Open Source Thunderbird 115 Supernova E-Mail Released: Even If You Use Gmail, Thunderbird Will Back it Up For You

https://linuxiac.com/thunderbird-115-supernova/

The Thunderbird client has got a big makeover. It is not just an e-mail client though, as it also has calendaring, contacts and tasks built-in, and many additional add-on's that provide extra customisation and functionality.

The app will connect via IMAP to most e-mail services to download and sync your e-mail offline. If you have e-mail at various services, Thunderbird will consolidate that for you in one app.

But even if you're still a Gmail user, Thunderbird is a great way to sync your e-mail offline so that you have your own permanent copy of all your mails. Who knows when Google will tire of providing Gmail.

And if you feel like a version of Thunderbird on steroids, Betterbird is an enhanced version of Thunderbird with new features and bug fixes not available in Mozilla Thunderbird. Betterbird looks and feels like Thunderbird, but it's easy to spot the new features available. Many of these features have been requested for over a decade, and some have been attempted and failed. Betterbird already updated to the Thunderbird 115 build on 8 July 2023.

#technology #opensource #Thunderbird #email

How to Access the GRUB Menu in Virtual Machine: Useful if you want to Test out GRUB changes Safely

https://itsfoss.com/access-grub-virtual-machine/

Most modern VMs are configured to skip the GRUB bootloader for a seamless experience. However, you might need to access the GRUB menu at times. For example, if you want to switch back to the older kernel or get into recovery mode for resetting the password.

It is certainly also a useful way to test any changes to GRUB before doing so on your production machine, too. In this way if for example you'd like to add colour themes to your main machine's GRUB, test it out first on the VM's GRUB until you have it like you want it, then apply to your main machine.

#technology #VM #GRUB #opensource

New Flow Battery Using Simple Sugar Has Year Long Charge Duration For Grid Storage: A Healthier Use For Sugar

https://cleantechnica.com/2023/07/12/new-flow-battery-lasts-all-year-on-simple-sugar/

The discovery could lead to new low-cost, long duration energy storage systems that can write fossil energy out of the picture by capturing wind and solar power for weeks, months, or even whole seasons.

To provide full day, utility scale energy storage as more wind and solar power enter the grid, a flow battery fits the bill.

I really love that there is so much research, and the associated results flowing back, around all sorts of different approaches to batteries. Without a doubt, grid storage is now the big thing needed for variable power generation technology. Being storage, it can also be located where it is required for use.

#technology #environment #gridstorage #batteries

Finally got Timeshift on Linux to do a system restore when I really needed it

https://void.cat/d/JLfPLnic8wKVbHg5x8eHNE.webp

I've had issues in the past when testing out restores with Timeshift. But today I really needed it as I did some over-aggressive pacman optimisations yesterday (mass deleting circular dependencies was not a good idea) and my system was spitting out SSL errors and the web browser could not even reach websites.

So no choice today but to face Timeshift restore. I did the whole chroot thing from a live CD but for some reason Timeshift --restore on the command line kept saying no snapshots found on the backup drive. I also could not list any files as the mount was not being seen.

So I backtracked and stuck with the plain manjaro-chroot, and saw it definitely mounted the partitions needed (but still gave an error mounting the MacOS partition (which was the trigger for my next step).

This time I did not run Timeshift from the command line where the chroot was active. I ran Timeshift from the menu for the GUI version. But again it said can't mount partitions. Something said to me, try changing that MacOS mount to leave as root (I was not going to use it anyway), and bang it started checking the backup files in the snapshot. After that it went through fine and restored all the system files back to 13:00 yesterday. Did a reboot, and all up and running.

This post is really to remind me again next time what to look at, and serves as a reminder to anyone else using Linux to remember to setup Timeshift and left it do it's daily snapshots of all the system files. And of course, be very wary of any mass deletions with pacman.

#technology #Manjaro #Timeshift #backups

Various applications are open sourced as projects on their own, so it us really only their enterprise distro that was in question now. They still pass thd new code upstream.

Fairphone 3 gets seven years of updates, besting every other Android OEM: Proving the usual excuses for ending Android support aren't valid

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/fairphone-3-gets-seven-years-of-updates-besting-every-other-android-oem/

No one in the Android ecosystem can hold a candle to Apple's software support timeline for the iPhone, but there is one company that comes the closest: Fairphone. Following in the footsteps of the Fairphone 2, the Fairphone 3 is also getting an Android-industry-best seven years of OS support. Fairphone continues to run circles around giant tech companies that have a lot more resources than it does, and it's doing this even in the face of component vendors like Qualcomm dropping support for the phone's core components.

You'd hope that others follow suit, but don't hold your breath. Samsung is probably closest, but not for their whole range I think. That said, Fairphone is not very quick with their updates. Still 7 years is nearly double the time that most Android OEMs give so you can certainly get your money's worth out of these devices.

#technology #Android #Fairphone

Your Fitbit Charge 5 Might Be Broken After Its Latest Update (and many Aria scales also have issues)

https://www.reviewgeek.com/158558/your-fitbit-charge-5-might-be-broken-after-its-latest-update/

Botched and buggy software updates are all too common these days. But the latest Fitbit Charge 5 update takes things to a new level—several users complain that their Charge 5’s screen is now unresponsive, while others are struggling with battery drain.

I'm also in a group of about 50 or 60 Fitbit Aria scale users complaining that the second user of the scale is being seen only as a guest user. But the worst is about 2 months went by without Fitbit (Google) acknowledging it in the forum thread (on their website). Needless to say it has really incensed all the users.

Many voiced opinions that Google is really trying to kill off Fitbit as a separate product. Whatever the reason, there is still no reason to be so distance from your customers.

#technology #Fitbit #health

How to use open source Fan Control for Windows

https://www.xda-developers.com/fan-control-guide/

When setting your fan speeds, you should strike the perfect balance between cooling and noise level. Most operating systems, including Windows 11, allow you to set a fan profile using BIOS settings, OEM software, or third-party apps.

Third-party applications are generally the most effective solution as they have easy-to-use interfaces and allow you to set individual profiles for all your fans. Fan Control is one such open-source app that offers plenty of customizability to control your cabinet, GPU, and CPU fans, making it the perfect cooling management tool for beginners and experts alike.

This article will go over the process of setting up Fan Control to help you create the perfect fan profile for your system.

#technology #opensource #FanControl

Sorry link is broken - should be https://youtu.be/g7x_ngYtj6Y

Open KDE Konsole named Profiles, with own identification and a custom command, using a keyboard shortcut

https://void.cat/d/UhSKiyCcJcwHPXYznHyjck.webp

Open Konsole named Profiles, with own identification and a custom command, using a keyboard shortcut

This solves a problem I had with wanting to quickly start up a Distrobox container using a shortcut key, but also being able to differentiate it visually from my normal Konsole terminal screen I'd use on Manjaro Linux. It is extremely quick and the named Konsole Profile has a different colour as well as a different window title bar. I needed this as my Starship custom prompt was not playing ball with showing the change of OS properly (it could do so, but the formatting broke all the time). This method I describe here is solid, and works irrespective of the prompt.

I thought this was worth sharing as firstly I could find no search results showing how to do this, and secondly, it can actually be applied for purposes other than just starting a Distrobox container. Any terminal command can be used. It is also a useful way to actually use these named Profiles that Konsole has in KDE Plasma.

My video also gives a taste of what Distrobox does, so if you're interested further in Distrobox I have also included a link below my video, to a Distrobox overview video by someone else.

Watch https://youtu.be/g7x_ngYtj6

#technology #opensource #Linux #Distrobox #Konsole

Distrobox lets you start any Linux distribution inside your terminal, and even run GUI apps for that distro on your host machine

https://void.cat/d/DytQxEwdUpmQ47hjx2Z5aL.webp

Enable both backward and forward compatibility with software and freedom to use whatever distribution you’re more comfortable with. Distrobox uses podman or docker to create containers using the Linux distribution of your choice. The created container will be tightly integrated with the host, allowing sharing of the HOME directory of the user, external storage, external USB devices and graphical apps (X11/Wayland), and audio.

Ideally, you would probably use a Flatpak or Appimage application for your main computer, if they're available. But if they're not, this is an amazingly easy alternative. The apps boot as quickly as if they are the native apps for your host machine. You could probably also manually install these containers, but why, if Distrobox largely automates this for you and integrates them so tightly with your computer, that all your home directories are already integrated and visible.

It's also a great way to learn a different distro and how its package manager and syntax works.

Their site has extensive documentation as well as a good video giving an overview of how this works.

See https://distrobox.privatedns.org/

#technology #Linux #opensource #distrobox

China's openKylin 1.0 arrives. Our verdict? Not a bad-looking, er, Ubuntu remix: It's certainly not the country's 'first homegrown open source desktop operating system'

https://void.cat/d/G1JrqymU7LjaYLLw7tPdY5.webp

Version 1.0 of the openKylin Linux distro for the domestic Chinese market is here – and it works pretty well in English, too.

As The Reg reported last year, openKylin has been in development for some years. The FOSS desk took openKylin 0.7 for a spin soon afterwards. It reached version 0.9.5 at the start of 2023, and now the finished release 1.0 is available, codenamed "Yangtze" after the great river of China, the longest watercourse in Eurasia.

OpenKylin is an Ubuntu remix and it has the UKUI desktop. UKUI is one of the most polished Linux desktops around, and puts most of the more mainstream Western desktops to shame. The desktop looks very similar to the one in Ubuntu Kylin 22.04, but it had no problems with VirtualBox's 3D acceleration and didn't default to dark mode as that release did.

There was a decision made quite a few years ago at one of the BRICS summits in Brazil, that the BRICS nations would actually look at doing exactly this. In other words, they were going to each produce their own national operating system. All of those countries did in fact start such initiatives, but for some reason South Africa never did, and South Africa still sits in a very expense strangle-hold by Microsoft. Ironically enough, long before this in the mid-2000's, South Africa did have it's own government funded Linux distro that was called Impi Linux. Back then, South Africa had quite a big drive towards open source software, and for it to be a way of boosting local economic investment. This drive was actually what introduced me to open source software, but the difference is I stuck with that philosophy, while the government did not (I've saved a lot of money and learnt a lot about software in this time).

See https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/07/openkylin_is_ubuntu/

#technology #opensource #Linux #China

Wesgro creates the Cape Karoo region in Roblox, partnering with BP & Shell to win the hearts of young road-trippers in South Africa

https://void.cat/d/H6EvQAwdWXjrJ3hpD3UJXc.webp

The first thought I had was, this had to do with PR for fracking, but no, it is a genuine promotion of tourism in an innovative way that appeals to the youth. Kudos to Wesgro for such an innovative idea that seems very well executed. It certainly taps into a very current trend around gaming with locations. The Karoo has long been a favourite location for me to take bike rides to. I once rode out there and spend an hour or just reading a book, with a wonderful view in front of, and not a single solitary human or even car in sight.

The game Starlight Adventures In The Cape Karoo aims to drive tourism across the region, highlighting lesser-known but exciting family destinations where tourism is critical to the local economy.

Wesgro is the first tourism promotion agency in the world to use Roblox in its marketing campaigns, with today’s launch being the second game it has released on the platform.

The game includes a digital clone of Prince Albert, a small town with only 7000 people, that has been transformed into a playable experience.

In researching the game, Wesgro consulted with local tour guides and cultural experts – using 3D scans of landmarks and objects to create an accurate representation of the town.

With a map spanning four square kilometres, the game is one of the largest on Roblox.

Additionally, for the first time in a game, the history and culture of the Khoisan people, the world’s oldest tribe, is featured.

See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/gaming/499331-wesgro-creates-the-cape-karoo-region-in-roblox-partnering-with-bp-shell-to-win-the-hearts-of-young-road-trippers-in-south-africa.html

#technology #SouthAfrica #PrinceAlbert #Wesgro #Roblox

Small static page websites really can be hosted for free

https://www.howtogeek.com/devops/the-best-services-to-host-a-free-website/

Rather than considering this linked article as an exhaustive compilation of free hosting options (it's not), instead see it as a message aimed specifically at those who just want to have a couple of webpages to support their hobby or small business. There is often no need to pay for that level of website hosting. Or maybe you want to just try out creating your own website.

Why would you want to create a website when you have Facebook? Well you may want to leave Facebook (you have considered that haven't you... but I digress), or maybe Facebook shuts down someday, or maybe you want the branding and permanence of having your own domain name not associated with some other big company. There are lots of reasons to want to host your own website.

It is though well worth considering paying a small fee for your own domain name, as you can keep that even if you move to a different hosting service. My own domain name costs me only $7.31 per year.

This article is only the tip of the iceberg though, as not even Wordpress.com was mentioned.

#technology #websites

Threads, Meta's Twitter rival, is tracking you in all sorts of ways because Meta/Facebook owns it

https://mashable.com/article/threads-tracking-data

Apart from you apparently not being able to delete your Threads profile, it contains similar metadata spying clauses that the other Meta products do about all sorts of metadata that can be tracked and passed upstream to Facebook and Meta (the reason why I deleted my Instagram and Whatsapp accounts years ago).

We've seen before though from Facebook, that it does not stop with "using the information to improve our offerings to you", and that the information also gets passed to 3rd parties ('partners') as well. Meta is also based in a country famed for its data collection.

Your metadata is data collected that is not related to the information you consciously put in your profile, posts, and comments. It includes your location throughout the day, your contacts, WiFi and Bluetooth connections, search history, purchases, when you are active, and importantly specific identifiers for your device (so that this behaviour can be matched to data collected by other 'partners'). This all starts to build up a pretty valuable profile about your behaviour outside of the app.

I also collect visitor data on my website (and did a video about it showing what I can see), but I use a self-hosted open source service, the data does not get sold or given to anyone, and I only aggregate the data to determine what pages are popular, what search terms are finding my site, etc. I'm not profiling people or selling data to 3rd parties.

So, although I love testing out new social networks (and use about 17 at any time) I won't be touching Threads. But if you're a Facebook, Instagram or Whatsapp user, this really won't interest you much as your data is already sucked in.

I know many in the Fediverse won't like this, but I will consider reconnecting to some Meta users once Threads gets ActivityPub support. The reason is that all the behaviour side information is safely on a non-Meta app. All Meta will see is who I'm contacting on their side, and what I message to them through the open protocol. There is nothing stopping anyone already doing that through the ActivityPub protocol. However if Meta finds some devious way of inserting adverts (or anything else) into that connection, then I'll once again isolate myself fully from them.

I've long been on Mastodon already as my Twitter alternative, and over the last few months especially it has matured well in terms of a richness of information and news, meaningful interaction, and also working through its moderation controls that you can execute yourself.

#technology #privacy #Threads #metadata #socialnetworks

No I haven't but the only music I listen to really is on Spotify nowadays, so quality is not the primary decider ;-)

Is airdrop part of the Brave browser too?

The irony for me is that actually Google Reader rather introduced me to RSS feeds, then they abandoned me, but I did not abandon RSS feeds.

The same happened with my previous employer introducing me to open source software back in 2006. I loved the idea, and when they started abandoning open source, I abandoned them ;-)

Organisations have no real hearts...

Elevate Your Shave with a Quality Shaving Soap

https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/shaving-soap-guide/

Shaving soap is a prime example of a classic men’s grooming essential that’s been overshadowed by its canned cousins, even though, in several respects, the newer product is actually worse than what it attempts to replace! The fact of the matter is the only real difference between bar shaving soap and canned shaving cream is water, some added stabilisers and chemicals, and a bit of extra convenience, but as you will learn in this guide, there is at least one factor in which shaving soaps are the clear winner!

This guide will explain exactly what shaving soap is, reveal how it differs from and is largely superior to canned shaving cream, teach you how to find a quality shaving soap, and share with you some of the Gentleman's Gazette's house favourites.

This is actually quite a thorough guide into shaving soaps specifically, rather than delving into shaving creams as well. LOL I see shaving soaps are apparently approved by the USA TSA as they are not aerosolized creams (just remember your blades have to travel in the luggage hold).

Regular bath soaps do not have the higher fat and glycerine content necessary to ensure the best possible shaving experience. Also, if choosing between using a regular soap or a shaving cream for shaving, you should always use the shaving cream.

#traditionalshaving #shavingsoap

Who killed Google Reader? Ten years after its untimely death, the team that built the much-beloved feed reader reflects on what went wrong and what could have been

https://www.theverge.com/23778253/google-reader-death-2013-rss-social

Back when it still existed at all. Google’s feed-reading tool offered a powerful way to curate and read the internet and was beloved by its users. Reader launched in 2005, right as the blogging era went mainstream; it made a suddenly huge and sprawling web feel small and accessible and helped a generation of news obsessives and super-commenters feel like they weren’t missing anything. It wasn’t Google’s most popular app, not by a long shot, but it was one of its most beloved.

Google’s bad reputation for killing and abandoning products started with Reader and has only gotten worse over time. But the real tragedy of Reader was that it had all the signs of being something big, and Google just couldn’t see it.

To executives, Google Reader may have seemed like a humble feed aggregator built on boring technology. But for users, it was a way of organizing the internet, for making sense of the web, for collecting all the things you care about no matter its location or type, and helping you make the most of it.

I loved Google Reader, probably because it got me going with RSS feeds. I have used RSS readers ever since, on a daily basis, to quickly and efficiently retrieve 500+ articles per day to skim and read (and make my blog posts). The irony though is, it is incredibly easy to switch to any other RSS feed reader, and just continue where you left off. So Feedly, InoReader, and many other online services (as well as self-hosted ones) quickly took up the Google Reader users.

But what did strike home for me, was the fact that Google had shut down such an essential service for me, and that woke me up to the fact that Google has very little staying power or any real interest in the products they put out. After Google+ (another service I intensively used), and others have all been shut down, I pay very little interest today in anything that Google is launching. The standing joke for the last few years has always been, so what is the name of the current Google chat/messaging service?

#technology #RSS #GoogleReader