It’s been a long week, so in the interest of time, I paired this week’s report down to four links. Life has its own way of interfering with progress, but it’s better to give something than nothing at all.
That said, some classic systems were purchased.
One will become a gift and the other will become a regular on the website. With that said, let’s get this done.
Unix
What a big surprise usual announcement of a new iPhone! Apple is known for coming out with new phones on a regular basis. The announcement includes a mini version of said phone.
One the free and open source front, Rescuezilla’s newest release became available. Those familiar with tools like Clonezilla, Ghost, and others have an additional option for cloning hard drives.
Overlooked Pop Culture
There’s a reason some parts of the US have substituted Columbus Day for Indigenous People’s Day. Suffice it to say, I was fortunate to have a teacher in middle school who said that he wasn’t the one who discovered America.
Suffice it to say, Mark Zuckerberg was correct in warning that they can’t act as arbiters of truth. The attempt to stop disinformation was fuzzy and ineffective. People wound up talking about the story anyway.
That’s all for this week, and I will take a break from pushing our Patreon page.
As opposed to writing something every day I’ll be doing a weekly wrap up every Saturday night. This week’s report comes courtesy of my Librebooted ThinkPad T500. The keyboard is a dream to type on and this system actually has 8 GB of DDR2 memory.
This fine machine can still hold up to this day and is currently running Linux Mint 20.
Each section will follow the flow of the magazine itself. The Unix section covering Unix-like operating systems and related technology will be followed by the Overlooked Pop Culture section, which covers a variety of popular things that are often overlooked, misunderstood, or both.
Unix
Even though Apple’s OS X is based on BSD, it still has security vulnerabilities. It turns out the T2 Chip is vulnerable to exploits that would let someone take control of a user’s Mac. This would require physical access to a Mac, so it won’t impact most users.
Maybe Louis Rossman can utilize this exploit for data recovery purposes.
In cloud computing news, Nextcloud’s capabilities are increasing as well. Not only can you collaborate with their tools, you can integrate Microsoft Teams, Slack, Github, and more. It’s a good thing that software is updated from time to time, because legacy software has its limits, which can become dangerous depending on the situation.
Pro Wrestling fans may be excited about Halloween Havoc making a comeback this year. The classic WCW Pay Per View event is being adopted by NXT. It has been years since the Halloween themed event has aired, so having spookiness galore may ignite fan enthusiasm.
It isn’t all pumpkins and candy corn.
What may also be scary, albeit to Vince McMahon, is this piece from What Culture about Paige learning about Unionism. This comes in the wake of WWE wanting to take more control over performers’ use of social media platforms, even though said performers are “independent contractors.”
Though the WWE has become creative in offering a form of entertainment to the world in the midst of COVID-19, they aren’t the only option.
On a mental health note, it’s important to understand one thing: Even if one is “being edgy,” it’s never a good idea to show up at someone’s house uninvited and unwelcome.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes; that’s all for this week.
While you’re here, would you be willing to become one of our Patrons on Patreon? Doing so will get you access to the magazine for much cheaper than purchasing from the website while allowing us to grow. With enough resources, we’ll be able to have more content available throughout the week. Thank you so much in advance for your time.
It’s hump day, and what better way to start than with a Chromebook with an AMD Ryzen processor with integrated graphics! Michael Crider of Review Geek breaks the interesting news of HP releasing an enterprise-grade device with AMD’s hardware inside.
Android apps can run in ChromeOS, so having a more powerful APU (CPU with GPU integrated) makes sense.
I’ve written about Jeremy Hambly before. He was the one who revealed some issues in The Magic the Gathering community. He may have to wind up in court over a copyright claim on YouTube, which he argues that an image used was fair use.
It’s important to note that Hambly requested that his audience not contact the individual in question. I’ll keep an eye on this and will update everyone as things progress.
While You’re Here
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That’s nearly $50 a year in savings alone.
If you want us to be able to expand and do this full time, you can help us by signing up here.
Ubuntu Touch hasn’t gone away. It’s now an independent project via UBports.
Thomas Holbrook II | The *Nixed Report
Full Disclosure: Thomas owns a fraction of a share of Microsoft via SoFI Invest. He was also a Walmart Associate until December of 2016.
In the past, Ubuntu’s Unity Desktop was designed to work on mobile devices and desktop computers. When Canonical changed plans and moved back to GNOME 3 as their desktop environment of choice, the mobile variant all but disappeared.
Thanks to UBports, however, Ubuntu Touch is still being developed and works on several mobile devices.
Their newest release includes but is not limited to:
QtWebEngine 5.14: Now allows more flexible text selection and opening of multiple file types (PDF, MP3, images, text).
Icon-based System Settings Menu.
Newer backend components that will allow Ubuntu Touch to be based on Ubuntu 20.04.
Revamps of Messages, Dialer, and Contacts
Better compatibility with IPv6.
Their official release announcement can be read here.
It’s nice to be able to have progress without dealing with political theater, which TikTok has fallen victim to, according to media mogul Barry Diller.
“It has now morphed into a ludicrous game-match between tossing ownership here, control there. … Its original aims are out the window. It has just come a whole political mismash.”
–Barry Diller on CNBC’s Squawk Box
Microsoft was initially going to attempt a deal with ByteDance until China placed more export restrictions on computer-based algorithms. Now it’s Oracle and Walmart. World politics will continue to impact e-commerce in 2020, especially in the age of COVID-19.
Can You Do Us a Favor?
We are on a mission to make media better by being more entertaining while at the same time educating and empowering the public on a variety of topics. Besides downloading the first issue of the magazine and giving it away to all your friends and family, would you be willing to become one of our patrons on Patreon?
This will help us pay for web hosting expenses, software licenses, better equipment, and eventually allow us to do this full time. Future issues of the magazine will cost $5 USD each, but just $1 USD will allow you to have an issue for $4 USD less.
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Our tiers cost so little because we believe in earning your trust while providing good value.
I was in high school walking back to class from a restroom break when I heard the news of the twin towers being struck. The day went from being normal to surreal in a matter of moments.
Learning the rest of the day was going to be out of the question.
At one of the computer classes I was in at a vocational school that was partnered with my high school, we watched the news. We were in awe and terrified as the twin towers came down.
I was emotionally numb about the event for several days.
When the numbness began to wear off, I became uneasy as the Patriot Act was passed into law. The next thing I knew, talks of Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction entered the news cycle.
Today is a reminder of the thing that we have forgotten.
We must not let fear prevent ourselves from speaking up. Traditional media has had too many failures in the past, which is why there is so much distrust now. Crying wolf one time too many has its price.
Due to circumstances in my life and too much negativity, I stepped away from this project as the motivation was just not there.
I’ve concluded that the time has come to bring back The *Nixed Report.
There will be plenty of discussion of things that are not always for the faint of heart. At the same time, I’ve learned that a hard price is paid for taking things too seriously. When people say they get four hours of sleep a night or less as they grow less and less sane, it should be obvious that they are about to crack.
While not everything in life is a joke, being able to laugh is important; even if it’s at ourselves occasionally.
The magazine will be returning next week and will be on sale. The first issue will be free for everyone, and copying will be encouraged. I want the word to get out.
The idea will be to sell copies as well.
They can either be purchased off the website directly or through various crowdfunding platforms such as Patreon. Since choice is important when it comes to media consumption, multiple platforms will be available as well.
Publishing again for the sake of it isn’t a part of the mission statement.
The website, the magazine, and other media published will also serve as teaching tools as well so that others who want to know how to build an independent media venue will have a place to start. A store front with tools, supplies, and learning materials will also be provided as well in the future to help fund this project and help others learn about media creation.
Finally, having fun will be of the utmost importance.
If I don’t enjoy doing this, then there won’t be any point to it. I’m looking forward to rebuilding this brand into something better. Stay tuned.
As can be seen by looking at this site, there hasn’t really been much in the way of activity for some time. The reason why was life in and of itself. It happens. I won’t go into details, but I had to take a break from the site.
While I was thinking about finding ways to revive the site yet again, something occurred to me.
I wasn’t having fun with it. Combine that with the fact that we’re in a political environment in which we aren’t as willing to think outside the box, and we have what’s called a no win situation.
Then we have individuals who are Revolution for Sale®.
The funny thing is, there are plenty of things to hit a certain radio talk show host in the head with, yet people are going with things that are so weak that it makes me virtually face palm and head desk myself. There are legitimate things that can be used to expose this individual for the person he really is.
Case in point:
I can try to point these things out, but the audience may not be in the mood to listen, and who can blame them? We’re in an environment where we’ve been yelling at each other for so long that we can’t see the forest from the trees.
The perspective of there only being things that are Black and White is what has been hurting us more than anything, and I don’t want to be in that environment at the moment.
I want to have fun again, and give people something to smile about.
What better way to do that than to do something that is actually fun? That is why I started RetroX86. I have been looking at the history of personal computers for some time, and was excited for the first time for some time.
So this isn’t goodbye or see you later.
I’m just setting this site aside for the time being. You’ll still be able to access past content, including the podcasts and magazine issues. The part that said, “Entertain Yourself….” is something I take seriously.
If your heart isn’t in it, don’t do it. My heart is somewhere else at the moment, so I will be doing that.
Thank you for visiting, and please check out the new site.
She was a radio talk show host based in Versailles, Missouri.
Thomas Holbrook II | The *Nixed Report
Versailles, Missouri based radio talk show host Joyce Riley will no longer be able to host The Power Hour radio broadcast. According to their official Facebook Fan Page:
It is with the greatest of sadness that we deliver to you today the heartbreaking news of the death of our friend and fellow patriot Joyce Riley. Joyce died peacefully on June 25, 2017.
Sent with love and remembrance,
The Power Hour
As this is being written, the rain has been pounding the pavement in spurts. One moment, it’s a calm flow of droplets. Then comes the rapid torrent.
This week’s roundup has been like that with its various ups and downs.
Unix
With Canonical’s announcement of switching back to GNOME for Ubuntu’s default desktop, the question of how they would go about it remains. OMG Ubuntu sheds some light on this and even links to a survey asking for input.
Developers are considering some tweaks to ease the transition.
On the other hand, the idea of promoting from within has been brought up assuming interest in the field of software development exists.
Time will tell the tale on that one.
Overlooked Pop Culture
There’s a reason many are either captivated and/or aggravated by politics. Though campaigns may portray otherwise, things are rarely black and white. Nothing demonstrates this more than with the firing of James Comey by President Trump.
Though there has been suspicion as to the President’s actual motivations, Trevor Aaronson of The intercept reminds readers that Comey himself did some things during his tenure as the head of the FBI that were questionable at best.
He will own the rights to the trademarks as well as the NWA Championship belt.
Though the classic name in professional wrestling has waned over the years, the plan is a long term move, so nothing will change right away. Could this WCW 3.0?
With the so called “government shutdown” delayed until next week, the roller coaster of 2017 is still building momentum, which brings us this week’s Friday Roundup.
Unix
FOSS Force announced the improvement of their news wire. In addition to headlines and authors, excerpts are now included. DistroWatch Weekly has a review of Ubuntu 17.04, the final series that will use Unity for the desktop environment before switching back to GNOME in the next LTS release. Jesse Smith noted an issue with Snap packages in conjunction with DEB packages.
I think it is worth mentioning that to install Snaps from Ubuntu Software, we need to have an Ubuntu One account. Sometimes, when trying to install Snaps, I would encounter authentication errors with my Ubuntu One account and I found closing Ubuntu Software and then re-opening the software manager and trying to install the Snap again would work around the issue.
I also feel it worth pointing out that Ubuntu’s three software managers (Ubuntu Software, Snap and APT) each work with a subset of the available packages. Snaps, for example, cannot be managed using the APT utilities. Likewise, we cannot use Snap to manage traditional Deb packages. The Ubuntu Software application tries to bridge this gap and works with desktop applications provided by both Snaps and Deb packages. However, Ubuntu Software does not work with non-desktop software or some games, requiring a trip to the command line to manage those items. This situation may get better in the future and we may get an all-in-one software manager, but for now we need three different utilities to manage software on Ubuntu and that makes for an awkward situation.
The CEO of Thinkpenguin Inc was arrested for filming the police at a police checkpoint and may face up to a year in jail. Christopher Waid had this to say:
I was essentially arrested for filming a police checkpoint in Manchester, New Hampshire (police invoked non-existent law to interfere with recording, made multiple contradicting and confusing requests, and were quick to obstruct and damage video recording equipment). Papers please. I don’t think I’ll be posting this to the ThinkPenguin blog as its irrelevant to free software / the company / etc. However I thought people here might be interested in following the case. The entire trial will be highly publicized, recorded, etc. One of the officers humorously threatens me with a motor vehicle violation. To be clear I was not drinking, not driving, had no car nearby (got there via another driver which had his car parks two or three blocks away), and in no way under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The Debian Project is shutting down their public FTP service, though developers won’t be affected. According to SoftPedia:
This means that the upload queues for both the main (ftp://ftp.upload.debian.org) and security (ftp://security-master.debian.org) archives will be accessible to them. The rest of the world won’t be able to access ftp://ftp.debian.org, nor ftp://security.debian.org starting November 1, 2017.
Overlooked Pop Culture
Comic book fans may have a reason to rejoice with the upcoming Marvel Legacy one shot. It includes multiple characters telling a story of the glory days. The story will relate to future of the Marvel Universe going forward.
Podcast co-host Stephen Kelley has a review of the 2017 release of Ghost in the Shell. He does pose a warning to the Internet Outrage Machine before the review is underway:
Let’s get this first part out of the way:
If there is one thing I’m tired of in the realm of film and television, it’s pre-emptive complainers trying to de-rail everything before it even comes out. with any review of this live action American/Chinese Ghost in The Shell film, everyone has drawn battle lines in regards to the elephant in the room of “Hollywood whitewashing”; in fact, I would say you were almost expected to take a side, and if you took a side that many didn’t like you’d get lectured by the other. It’s annoying that folks are getting in fights and “unfriending” each-other because of opinions over a goofy sci-fi film, but that’s our modern society I guess. Some popular reviews from major sites didn’t even talk about the film, they just reviewed everything that was in some way perceived as racist to stoke the outrage fires, this honestly comes across like they never actually watched it.
I’m not going to dwell on this topic too much because I can see both sides and don’t think arguing over whether or not Scarlett Johanson should or should not be cast as The Major actually addresses the actual problem that Hollywood has with representation. The internet witch hunts and rage were nearly identical to what people attempted to do with both recent Star Wars films, and even last years re-boot of Ghostbusters, and I honestly don’t care anymore. I’d rather discuss a film based on an anime/manga property that I’ve loved for upwards of 20+ years, and how it turned out.
/end rant
On a lighter note, Causecon has started today and will run through Sunday. All proceeds will go towards the local Women’s Resource Center in Beckley, West Virginia.
Political underground radio talk show host Jack Blood has made his return after a lengthy hiatus. He has a Patreon page for those who have followed him over the years and want to support him. On said page, he indicated the following:
At this time, the show is 100% commercial free! It will be up to you if it stays that way.
That ends this week’s Friday Roundup. We’ll be back next week.
Though Starcraft currently doesn’t run in Wine, the map editor does.
This week has been an interesting one to say the least. Ubuntu continues to get noticed due to Canonical’s change in direction while other interesting developments in the land of make believe are on the horizon. Still, it’s time to get our nerd on.
Here’s this week’s Friday Roundup.
Unix
Canonical’s announcement of moving back to GNOME and no longer using Unity starting with the next LTS release has had some exploring their options. The conclusion of one blog post is that GNOME 3 can’t replace Unity and that there will definitely be a learning curve for those who aren’t used to it.
Luís de Sousa writes:
The take home message of this exercise is that Unity 7 and Gnome 3 are markedly different desktop environments, designed with different – sometimes almost antagonistic – goals. Gnome 3 is a low visual feedback environment, meant for a small number of workspaces and highly reliant on mouse input. In its turn, Unity 7 is far more open to keyboard interaction, embraces workspaces as a cornerstone of desktop interfacing and overall offers far more modes of interaction and features. Unity 7 comes across as a transparent environment, providing immediate visual feedback on what may be happening with each of the programmes it manages; by contrast Gnome 3 opts to hide many visual cues, preferring a clean desktop, focused entirely on the current foreground programme.
(Bolding added for emphasis)
With the switch to GNOME will come the obvious switch to Wayland as well. X11 is network oriented, while Wayland is focused on individual systems, thus cutting down on overhead and improving graphical performance.
Speaking of Ubuntu, System76 is now starting to move production and design in-house. Phase Three will be long term. Carl Richell writes:
We’re starting with desktops. There’s a lot to learn and the form factor is easiest to work with. Both design and CAD work are well along their way. We’re prototyping with acrylic and moving to metal soon. Our first in-house designed and manufactured desktops will ship next year. Laptops are more complex and will follow much later.
Last but not least by any means, Solus has a new release. In addition to the in house Budgie Desktop, MATE and GNOME editions are available. Their release notes are available here.
A note of correction: They claim he pushed that the moon landing was faked. That is not entirely true. There will be a future article regarding Jones and his custody battle to further explain this.
So if you’re a Windows or OS X user, you’ll be able to run this classic game and compete with your friends.
Cool Links of the Week
Lemonade is not your traditional renter’s insurance company. They operate to keep costs down and premiums low. Mozilla Thunderbird is also an amazing e-mail client, and they could use your help.
That wraps up this week’s interesting, weird, and cool news. We’ll see you next week.
