Updated 21-Jul-2026 See also Ebooks and where to buy them which discusses DRM from each ebook seller. Kindle and Kobo ebook readers Calibre Ebook Library, De-DRM, Conversion Jailbreak Kindle KO Reader open source ebook reader Ebook formats Ebooks are ubiquitous, though generally the are in the form of pdfs, .epubs, .cbr (for manga), and a ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Venture Capital has a way of despoiling a product or service by focusing only on growth and (ultimately) profits. This means that the typical approach is to invest a lot of money (edging out less-endowed competitors), and then jacking up the revenue streams, usually by lowering quality and increasing enshittification. Cory Doctorow used ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 There are many choices for PDF readers and editors for the Linux platform. I've used a variety over the years. Lately I had preferred these two: Xournal++ (xournalpp), which is a reader and editor, and is touted as a handwriting notetaking software with PDF annotation support ... supports pen input from devices such ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Looks like Library Genesis has been hit hard by some courts. And so we turn to Anna's Archive. Libgen and related news Publishers Ramp Up Pressure vs. Anna’s Archive, Sci-Hub, Z-Library & Libgen (Torrentfreak) Pirate Libraries Are Forbidden Fruit for AI Companies. But at What Cost? (Torrentfreak) Copyright reform is necessary for national ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Upon installing XFCE, the xfce4-screenshooter is also installed. Create keyboard shortcut for screenshots Note that the Below will initiate a selection screenshot so that one may select the appropriate screen area using the crosshairs. It will also automatically save the screenshot in the Downloads directory and name it appropriately. In order to have ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 I am far from a China-apologist, so this criticism is nothing knee-jerk. What the US so-called intelligence community is doing to Deepseek, is a huge failure of imagination. It is obvious that state-sponsored attacks are trying to smear this brilliant AI competitor through DOS attacks, breaches, and outright legal chicanery (see Australia's new ... Read more
Updated 08-May-2026 Sometimes there is a confluence of innovations, both technological, and economic, which conspire to prompt a purchase. Now it is that time for me, concerning the 2024 BYD Dolphin Standard Range. Incidentally, I rode in a BYD Dolphin driven by a GRAB car, driving home from the hospital after getting stitches in my ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Google is such a tool. Even with apps only mode they show full-screen background ads on top of everything. Without that mode, nearly every element on the screen pushes apps and content that is unwanted and unneeded. It is now impossible to remove this without changing Google TV / Android TV launchers. Thankfully, ... Read more
Updated 02-Mar-2026 Note 03-mar-2026: I am migrating from Obsidian to VS Codium as my primary editor. I've always used VS Codium for editing files, but not as the main editor of my collection of documents that I keep in an organized vault. The Obsidian Android app has simply become too painful to use (takes more ... Read more
Updated 02-Mar-2026 Note 02-mar-2026: I no longer use Obsidian. Basically the Android client became interminably slow, and then I realized I didn't need a proprietary app to do what I do 99% of the time with Obsidian. So on the Linux desktop I use the perfectly fine VSCodium app, and on desktop the lovely Xed ... Read more
Updated 23-Jun-2026 Git itself Oh shit, git! Git book Oh shit, git! book (not the same as either of the above) Git platforms Git is great, and even better as a core part of a full development / deployment toolchain. These days there are choices as to which more robust Git platform to use. First, ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 I have not played with Mobian (yet), but it, and two other projects (Termux and UserLAnd), are quite promising. The biggest issue seems to be hardware at this point, as there are only Pine Phone and Tab, and Purism Librum, as well as one or two other devices are supported. That said, the ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Current cost-effective computing is focused on small, mobile, and Linux + Windows + Android. The Windows is for general familiarity and games for the children Current Devices Linux c214 - Ampton (ASUS C214MA) chromebook with Debian 12 (Bookworm) and Breath 4gb / 32gb + 256gb microsd n8 - NUC8i3BEH (Intel NUC) Debian 12 ... Read more
Updated 20-Apr-2026 Termux is an Android application (and plugins) which provides a Linux environment as a terminal emulator. Actually the Termux terminal doesn't need to be used, as it is possible to access various elements via API. Note that there are many things different from Linux in Termux. The main support is various programming languages. ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Major update to this post as of April 2024, nearly 4 years later The below is woefully out of date. Trying to do the same thing with the same product (but different device) results in tears, mainly around Xiaomi OEM unlocking. The unlock tools simply don't work on the Linux and Windows devices ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 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 ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 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 ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 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 ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 smartctl 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.
Updated 03-Aug-2025 This is a fantastic tool: sudo apt install grub-customizer grub-customizer A nice little GUI.