Tag: linux

Some people donate to the Red Cross or volunteer at soup kitchens around the holidays.  During the 2013 season, Ken “helios” Starks conducted an outreach called the “12 Geeks of Christmas.”

Twelve geeks were sent reconditioned notebook computers to give to a child whose family couldn’t afford one otherwise.  On his blog, he wrote:

We send said Geek a reconditioned laptop with Linux on it and they locate a school-aged child in their community that wouldn’t normally be able to afford a computer in the household.  Deliver the computer and spend some time showing the parents and the child how to use it, and support them when they need help.

Yeah, I know…that’s asking a lot.  But 12 of you did it.

Richard Kapler is credited as one of those geeks who gave a computer to a child who is doing everything they can to make it into college.  There are currently plans to tell the story of more of these geeks.  Well done, helios.  Well done.

Out with 2013, and in with 2014.  No matter what this year brings, it won’t be boring.  With that said, here’s some links for you to check out this week.

Unix

• Getting Involved in FOSS (opensource.com): The Red Hat sponsored website has seven ways for people to get involved in various projects that share their source code and invite collaboration from others.  For those who can’t code their way out of a paper bag, there’s always writing documentation and creating digital art for the various projects, because good instructions and pretty icons can go a long way in making an application more attractive.
• Exciting Changes to 5.0 of the Phoronix Test Suite GUI (phoronix.com):  Though it was initially written in GTK2, HTML 5 is being used instead.  According to Michael Larabel, “This new GUI to Phoronix Test Suite 5.0 is being written as an HTML5 interface. This is being done for portability and network transparency with the Phoronix Test Suite commonly being used on embedded devices and servers where there is no connected devices — remote support for PTS 5.0 HTML5 GUI can be enabled, otherwise it’s only exposed locally.”  Work on the interface is currently ongoing.
• Now It’s Our Turn (Blog of helios):  Ken “helios” Starks has been through quite a bit over the years.  He decided to tell the story of how he is now able to give back to those who have helped him, starting with Randy Noseworthy.  It looks like the Reglue Project will be able to help bridge the digital divide more than ever.

Overlooked Pop Culture

• District Judge Rules in Favor of Warrantless Border Searches (Maximum PC):  The controversy continues over warrantless border searches as a Federal Judge declared that risk of seizure was insignificant, so plaintiffs have no standing.  It looks like it’s time to learn how to use encryption or data wiping techniques before traveling to other countries.
• Horrible Things Done to Male Sexual Organs (deadspin.com): In weird news, males have apparently hurt themselves in the no no parts in 2013.  Some of these entries will make you laugh, others will make you cry, and the rest will make you hurt down there.
• 14 Million Doses of Potassium Iodide Ordered (infowars.com):  The stuff that prevents radioactive iodine from being absorbed by the thyroid is apparently being ordered in an unprecedented quantity, according to this.  It is apparently related to the problematic Fukushima reactor.  U.S. Sailors have apparently come back sick after helping out in the area, and have sued the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).  This tidbit may crop up again this year.

The final issue of the magazine for 2013 is available for popular consumption.  Here’s what’s covered:

• Social Networking Ads and How they may backfire.
• Linux Mint Debian Edition
• Google Drive being used on the construction of this year’s final issue as well as a preview of things to come in 2014.

The magazine may be downloaded here.  The clouds on the cover page courtesy of Kamil Porembiński via Creative Commons.

As we head deeper and deeper into Winter, more people are going to stay indoors to avoid the cold weather.  Eventually, people will get bored and will start killing time on the Internet.  To make things a bit more pleasant for those who happen to be bored, never fear!

Our weekly links will have you laughing, crying, and cursing multibiollion dollar corporations all at the same time.  With that said, here’s this week’s links.

Unix

• KDE Desktop in Need of Desktop Search Overhaul (Blog of Helios): Ken Starks argues in favor of improving the search experience on the desktop so that files are found quickly and accurately.
• Valve Joins the Linux Foundation: Gaming was such a contentous issue on operating systems other than OS X and Windows until Valve came along to port their Steam Client.  The company that brought one of the most successful game distribution services is now an official member of the Linux Foundation.
• Samsung PR Move on Galaxy S4 Catching Fire Backfires (MaximumPC):  In an attempt to do damage control on a problematic product, the problems of said product go viral instead.  Remember kids, preventing one from suing and broadcasting the fact that defects in a product exist is not good PR.

Overlooked Pop Culture

• There are people who are here to help you poop: We aren’t making this up.  There is a product called Squatty Potty that helps the person squat instead of sit on their toilet.  Something about making it all come out easier…….
• Foolish users brick their XBOX One consoles (Daily Dot): Thanks to a convincing looking image via 4Chan, a number of uses enabled the developer mode on their XBOX One consoles in the hopes that they’ll be able to play their XBOX 360 games.  Unfortunately, the instructions rendered said consoles inoperable.  Remember, kids…. never follow instructions from an image board, and for crying out loud, stay out of /b/!
• Martial arts demo curating (The Stick Chick): A martial arts expert explains why it’s best to practice certain things in a dojo before demonstrating them to the public.

As the holiday sales season kicks into high gear, we learn about some cool things in the technology sphere as well as an update in regards to an earlier podcast episode.

Hopefully, this week’s links will help blast things off for the most intense part of the year.  For those who are studying for finals in college and/or going through finals week, we at The *Nixed Report wish you all the best of luck.  Happy studies.

Unix

• iBuyPower plans to put out their own Steam Machine (The Verge):  The current prototype has a 500 GB hard drive, multicore AMD CPU, a discrete Radeon R9 270 graphics card, Wifi, Bluetooth, and Valve’s Steam Controller.
• The City of Munich Has Walked Away From Microsoft (TechRepublic): An entire German city has walked away from Microsoft and is relying on free and open source software instead.  In the process, the city discovered that their IT infrastructure also needed an overhaul.
• Malware can spread via rogue networks utilizing the sound system of an OS for transmission, but Linux-based systems may already have a defense against it (Journal of Communications): Research done by Michael Hanspach and Michael Goetz indicates that creating a rogue mesh network may serve as an opportunity to spread malware in unexpected ways.  As it turns out, the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) and Linux Audio Developer’s Simple Audio Plugin API (LADSPA) may already have the ability to defend against such attacks via configuration of audio filters.  Yet another reason why Linux-based systems may be more secure than solutions from Microsoft.

Overlooked Pop Culture

• Bitcoin theft occurs in the dark web yet again (Layfield Report): Stephen Kelley talks about Sheep Marketplace and how bitcoins have been stolen from individual participants.  Though the marketplace has claimed that emergency procedures were in place to return the remainder of bitcoins to users, Kelley speculates as to whether it was a ruse by the site operators.
• Government chemist tampered with evidence in 40,000 cases (Filming Cops): Though this item of news isn’t entirely new, it’s here to serve as a reminder that though the justice system in the U.S. is by far among the most sophisticated, it doesn’t guarantee that cases will be 100% accurate, especially when evidence is altered.
• Dragon Con co-founder Ed Kramer Avoids Prison (The Atlanta-Journal Constitution): He will serve the remainder of five years confinement under house arrest.  For the remainder of his 20 year sentence, he’ll be on probation and must register as a sex offender for life.  He also has to pay $100,000 USD in restitution to the three individuals who claimed he molested and abused.  Furthermore, it appears that he will no longer profit from the Dragon Con convention.

Welcome back to Wednesday Weekly Links, where we scour the Internet and other sources for news items that are often overlooked.  This week, we focus on innovation in computer software and a change at a major software company as well as pro wrestling, a government agency, and a really strange 911 call.

Unix

• Microsoft Drops Reward and Curve System (MaximumPC): Microsoft is scrapping the curve system, because it caused a bit of tension between employees.  Emphasis is going to be placed on team work and employee growth and development.
• Fedora 20 Goes Beta (ZDNet): Nicknamed “Heisenbug,” the beta release of version 20 of Red Hat’s community oriented operating system brings enhancements to virtualization and clouds, updated development software, GNOME 3.10, and an added emphasis on the ARM architecture.  Hat tip to Steven J. Vaughn-Nicols
• More AMD Patches Released (Phoronix): Those who follow hardware-based encryption solutions and use Linux may be jumping for joy at this.  AMD has released drivers for a Cryptographic Coprocessor.  A variety of encryption standards is supported through said driver including SHA and AES among others.  Hat tip to Michael Larabel.

Overlooked Pop Culture

• US Postal Service Bailed Out…. by Amazon? (Layfield Report): Amazon has made an arrangement with the US Postal Service for their Prime customers in time for the holiday season.  In New York City and Los Angeles, Sunday delivery of packages will soon be possible (with plans to expand to other areas).  Hat tip to Stephen Kelley.
• 911 Called Over Snoring Partner (The Smoking Gun): A Wisconsin man called 911 due to a woman snoring too loudly in his bed.  It turned out that she had sleep apnea, and he was advised that it wasn’t a police matter.
• Buff Bagwell Speaks on Different Issues in Terms of Pro Wrestling (24 Wrestling): Bagwell was interviewed about a variety of topics including his brief run in WWE.  He acknowledged that the match between himself and Booker T was a horrible idea and both were booed out of the arena.