Because ChromeOS is simply ridiculous in terms of resource requirements (on devices meant for it), the only proper approach is to install or boot from a USB drive running Debian Linux (in this case, Debian Stable). Note: there is GalliumOS but it seems to have stalled development. There are various steps involved in getting this ... Read more
There are low-end and high-end Chromebooks. This is about relatively low-end devices, specifically an ASUS C214MA which is a cheap, somewhat small, ruggedized device meant for the schooling market. It has an 11.6" HD+ screen and a 4gb/32gb RAM/ROM configuration. In our household we've run up against the limits of this device in a variety ... Read more
I've used Linode for the past three years, and before that, another two years (with 3 years of AWS in between). There has been a (reasonable) increase in prices, and not much else since the acquisition by Akamai. Before Linode I used Servint which had more tools but also was much higher in prices, for ... Read more
These specs are meant to help with acquisition decisions. More is usually better, and certainly for future-proofing purchases. Note that these are not adequate for modern games such as Starfield. Desktop and Laptop For processors, there is more leeway, but one should get the latest generation of whichever processor line is needed (e.g, for Intel ... Read more
Some basic (very basic) Pokemon Go tactics: Buddy system Most efficient approach to hearts for Buddies: Only feed buddies berries once per day Start with play (rub the head of the Pokemon, for some like Regigas without any obvious head then torso). Then take photo Then feed berries Then engage in battle with: Team Go ... Read more
[smartctl](https://www.baeldung.com/linux/storage-device-check-health) is a tool for testing hard drives. There is a graphical interface called gsmartcontrol which oddly cannot be found in the standard Debian testing repository but is otherwise available.
This is a fantastic tool: sudo apt install grub-customizer grub-customizer A nice little GUI.
I've been having trouble with the sleep cycle of a new monitor, such that causes problems with the LXDE lxpanel app. Basically the panel unloads when the monitor sleeps (or awakes). Since lxpanel is more or less frozen, I've looked to other desktop distributions to remedy this. Though I am generally satisfied with LXDE, it ... Read more
To change the volume name of a removable disk (USB / SD), in Debian (or other Linux): Open up > Accessories > Disks Click on device Click on gears icon (Additional partition options) Edit Filesystem Enter partition name
Yogurt (Yoghurt) is a great food. Compared with cheese and milk, it is better in terms of a healthy body. It can be used in a variety of ways for cooking, not only a standard cup of yogurt with fruit. Here are some of the ways we use yogurt: Muesli, fruit, milk and creamy yogurt ... Read more
With the Life Diet Plan the idea is multifold, with the goals of: Prevent disease Increase metabolism and energy Control appetite Enhance natural hormone levels Diet is one part of a two-part plan, the other being exercise. Just as the diet is specific in numerous ways, so is the exercise. This then comes down to ... Read more
Wet bulb temperatures of 32c means that humans have to lie down and not take part in any activities, while 35c is lethal. Not only humans will suffer but all animals and plants. The potential for ecosystem failure and food insecurity is much higher than worrying about sea-level rise. Indeed, the collapse of ocean habitats ... Read more
PPAs are personal package archives that allow people to distribute application packages to Ubuntu distributions. Since Ubuntu is based on Debian, and PPA packages are in the .deb format, they can theoretically be used in Debian. However, there are several complications that need to be understood: Why PPAs are not recommended for use in Debian ... Read more
Candyland is a simple board game designed for 2-4 players ages 3+. It is a simple and quick game governed completely by luck, there is no skill involved. Candyland is a race game whose goal is to get from the starting to the finish line first. The game was first designed in 1949, and has ... Read more
I've recently migrated between datacenters, but not using any data center tools. Rather this is specific recreation of systems and importing of data. Much cleaner, and it becomes clear that there are advantages to data center processors and database cleanliness. Clearly there are some changes using php-fpm8.2 vs. 7.4 and while the mariadb process has ... Read more
adduser is a more friendly interactive tool that asks to create a password, while useradd simply adds a user with or without a password.
Subversion is a legacy source code control system. It is run by the Apache foundation. Subversion exists to be universally recognized and adopted as an open-source, centralized version control system characterized by its reliability as a safe haven for valuable data; the simplicity of its model and usage; and its ability to support the needs ... Read more
It is important, if one believes in anti-trust, to take whatever small personal actions one may take, as a consumer. For example, migrating off the large monopoly platforms when possible. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter -> Mastodon ($10/year donation) Gmail, etc., email -> Fastmail ($50/year fee) (referral code), may switch to mailbox.org, roughly the same price, but ... Read more
Fluency and automaticity Building fluency in math and language is significantly (though not exclusively) building automaticity in recognizing and recalling math facts, and the sounds, spelling, and meaning of words, respectively. Foundationally, building automaticity must in fact be based on tasks which do so. This seems obvious but isn't so, as an incisive article reveals: ... Read more
Ketchup is a bit expensive and full of not-so-nice ingredients (or super expensive and organic). We make ours in about 10 minutes using tomato paste, water, salt, sugar, and vinegar. One can always add more ingredients (garlic, onion, etc.), but it is not necessary. Ingredients One small can tomato paste 1/2 cup water 1 TBSP ... Read more
The main reason of my interest in Roman cement is the self-healing properties, especially in marine environments, and consequent waterproof ability, and adhesive strength. It seems to have many features which make it superior for stone pointing, stucco, tiling, and roofing uses, as well as for repair and restoration. > From a material perspective, Roman ... Read more
Printing is easy but making a nice binding is not as simple or easy. Many people use comb binding / spiral bound, which also make it easier to lay the book pages flat and to turn them. Useful when using the book as a reference, or simply having multiple readers. Lumbeck Bookbinding Lumbeck bookbinding is ... Read more
Science of Math has taken cues from the Science of Reading. Though it is seen as lagging by a few years, there is already a solid body of research regarding how children learn math and how to best teach it. As with the Science of Reading, the focus is on proven explicit, direct, systematic instruction, ... Read more
Collagen - Harvard school of public health I thought it was a scam -- can collagen really turn back the clock? - The Guardian 24-Week study on the use of collagen hydrolysate as a dietary supplement in athletes with activity-related joint pain
MuseScore is a free and open source music notation application. Is MuseScore 4 a Sibelius killer? Installing MuseScore on Linux MuseScore 3 is available through standard software channels such as apt in Debian. MuseScore 4 (a substantial upgrade) is distributed as an appimage (as of March 2023, and may be available in Debian Sid). Not ... Read more
Learning Piano app (Simply Piano) My seven year old started to learn the piano at age 6, at first it was messing around with an app (Simply Piano), though he committed to 15 minutes per day. We did that for about six months, but using an app has many drawbacks. My children like this, but ... Read more
Reasons for homeschooling Homeschooling is a way for parents to take on the primary responsibility for educating their children. By primary I mean as the sole guiding source of instruction. While in many cases, state or third party curricula is used, as well as shared resources or even online courses and enrollment in distance education ... Read more
Cooking chicken thighs quickly and easily is important. The main concept is to have the skin side down for the first half of cooking (starting with a cold unoiled pan, or wire cooking rack, for about 15 minutes), then turning over for the final 10 minutes, and broiling. Oven temperature should be about 220c. Internal ... Read more
Note: to be honest I'm a bit lost with my configuration. I've had a bit of trouble but it looks like it is ultimately due to the USB interface I'm using to connect HDDs and sharing them. In any case, Samba is working, but I'm not too sure about what kind of mapping to do, ... Read more
This recipe is adapted from Robert Rodriguez's 10 Minute Cooking School Ingredients Note that in the video above he only uses half of the recipe, and the use of lard means that the butter does not need to be more. Therefore: 250g flour 40g butter 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp baking powder 150g (more or ... Read more
Calibre is an ebook management tool. It is open source and cross-platform, and has been around for a long time. This explains the rather dated interface. While it is ugly, it works fairly well, and there is nothing that competes. Calibre Functionality Calibre calls itself an ebook management tool, but really any digital document can ... Read more
The Fediverse is a disparate set of social media services across many implementations, with two core elements: They use open protocols to communicate across services and instances, creating a federation of users and uses. They are primarily distributed and decentralized. This decentralization (and federation) is not in the sense of a blockchain with multiple copies ... Read more
Fuck Elon Musk. So, Mastodon. I'd created accounts back when it first got started in 2016, so I'm @[email protected]. The server feels a bit slow, so it may be useful to move to another server, and there is a migration path for users in that case. The main thing is to find other people to ... Read more
By 2024 the Pentathlon event will likely replace horse jumping with some kind of obstacle course. But is a run + laser pistol really modern? And fencing? Perhaps a complete rethink is actually needed. I do get that shooting and running are a useful combination, much like skiing and rifle shooting of biathlons. But an ... Read more
Kodable is a somewhat slow website (and iOS app, no Android) which teaches "coding" in a somewhat rudimentary way. It is engaging for the children (tested on ages 4 and 6) but limited in what it can teach. Navigation is problematic as there are two interfaces and so sending a task from the teacher/parent dashboard ... Read more
Install a repository to manage Zotero via apt. Install Chrome Zotero connector
In January, 2022, a German Court Fined a Website Owner for Violating the GDPR by Using Google-Hosted Fonts. The fine was 100 Euros, but could be much higher, based on German law. The lesson here is to self-host all content (including Google Fonts), and/or stop using Google Fonts.
The result is that there is a significant difference between several honey extracts and an equally sweet placebo taken before bed, on ameliorating nighttime coughing and sleep disturbance.
Acute creatine loading enhances human growth hormone secretion
Hawaii Dept. of Education opposing Acellus Cloud of controversy follows Dr. Hydrogen Hawaii DOE’s Distance Learning Tool Very, Very Questionable The extremely weird story of a remote-learning company that’s making parents livid AKA Power Homeschool
This recipe takes about 30 minutes, and is mainly about being organized. It is very useful to have rubber gloves to do the hand kneading of butter into flour, otherwise cleanup is a lot messier. 30 minutes 8-9 scones Ingredients 200g flour 100g butter 1 tsp baking powder 2 TBSP sugar (plus a little for ... Read more
Learning Spanish (Spain or Central American) is a popular past time, and is fourth in the number of non-native speakers (behind English, Mandarin, and Hindustani). It is also the fourth most spoken language by native speakers. For an English language speaker there are many similarities that can help in Spanish language acquisition. There are two ... Read more
One learns a language to speak with a people and/or read their writing. All languages are useful to someone who has some use for them, though in general not all languages are equally useful in the abstract. Putting aside native vs. non-native speaker divides (which are hard to account for), languages are put to use. ... Read more
Typing Club
Windows NT and VMS: The Rest of the Story
Canvas LMS is an open source learning management system. Not to be confused with Canva (which Google does all the time). Canvas can be downloaded and installed from the Canvas Github repository. It can also be used with a free teacher account which does not have all features (pdf), but many.
The Linux Mark The Linux Mark is a protected (reserved) mark and beyond fair use, requires a sublicense for its use. The Debian Logo and Trademark The Debian Logo and Debian trademark are protected (reserved) and require licenses (or may not be used) in certain ways.
The global birthrate continues it's ongoing descent. In some countries there has been a dramatic drop due to covid, such as in the Philippines whose annual births in 2019 were 1.5 million, and which dropped to 900,000 and 400,000 in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Thailand Birthrate In 2021 the birthrate of Thailand dipped below the ... Read more
Balena Etcher is software to flash Operating System images to USB drives and SD cards. It works well. Normally it is offered as an AppImage, but it is also possible to add the Balena Etcher github repository and install as a .deb file from there. Installing Balena Etcher on Debian with apt Debian installation instructions ... Read more