Updated 18-Jun-2026 See also Ruizu mp3 player Sandisk Clip Jam mp3 player mp3 players and Linux 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 ... 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 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Note: This page is a document of the next generation of webdev/devops from what is currently in place (granted, much out-of-date).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 02-Sep-2026 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). See also More ... 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-2026 See also Coming of the Bots from 2016 Rise of the Chat Bots from 2016 Deep Speech from late 2010s Tesseract from late 2010s Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning updated 2026 Generative AI in Music 2026 AI Chat Bots 2026 Local LLMs 2026 Coding AI 2026 In February 2016, I wrote about the Coming ... Read more
Updated 12-Jul-2026 See also Audiobooks - Mono in a Stereo World OBS Studio Podcast Platforms Podcasts Introduction Audiobooks are generally a neglected/emerging area in much of the world. If one is in the US, of course it is less of a problem, but even Apple has a half-assed approach currently. Apple / iOS / OSX ... Read more
Updated 27-Aug-2026 To be honest, the amount of bits included in signatures is likely too many, given that people can discern domain names from email addresses, and the like. Regardless, this is from the archives of 2013. These days I just do two hyphens, return, full name (of company or person). Email signatures are those ... Read more
Updated 23-Aug-2026 See also Coming of the Bots from 2016 Rise of the Chat Bots from 2016 Deep Speech from late 2010s Tesseract from late 2010s Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning updated 2026 Generative AI in Music 2026 AI Chat Bots 2026 Local LLMs 2026 Coding AI 2026 Originally published in 2016, this still is interesting ... Read more
Updated 27-Aug-2026 The two kinds of email: marketing and transactional, and the need to manage this has resulted in a proliferation of solutions from various providers. Marketing email consists of messages to the customer from the organization; transactional are messages to the customer by the computer system (e.g., invoices, receipts, email list confirmations, contact form ... 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 29-Aug-2026 Update August 2026 - Just go with the latest from apt which as of this date is 1.6.3. Don't need to go through all these silly Flatpak permutations. The below is left for posterity. When and why to use Scribus Scribus, if it were further developed, might fit in between a few different ... Read more
Updated 31-Aug-2026 Note: as of early to mid 2020s, no need for anything else other than Gboard which basically does everything the below did. There is a plethora of keyboards available in Android (as opposed to the iPhone), and some have the innovative swiping feature of dragging fingers across the keys instead of individual typing ... 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