Updated 03-Aug-2025 Note: if you just want a secure Gecko-based browser, there is LibreWolf which can be installed using Extrepo. Firefox woes Firefox has dramatically disintegrated under the so-called leadership of Mitchell Baker, enriching herself to the tune of millions while the market share (and revenue) of Firefox plummeted and 250 employees were laid off. ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 This article briefly describes some issues with managing portable music players on Linux, particularly the Apple Ipod Shuffle and the Sandisk Clip Jam (it's replacement). Note that the Ruizu x52 is the proper replacement for the Sandisk Clip Jam Quod Libet Quod Libet is absolutely zero help with managing portable music players (with ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 How to manage fonts in Debian (installing/removing/refreshing). See also Fonts, Typefaces, Typography Microsoft Core Fonts Installer Check to see if this is installed via apt-cache sudo apt-cache search ttf-mscorefonts-installer Emoji fonts Yeh, I don't like them but people use them so need to see them. sudo apt install fonts-noto-color-emoji Debian and application fonts ... Read more
Updated 24-Aug-2025 **Note - This article needs a revamp as it references Amazon Linux and should simply be straightforward for any Debian. On a new Amazon Linux AMI installation, there is a useful ec2-user account configured. However, in order to make it more useful, there is a need to edit some .bashrc files, as well ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 This is a grab bag websites, books, software, and services which have helped in this genealogical endeavor. DNA Analysis FamilyTreeDNA YSeqDNA GEDmatch I started with FTDNA, and it is difficult working with them to do exports, or really anything that is beyond the basic interface. Also, their prices are high. YSeqDNA is cheaper, ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 See also Deep Speech, Tesseract Items on ML (from 2019) IBM's Ginny Rommety gave a compelling keynote at CES on AI, as well as answering a great set of questions on Bloomberg Technology. It seems to me that the discussion of AI (as per Rommety) should not be using the term AI but ... Read more
Updated 12-Nov-2025 Note 11-11-2025: just use sudo apt install inkscape -t trixie-backports all the crap below with AppImage no longer applies. Current issues The latest version of Inkscape has to be downloaded as an AppImage from the website. An earlier version is available via apt. There is also a PPA but that is not recommended. ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Note: This page is a document of the next generation of webdev/devops from what is currently in place (granted, much out-of-date). What follows is a personal technology stack learning task list rather than a comment on the state of web development. Note: As of May 2025, this generally holds true, with the exception ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 ufw is known as a Debian (and Ubuntu) firewall, which is disabled by default but easy to use. There are some GUI front-ends which make it popular for Linux on the desktop. Coming from a CentOS background (RHEL/Amazon Linux AMI), ufw is not as common (as, say firewalld, or simply iptables, to which ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 See also Kodi, which I've started using nowadays to replace Chromecast / Android TV as of May 2025. I've gotten fed up with the nonsense that is Chromecast (slow, limited), Apple TV (slow, limited), and Fire TV Stick (slow, limited). I ran across the Vero 4K, which was announced in February, 2017. Besides ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 This is a terse collection of commands and utilities I find useful for shells. There is little distinction between programs and commands as commands are programs (and are installed or come pre-installed) and programs have commands. Also included is a shell (Fish Shell) and some other shell applications/utilities (Mosh, Nano). bc - basic ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 scp, the secure version of cp, aka copy, is pretty great, since it is straightforward to copy one or more files or directories from any one machine to any other machine (and the command could be running on a third machine). SCP Syntax Note: it is best to use sudo, and full paths ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Note: This started out as a page about MOSH, but I've moved on to AutoSSH, which is way easier without much configuration, and better at what it does. I had not been aware of Mosh (mobile shell), though clearly its own level of awesome is not a reason for that. Basically it replaces ... Read more
Updated 23-Aug-2025 In February 2016, I wrote about the Coming of the 'Bots. Now it is September, and indeed there are more on the horizon, as well as a few I missed from 2015. However, bot utility is fairly constrained now and likely into the future, mainly because the mental model is one around artificial ... Read more
Updated 23-Aug-2025 There is quite a bit of functionality that a bot can provide these days, as a first class account on various communication tools. It is time to seriously consider the value that a bot can provide for learning and tutoring. In particular, while things like Ok Google, Hey Siri and Microsoft's Hey Cortana. ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 This past weekend I parted with my last Windows device. Actually, my last Microsoft Operating System device (though I reserve the right to get an xbox at some point in the future). This is after flirting with the idea of the Surface device (before its underwhelming acceptance in the marketplace). Goodbye Windows (3.1, ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Update May 2024 - I can't recommend Scribus due to their model of very long time between releases, the fact that only two programmers work on it in their spare time, and the advances to Inkscape (mainly supporting multi-page SVG / PDF). Yes, I'm sure the programmers are working hard, but they've got ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 I love Spolsky's blog. He has also written articles for Inc, such as the one on competition and strategy called Fire and Motion. In the article there is a great quote about how management for his company is not about employees quickly obeying directives. > The biggest problem is getting people to tell ... Read more