either Type-A or Type-C connectors.

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ Coin cell-powered boards provide an easy way to test USB-C cables

• The A2C caberQU and C2C caberQU boards enable the quick and easy testing of respectively USB-A to USB-C and USB-C to USB-C cables without external hardware. Powered by a CR2032 coin cell battery, the boards apply a voltage to all pins of a cable and measure which ones are connected to the other end. The results can be visualized immediately through various LEDS on the board. The C2C caberQU board comes with a dedicated LED for each of the 24 USB pins and the shield, and it’s possible to test the USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable in several different modes: USB 2.0/1.1 USB Power Delivery USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 Alternate Mode Debug Accessory Mode Audio Adapter Accessory Mode The A2C caberQU board has fewer pins and LEDS for testing USB-A to USB-C cables specifically, but it works the same way.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Android Police ☛ Android 14 will feature a new way to combat full-screen ads

=> ↺ 7NEWS ☛ Android apps with 2.5 million downloads displaying ads with display off | 7NEWS

=> ↺ Make Use Of ☛ How to Emulate Your Favorite Sega Dreamcast Games on Android

=> ↺ GO Media ☛ Your Android Can Now Detect AirTags Tracking You

=> ↺ Android Police ☛ One UI 6: Everything new in the Samsung Android 14 beta

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ Unicorn Media ☛ FOSS Week in Review: Window Maker Live Adopts Systemd, New Tails on the Down Low, and Google-Free /e/OS

• While most of the world bakes under the hottest temperatures since people have been keeping track of such things, in my part of the world we’re having one of the mildest summers in memory, which has followed what was also one of the mildest winters I’ve experienced in these parts. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this doesn’t mean a shoe is about to drop.

Web Browsers/Web Servers

=> ↺ Talospace ☛ Firefox 116 on POWER

• Firefox 116 is out with user interface improvements (notably a sidebar switcher), faster HTTP/2 uploads, and some initial UI rework for changes to how recently closed tabs are handled. [...]

=> ↺ University of Toronto ☛ Browsers barely care what HTTP status code your web pages are served with

• Back when I wrote an entry on issues around the HTTP status code for a web server’s default front page, I said in passing that the HTTP status code mostly doesn’t matter to browsers. More exactly, the status code for a web page mostly doesn’t matter to people looking at web pages in a browser (this has come up before). This is well known in some circles and probably surprising in others.

=> ↺ [Repeat] Dedoimedo ☛ Firefox, Noscript, jerky video playback – Solution

• If you’re using Firefox (as you should), then you also may want to consider Noscript (as you should), for it helps transform the Javascript jungle that is the modern Web into something more pristine and palatable. But, the problem is, Noscript can be a little tricky to configure for normies, and it does take some understanding to utilize effectively. Then, there could be odd bugs. Like the one I will describe right now.

• I wanted to play a video in Firefox. One of them streaming services. Find an episode of something you like, watch it. Of course, beforehand, I enabled scripts on the streaming service domain, all of the necessary and required bits and pieces. And the playback started just fine … except, every 10 seconds or so, there would be this jerky effect, like a couple of frames dropping. Or perhaps networking buffering. Weird. Well, I decided I could not let it be, and started exploring and investigating. Long story short, the pathfinding led me to Noscript. After me, people.

SaaS/Back End/Databases

=> ↺ University of Toronto ☛ Some problems with ‘first name’ and ‘last name’ fields in data

• First off, not everyone has only two names plus possibly an unimportant ‘middle’ name that you can omit without them caring too much. Some people may have more than two or three names, all of which are important, and some people may not have two names. Providing only two fields forces people to squeeze their name into those fields, in some split that may or may not work and correspond to what you want.

Education

=> ↺ Scoop News Group ☛ Hacker vs. machine at DEF CON: Thousands of security researchers vie to outsmart AI in Las Vegas

• Over the next four days, more than 3,000 hackers will descend upon a conference hall at DEF CON and try to break into leading generative artificial intelligence systems. Attendees of the annual hacking conference in Las Vegas will have 50 minutes each at one of 156 laptops to deceive, probe and steal information from AI chatbots, in the largest-ever public exercise aimed at discovering the security weaknesses of large language models.

=> ↺ Troy Patterson ☛ Tech In Education

• I’ve long been using Technology in education. I was an early adopter. I clearly remember having one of the first WiFi access points in our district (an Apple “UFO”). I integrated Technology into my classes early on. The students were highly motivated, novelty of technology was high. At the time, I was teaching in a lock-up facility for teenagers. The students had lots of challenges. It was a great place to learn to teach.

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ The 5 Best VPNs for the Back to School 2023 Season

• School IT departments typically monitor activity on the campus WiFi, so you might hear from them if you’re a criminal who torrents movies, TV shows, and music, for example. Some colleges also prohibit a certain class of unscrupulous websites and video platforms. Here at Gizmodo, we love rules, so we recommend that you steer clear of VPNs so the spies at your college can watch for this kind of behavior.

FSF

=> ↺ FSF ☛ FSF News: Happening now: The second round of FSF board candidate discussions

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Daniel Lemire ☛ Transcoding UTF-8 strings to Latin 1 strings at 12 GB/s using AVX-512

• Most strings online are Unicode strings in the UTF-8 format. Other systems (e.g., Java, Microsoft) might prefer UTF-16. However, Latin 1 is still a common encoding (e.g., within JavaScript runtimes). Its relationship with Unicode is simple: Latin 1 includes the first 256 Unicode characters. It is rich enough to convert most of the standard European languages. If something is stored in Latin 1, it can be encoded using Unicode. The reverse is obviously false. Nevertheless, let us assume that you have a Unicode string in UTF-8 that you want to quickly transcode to Latin 1.

=> ↺ Rlang ☛ pmax() and pmin(): Finding the Parallel Maximum and Minimum in R

• Title: Unleashing the Power of pmax() and pmin() Functions in R

• Introduction: In the realm of data manipulation and analysis, R stands tall as a versatile programming language. Among its plethora of functions, pmax() and pmin() shine as unsung heroes that can greatly simplify your coding experience. These functions allow you to effortlessly find the element-wise maximum and minimum values across vectors in R, providing an elegant solution to a common programming challenge. In this blog post, we’ll dive into the syntax and explore real-world examples that showcase the true potential of pmax() and pmin().

=> ↺ [Old] Patrick McKenzie ☛ Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names

• I have lived in Japan for several years, programming in a professional capacity, and I have broken many systems by the simple expedient of being introduced into them. (Most people call me Patrick McKenzie, but I’ll acknowledge as correct any of six different “full” names, any many systems I deal with will accept precisely none of them.) Similarly, I’ve worked with Big Freaking Enterprises which, by dint of doing business globally, have theoretically designed their systems to allow all names to work in them. I have never seen a computer system which handles names properly and doubt one exists, anywhere.

=> ↺ Xe’s Blog ☛ Introducing nixexpr: Nix expressions for JavaScript

• As a regular reminder, it is a bad idea to give me ideas. Today’s bad idea is brought to you by managerial nerd sniping, insomnia, and the letter “Q”.

• At a high level: writing complicated data structures in JavaScript kinda sucks. Here’s an example of the kinds of things that I’ve been writing as I go down the ElasticSearch tour-de-insanite:

Python

=> ↺ TecAdmin ☛ Python from…import Statement

• Python, with its expansive library of modules and packages, offers a variety of functionalities. To access these functionalities in your code, you’ll often need to incorporate them using the import statement.

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