[21:38] I'm kind of impressed by myself that I was able to make it without a password manager all these years. Since I'm using KeePass I'm getting an impression of how many passwords I had in my brain all this time. On the other hand, I also realized how many I forgot and how some were comparatively weak. Feels better with this tool.
[21:15] Six pages about IoT devices and privacy concerns.
[21:28] ASUS P9X79-E WS mobo built with Lego: pic 1, pic 2. Also: Lego GameBoy, same guy.
[17:46] A Googlewhack is "a Google search query consisting of exactly two words without quotation marks, that returns exactly one hit". Interesting challenge. For some reason, my brain just brought up Quines.
[17:38] The source code of Colossal Cave is now open source. The code will be improved, while version control will keep the original source available; a "historical artifact". (via)
[17:37] Zero shadow moment, called Lahaina Noon in Hawaii, is a situation in which, due to the sun's position, objects do not have shadows. (To their sides, that is. Beneath them still, of course.) Try a Google image search, it looks interesting and a little spooky.
[17:12] A friend called for help because their computer would not mount a certain USB flash drive and require them to format it before use, which would result in data loss. PhotoRec to the rescue! Great tool.
[11:23] QR codes have built-in error correction. QArt Codes use this to "introduce a few errors in order to make an image". You can try it with your own images on their QArt Coder.
[23:10] The EWindow Project wants to build video chat devices that provide a "decentralized, secure 24/7 audiovisual communication system" between hackerspaces etc.
[21:16] Oh! Via ~insom on tilde.town I learned about two tilde servers I didn't know yet: crime.team and Of Many Trades
[20:30] Dieter Bohn defines the web:
To count as being part of the web, your app or page must:(via)
- Be linkable, and
- Allow any client to access it.
[20:32] Finally I have a fresh install of a more up-to-date version of Ubuntu on my laptop. My previous setup was pretty messed up witch a partially encrypted dual boot system and quite a few files and settings that I did not want to screw around with, yet did not have the time to clean up properly, so I just harvested an SSD from another machine that I was not using anymore and switched it with the old one. Keeping all my data, yet making room for a new setup.
I actually spent about an hour trying to get Xfce to suit my needs, but I've grown accustomed to GNOME Shell way too much, so I ended up with this DE again.
[08:38] Kat Thek actually does feed the trolls.
[08:38] Celebrating Towel Day. There is a huge list of things going on all over the world on this page. Impressive. Have a great one!
[22:15] While we're at mobile operating systems: I have also tried Windows 10 mobile last year. I did actually like the interface, however I was not satisfied with the available apps. Especially the preinstalled map was a real pain, plus I could not install Google Maps. Since I had to travel cross country and had to find my way in two pretty large cities at this time this was a big con. Had there been some more apps in the Store, I might have kept using it.
[19:33] I've been using an iPhone SE for the past six months. My first reason was to get to know iOS a bit better, since I had never had my fingers on it for more than a few moments. My second, rather long term reason was the fact that Apple provides updates for their devices for a longer time than most manufacturers shipping Android. My previous phone, for example, was stuck with Android 4.4 and would never see an update. A dangerous fact, which had me trim the Android back to a camera and portable audio player, always in airplane mode to keep it away from the internet.
In the beginning I liked the iPhone. Switching to it was fairly easy, quality seemed decent, the system responded quickly. The few apps I required did work without any difficulty. My only objection was the microphone, because more often than not people aksed me to call them from another phone because they could hardly hear me. An issue that I worked around using a headset.
However, in the last two months the overall picture began to shift. The phone app would occasionally be completely silent, me not hearing my conversational partners at all, neither regular, nor on speaker or headset. Also, sometimes the phone wouldn't dial but immediately quit the call, forcing me to fiddle with airplane mode. To boot, the phone would not accept my SIM card PIN when I restarted it, always forcing me to unlock the SIM with my PUK and set a new PIN -- which, again, it would somehow lose. (I'm keeping and updating this in my password manager. It is not like I'd always enter a wrong number.)
Some really annoying issues that I never faced on Android. Issues that could cause trouble, too. I missed an important call from the company I work for this morning, because the phone yet again decided to be all silent (which, as I double checked, was not a settings issue) and only responded two hours later. Good thing I can dial into our servers from home and quickly fix stuff if need be. Still, it cost me two hours, which might have been fatal.
Really bad impression I got from this phone. I'll most likely be back on Android sooner or later. Maybe Treble, to be introduced with Android O, will help improve this affair with phones not getting updates. Else I'll just stick with cheap devices to keep for one year and switch whenever those are out of support. Since my needs are pretty low, this might work for me.
[20:01] One million people sought advice on Stack Overflow on how to exit Vim.
[17:28] German automobile club ADAC and tech magazine c't had the Lego Porsche 911 pass a crash test. Here is an article, including the video. In german, I'm afraid.
[17:19] Circumventing the Samsung Galaxy S8 Irisscanner. Starbug does it again (see also).
[19:25] The 'Coffin Homes' of Hong Kong (via). In the comment section behind the second link someone mentioned these photos of Kowloon Walled City, which had a very similar look.
[18:38] Demos are awesome programs to look at and listen to, however as a non-programmer I never had a real insight into the making of any. Thanks to Pekka Väänänen, this changed. Nice!
[18:29] Wireworld built in Nim. (Background on Wireworld and cellular automata in general, in case you never heard of those before.)
[11:34] This guy has an Orange Pi Zero built into a mouse.
[23:11] I found out today that Lego made an E.T. minifig and could not stop myself from buying it. I don't even know what Lego Dimensions is about, but I still wanted to have this minifig. Loved the movie.
[23:11] I don't trust wireless keyboards. KeySweeper is one of the reasons why. (I also cannot really trust displays, but I have no real choice here.)
[21:17] The list of learning games for nerds is now joined by Flexbox Froggy which will teach you about Flexbox.
[21:12] Update to StreetComplete: if you don't like mobile applications, you might want to try Merkaartor. (website)
[21:02] Porpentine Charity Heartscape is an artist who prefers to work with tools "not intended as creative software", including desktop folders. I like that. Plus, I really like their name. (via)
[20:57] Impetus was "a hypertext game set to destroy itself after a lifetime of only ten seconds", a time which could be extended by the players. Simple. Neat, though.
[23:30] StreetComplete is an Android app that helps to complete and enhance OpenStreetMap.
[23:24] GNU Terry Pratchett (which has nothing to do with the GNU project) intends to "keep the legacy of Sir Terry Pratchett alive forever".
[23:18] "The Bastard Operator From Hell"-style excuse server
[23:18]
"I love this insight that the internet which was designed to withstand a nuclear strike can't withstand an attack by rogue refrigerators."(Mark Shuttleworth)
[22:16] Ctrl + A to turn on the light. Neat idea. :D
[21:01] Uh, almost missed to mention the date. May the Fourth be with you!
(With Towel Day coming up, I wonder how my colleagues might react to me carrying a towel at work.)
[20:55] ASCII is fun. Not only to get your weather forecast, but also to display maps. Oh, if Gutenberg knew about this ... :)