Google throws its weight behind yet another messaging standard: This time though, it is the IETF's MLS standard
https://www.androidpolice.com/google-backs-mls-standard-e2ee-everywhere/
Yes I know, the words Google, Messaging and Standards, all diverge in different directions and visions, and which often overlap. I have no clue what Google's own current latest messaging app is even called.
Google has announced its support though for the RFC 9420 specifications of the Internet Engineering Task Force’s (IETF) new Messaging Layer Security (MLS) standard. According to Google, the latest specification allows for interoperability across messaging services (WhatsApp, Messenger, Google Messages, etc.) and operating systems at scale. The company also promises to make its implementation open source, and available to app developers through the Android code base.
If lawmakers and market regulators get behind the standard as well, Google is confident MLS can become the de-facto protocol across apps, thereby ensuring every app developer isn’t busy maintaining proprietary end-to-end encryption (E2EE) protocols.
So, despite Google's involvement, the world does very much need an interoperable E2EE protocol as we are just seeing more and more islands of apps that don't talk to each other at all. I know I sound like a stuck record about e-mail standards, but imagine if Gmail users could only send e-mail to other Gmail users?
The ideal world would be much like e-mail (but more modern) in that you choose any provide or app, and are able to communicate securely to other users who have chosen their own provider and app to use. An example could be like the Fediverse, which is based on the W3C's open standard ActivityPub social networking protocol. You could be on the Mastodon network using one of its many apps, and I could be on say Pixelfed network using one of its apps. We can still follow each other, comment, and reply to posts etc as there is a common open protocol connecting us.
Watching what is happening with Twitter, Reddit, and others, the need is becoming ever more urgent to have established common protocols that even Apple complies with. Otherwise, we are going to face an ever-increasing fragmentation of instant messaging systems. It's not in our interests to have a single messenger only that everyone has to use. We need to have choices and options, but be able to interconnect securely.
Let me leave you with a sobering thought... imagine if decades old e-mail were to be replaced with something updated, and with all the power players on the market we'd end up with Meta's version of e-mail, Apple's version, Google's version, and more, and company X won't just be able to send an e-mail to company Y any more.
We need standards bodies to move faster with establishing standards, and for them to be flexible enough to evolve with newer improvements. We can't leave this up to Big Tech to do. I'm so tempted now to mention Microsoft's OOXML "standard" but I'm biting my tongue very hard.
#technology #openstandards #messaging #MLS
Fibre optics could be the answer to water loss from leaky pipes: 48.6 billion cubic meters of water are lost globally daily
https://thenextweb.com/news/fibre-optics-answer-to-water-loss-leaky-pipes
According to the International Water Association (IWA), the main culprits for this loss are underground leaks on water mains and service pipes.
To monitor leaks in water pipeline networks, researchers at the Polytechnic University of Milan have experimented with a novel method using fibre optics — the inexpensive and commonly-used technology that allows us to have fast internet at home.
The scientists developed a distributed fibre optic sensing (DFOS) cable based on the so-called Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) technology, which enables the processing and storage of optical information.
This is a staggering amount of water lost daily, and it's not just the drinking water itself, but for local governments it usually also means lots of lost revenue. In South Africa, we've seen the crazy situation where a city is being flooded by rains, but there is a shortage of drinking water. But the reason is simply due to problems with the delivery of water, even though dams may be full.
It is good to see research not only focusing on putting billionaires on Mars, but also trying to solve real-world challenges facing billions of humans on Earth right now. Water is our most precious and essential resource here on Earth, and although we may see much of it, only a very little is actual drinking water, and that water needs to reach people every day for them to survive.
It would be great if this fibre could be both used for this detection, and at the same time, also provide Internet access.
#technology #fibre #waterleaks
Do computer labs in schools still make sense in 2023, and do they still function 5 years after opening?
https://void.cat/d/E6KBFC6jxxmYNprqrPitv1.webp
This post was sparked by an interesting comment on LinkedIn in response to a government minister opening a new school computer lab at a rural school, and saying it is essentially a PR gimmick!
He did not go into specifics except to quote another one that was opened a few weeks before, and it is an "empty vessel".
But he voiced something that many suspect and may not really have vocalised. We know there are good intentions (a blend of PR and a hope that this makes a difference) but what is the impact of these labs, and how long do they actually keep operating in reality? Are there any follow-up surveys conducted annually to check on this? In many cases, such initiatives are just "pushed" into schools by external actors with good intentions, and there is no real planning around the long term sustainability or measuring the success of such labs.
I'll reference two posts below which are penned by actual educators, one of whom was situated at a rural school themselves. The bottom line is there is still a need, but it seems to depend on how the lab is integrated with, and complimenting, classroom teaching. Times have also changed a lot, with many learners now having their own mobile computing devices, even if it is just a tablet or cellphone.
If we look at the rise of early tech leaders like Bill Gates, many of them learnt what they did from shared computing resources. They had no computer or even cellphone of their own. The question is, are learners with this type of aptitude identified and allowed to innovate using the computer labs?
Also, having 25 standard Windows computers all teaching only Office365 is to me defeating the object of the exercise. That teaches kids to succumb to Microsoft and really reminds me of Pink Floyd's song "Another Brick in the Wall". I used to play that song flat out when I got home from school. Learning computers needs to be innovative and creative, and be teaching actively about changing things, doing things differently, and creating things.
The irony is that to learn and create often comes from having very little and needing to invent something to work like a pair of pliers, a hammer, a saw, and some wood. Young kids really love to create things.
What about rather (or at least also) having Raspberry Pi computers with free Linux, free LibreOffice, Python, FreeCAD, Home Assistant, or maybe even Sweet Home 3D (for redesigning their parents' home), on them to learn about dissecting and changing software, and also creating fun applications all on completely free software. It is software that those kids can use in their businesses one day at no cost. What about, learning about open source licensing? Maintenance costs are low, and there are no software license costs at all, making it more sustainable over the longer term.
They can even have fun changing that software, and learning how to submit improvements upstream to sites like GitHub. Remember Mark Shuttleworth from South Africa? This is what he does today as his global business, building Ubuntu Linux. How many learners in South Africa today know who Mark Shuttleworth is, or what Ubuntu Linux is, and where it came from? I'll just mention Impi Linux, and leave that here.
For me, the most important lessons are around creativity, making something with very little, and seeing what you can do with what you have.
Of course in South Africa, crime and security are a big issue, and I'd guess that 25 Raspberry Pi's are a smaller temptation to steal, and easier to lock away (they'd all fit inside the school safe).
But as one of the articles stated, do schools that are getting computer labs, already have a school library? Often this is not the case and a school library sparks creativity, knowledge and inspiration amongst the broader segment of learners. Books and a love of reading really needs to be cultivated as a first foundational step. If not, a good school library should be the first step before a computer lab. Books can be taken home and read slowly to absorbed information, and the information is presented in a structured way to boost learning.
The two articles I referenced are https://www.edutopia.org/blog/pros-cons-computer-labs-mary-beth-hertz and https://www.iste.org/node/6758. Neither call for labs being obsolete, but they do call for more thought about how they are implemented.
#technology #schools #computerlabs #opensource
JD Power’s car owner survey: People are getting fed up with all the useless built-in tech in their cars
https://www.theverge.com/23801545/car-infotainment-customer-satisifaction-survey-jd-power
For the first time in 28 years of JD Power’s car owner survey, there is a consecutive year-over-year decline in satisfaction, with most of the ire directed toward in-car infotainment.
Unsurprisingly, more people are choosing not to use their car’s native infotainment controls. Only 56 percent of owners prefer to use their vehicle’s built-in system to play audio, down from 70 percent in 2020, JD Power found. Less than half of owners said they like using their car’s native controls for navigation, voice recognition, or to make phone calls.
Naturally, it seems like most people are preferring to use smartphone-mirroring systems like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which have proven to be incredibly popular over the years.
In fact, my last car purchase revolved heavily around the infotainment system. The Toyota I was looking at just did not even have one, whilst the Hyundai I did buy (after 25 years of driving Toyota's) had an infotainment system that worked both with iOS and Android.
And for controls such as air-con etc, I actually prefer buttons and knobs that can be felt without looking.
Car manufacturers are just hopeless when it comes to software. We've also seen they have also been a step or two behind with security around that software as well. Every time I take my car in for its service, I ask for the infotainment software to be checked for updates. I don't think the dealer knows what I'm talking about, as the software has never received a single update in 3 years. How is that possible? Excellent forward-thinking software design, maybe...
#technology #cars
The Verge's Readers pick the Best Tech Books of all time
https://www.theverge.com/23799444/readers-best-tech-nonfiction-books-of-all-time
Interestingly, not all readers had agreed with The Verge's own list published last month, although I must, I felt most were quite well justified to be on. Readers' lists though are always interesting as they are anyway the target market for the publication.
On this list, I have only read Hackers and Rebel Code, and thoroughly enjoyed both of them. I realised I have not read Ghost in the Wires yet, and there are one or two more on this list I'd love to read.
The most common pick was The Cuckoo’s Egg by Clifford Stoll, the story of a minor billing discrepancy that became an international cyberespionage hunt — written by the guy who cracked the case.
#technology #reading
Yes, politics, religion, etc are always going to be controversial as they are personal stances clouded/cleared by emotional feelings. I refer to what they (we?) / editors should aspire to.
The Linux systemd Controversy: A Beginner's Guide to Understanding the Debate
https://void.cat/d/3m8NbtmUeLTWiipueFE3YJ.webp
In the world of Linux, few debates have stirred as much controversy as the battle between the traditional System V init system, often known as SysVinit, and the newer systemd.
systemd is a system and service manager, first introduced in 2010 to replace the traditional System V init system. It was designed to improve boot-up speeds and manage system services more efficiently. Today, systemd is the default init system for many popular Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, Fedora, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Despite the name, systemd is not a daemon. Instead, it's a software suite that provides a number of system components for Linux. Its goal: to standardize service configuration and behavior across Linux distributions.
Personally, I have no preference at all. It's there, and I use it sometimes when I need to change or troubleshoot something. My take on it really is that Linux has many options and therefore there will always be differences of opinion, just like we also have for all the "best" Linux distros. When do you ever hear Windows users passionately debating for or against the Yellow and Blue version of Windows? You don't, because they don't have those options. And for macOS, of course, Steve knows best...
I think most newer Linux users have not really experienced the pre-systemd era, and also probably don't delve much into where systemd is actually changed much. With modern Linux there is less and less reason to delve down into systemd unless you are in the habit of experimenting, learning, pulling things apart. But sometimes the topic flares up, so it is interesting to hear a bit about what and why.
See https://itsfoss.com/systemd-init/
#technology #Linux #systemd
How to easily Install Linux on Windows Using WSL
https://void.cat/d/3UdWSbfaHh6Tj2U5nGJxY1.webp
WSL (stands for “Windows Subsystem for Linux“) is a feature of Microsoft Windows that allows the user to run Linux distribution alongside Windows by utilizing a compatibility layer. It was released in 2016, however, the current version is WSL 2, which supports numerous Linux distributions including Ubuntu, Debian, OpenSUSE, Manjaro Linux, Arch Linux, Fedora and others.
WSL is a beneficial feature for developers as it eliminates the need for extra hardware, virtualization, or dual-boot setups to manage Linux file systems or to access Linux command-line and tools.
With WSL, one can seamlessly switch between Windows and Linux workflows, enabling them to take advantage of Linux-specific tools while still enjoying the features of Windows as their primary operating system.
Something that is interesting (and I have not tried out myself, but I understand it can work) is that GUI Linux apps for X11 can also be run this way (those not requiring special drivers). Supposedly the way to do this is:
1. Open a terminal window in your Linux distribution and run the following command: export DISPLAY=localhost:0
2. Launch the GUI Linux application from the command line that you want to run.
WSL is not only great for accessing native Linux apps, it is also useful for devs wanting to test their apps out for Linux, and it is also a great way for Windows users to dip their toes into learning about Linux. I did a post about a week back about Distrobox which is a similar sort of WSL but on Linux for Linux.
See https://www.ubuntumint.com/install-ubuntu-on-windows/
#technology #Linux #WSL
Biggest South African language Wikipedias and their editors, and quite a few Non-English contributions too
https://void.cat/d/J1csUbiSNnoV1kb5Zakaqx.webp
There is a large contingent of unpaid volunteers writing Wikipedia entries in South African languages.
Wikipedia is the only non-commercial and mostly volunteer-driven platform in the world’s top 10 most visited websites.
To help contribute to Wikipedia, users can simply click the “edit” button at the top of each article.
For contributions to persist through the scrutiny of the editing community, however, editors must provide a link to a reliable third-party source — such as a news article from a reputable outlet.
Southern Africa has an official member organisation for Wikipedia editors, founded in 2012. Wikimedia ZA is the WMF-recognised Southern African chapter of Wikipedia volunteers.
It is really good to see volunteers from the non-English languages also contributing, as this is how languages get some online presence and usage. Volunteers don't sit back and wait for someone else, or a big corporation, to do something for them. They make things happen themselves! I also have edited and contributed to my local Wikipedia pages, as well as to Pen Street Maps (OSM) for my area.
I get that Wikipedia's editing standards have to be high (unfortunately, many do try to manipulate articles for political or other causes in a non-factual manner) but Wikipedia is an important repository of knowledge especially for cultural aspects as well. Keeping a couple of paper notes in a shoe box is not going to serve any purpose in 100 years time.
The linked article also includes a link for more detailed information on how to edit Wikipedia pages, including some videos. There is an accepted way of editing pages, so it is worth taking a little time to just get familiar with it.
#technology #Wikipedia #SouthAfrica
Weowow is a free and ad-free weather service with 4.9 ratings, choice of weather service, and highly customisable widgets
https://void.cat/d/Y3CS8gcCAEfqDuyxLf4M9u.webp
I rediscovered this weather app again (for Android and iOS) and am quite amazed that it now has a 4.9 out of 5 rating on the Google app store, and 5m+ downloads just on Android.
Weather forecasting is just never going to be 100% accurate but I do like that this app presents a forecast view from a number of forecasting services so that you can best compare them. The widgets are also the most customisable that I've seen with font size adjustments, icon type, and a good selection to choose from. The weather page itself is also customisable to quickly see what you most want to first.
I was pleased to see it does accept, and works fine with, a non-precise location. It is also ad-free and there is an option to share some info, but it is defaulted to off. They work on donations via PayPal for once-off donations (nice to have that option), or monthly via the Android or iOS app stores. The app is Japanese based so hopefully data is safe from the US NSA, but they do state they are not selling data to any 3rd parties. They do seem to be handling privacy according to best practices.
They claim their feature is actually the "wow" weather photos you see, and they also offer a marketplace to sell your own weather photos via their market.
#technology #weather #weawow
LibreTranslate is Free and Open-Source Self-hosted Machine Translation
https://void.cat/d/FcbgeyZeHMR3ydCbGZQY8z.webp
LibreTranslate is a machine translation API which is entirely self-hosted. This software lets you use open source machine translation in your projects. It uses Argos Translate for its translation engine.
It supports quite a few commonly used languages, but for example, for my own country it only supports English and none of the other 10 official languages. They provide two links at the end of the review to a test site as well as the open source code project. When I tested it for English to Dutch, it did not recognise everything and showed about 95% accuracy. So not quite in Google's league, but if you want a free and self-hosted alternative then it does do a pretty good job.
That said, to add new languages, you first need to train an Argos Translate model. They provide a video link for details. First you need to collect data, for example from Opus, then you need to add the data to data-index.json in the Argos Train repo.
I see also you can enable all languages by turning on --debug mode, which includes the non-reviewed languages too.
If you don't want to self-host, you can also opt to use their cloud API for production use for a fee. But a docker image is available, which would make self-hosting pretty simple.
See https://www.linuxlinks.com/machine-learning-linux-libretranslate-self-hosted-machine-translation/
#technology #translation #selfhosting #opensource
Bridgy Fed connects your web site to Mastodon and the Fediverse (and possibly Bluesky and Nostr later)
https://void.cat/d/FeoV5U3VrK9pKLFngekc2G.webp
Bridgy Fed turns your web site into its own Fediverse account, visible in Mastodon and beyond. You can post, reply, like, repost, and follow Fediverse accounts by posting on your site with microformats2 and sending webmentions. Bridgy Fed translates those posts into ActivityPub, and when people inside the Fediverse respond, it sends those responses back to your site as webmentions.
This isn't syndication or POSSE! You don't need an account on Mastodon or anywhere else. Bridgy Fed makes your site a first class member of the Fediverse. People there will see your posts directly from your site, and vice versa.
Bridgy Fed takes some technical know-how to set up, and there are simpler (but less powerful) alternatives. If you just want your site's posts to show up in the Fediverse, without any other interactions, consider an RSS or Atom feed bot instead. Or, if you want to cross-post to an existing Mastodon account, try Bridgy.
So although this takes some tech know how to setup, the key thing is your own website acts as your Fediverse instance. You need not actually register on a 3rd party Fediverse server for an account. Commenters from the Fediverse can merge in with your website's commenters, creatinga real seamless integration for others.
#technology #Fediverse #socialnetworks #BridgyFed
Complete guide to Nvidia Control Panel and GeForce Experience for Windows users
https://www.xda-developers.com/nvidia-control-panel-geforce-experience/
Whether you use AMD, Intel, or Nvidia GPUs, your graphics card comes with an application that offers additional settings to tweak your GPU. Owners of Nvidia cards have access to the Nvidia Control Panel and GeForce Experience, two programs that enable users to customize their gaming experience even more than with settings that are in individual games. While it looks like there's lots to do in these apps, in reality most options don't really do anything apart from a few key settings.
The story of Nvidia Control Panel and GeForce Experience is that while there are many settings to change, only a few of them will likely matter to most users. That's actually not unique to Nvidia, as AMD's and Intel's driver suites are similarly filled with settings you don't really need to worry about.
But within all those irrelevant settings, there are a few really important ones that are crucial in making your GPU as good for gaming as it can be (short of getting a brand-new one), such as enabling G-SYNC and customizing Shadowplay.
On Linux, we have a slightly simpler app called nvidia-settings for the main settings. I also have NVidia System Monitor Qt, GEForce Now and GreenWithEnvy. But I saw again this week when I bought a Stream Deck, that although the hardware is supported, the software side by manufacturers really only concentrates on the Windows platform (although this is lowly changing). I really hope this will change one day as there are plenty of Linux gamers (forced to use Windows emulators) and there is little actually wrong with Linux apart from the lack of OEM software.
Still, it is an interesting article to just understand more what most of the settings actually do.
#technology #gaming #Nvidia
If you want to install Google apps on your custom ROM phone, this is how to do it
https://www.xda-developers.com/download-google-apps-gapps/
Many install custom ROMs on their Android phones to escape Google, but there are also many using custom ROMs on, for example, Huawei phones that don't come with Google pre-installed. But as Android users you have the option to, or not.
There are also more variants than just the GApps suite itself, such as Open GApps, NikGApps, FlameGApps, and more. The linked article is a good guide to the various options you have, and why you may want to consider them.
The article also leads into how to go about doing this with the TWRP application.
#technology #Android #GApps
5 DuckDuckGo Features You Should Be Using
https://www.howtogeek.com/855568/5-duckduckgo-features-you-should-be-using/
DuckDuckGo is primarily known for its focus on privacy. But the search engine (and now browser) offers several helpful features, many of which aren’t even available on Google or Bing. So if you are new to DuckDuckGo, here are five features to improve your search experience.
Interestingly enough, I found the bangs feature (shortcut to the site search of specific websites and services) to work quite well with Brave Search, too. There are over 16,563 bangs, including quite a few for my own country too.
#technology #duckduckgo #search
The xdotool command on Linux can automate just about any keystroke or mouse actions from the command line, or for shortcut keys
https://github.com/jordansissel/xdotool
I'm busy looking into xdotool to automate various actions on Linux with the Elgato Stream Deck (well because Elgato only provides apps for Windows and MacOS). There is a good Linux alternative app to work with the Stream Deck, but I do need to be able to execute some commands when I want to bring a specific window into focus from the background, and then to execute a key press shortcut. So an example may be to bring Brave Beta browser window into focus, then activate tab 3 and do a tab fresh.
Another tip I worked out is instead of struggling to identify which window has which name exactly, you can also right-click on a window's title bar and choose to rename the window. When I restarted that application, it retained the window name.
So, to bring Brave Beta browser into focus, activate tab 2 (CTRL-2), and then do a fresh (CTRL-R), I can just set this command string to a hot key on the Stream Deck: 'xdotool search --name 'Brave-Beta' windowactivate --sync key ctrl+2 ctrl+r'.
You can still do this sort of thing without having any Stream Deck by just setting the same string to any Linux shortcut on the keyboard.
Xdotool lets you simulate keyboard input and mouse activity, move and resize windows, etc. It does this using X11’s XTEST extension and other Xlib functions. With xdotool, you can search for windows and move, resize, hide, and modify window properties like the title. If your window manager supports it, you can use xdotool to switch desktops, move windows between desktops, and change the number of desktops.
#technology #opensource #Linux #automation #xdotool
ADB tips and tricks: Commands that every Android power user should know about
https://www.xda-developers.com/adb-tips-tricks/
If you've been an Android enthusiast lurking in the modding scene, or an app developer for any length of time, sooner or later, you will stumble upon a neat tool called the Android Debug Bridge, or ADB for short. It's extensively used in Android Studio as a command line companion utility. Android developers also use it as a standalone solution to manually install and test apps on Android smartphones as well as emulated Android devices.
But there's a lot ADB can do, and most of it isn't only useful to developers. Even if you aren't a developer, and you're reading this article, there's a good chance you've probably used ADB once or twice to sideload an app or tweak a permission. But that isn't all ADB can be used for. Keep reading for some tips and tricks for using ADB you might not have known about.
Especially useful are the APK install, disabling of system apps, backing up and restoring application data.
#technology #Android #ADB
Awesome Lists: A Community of curated awesome lists on GitHub on numerous tech topics
https://void.cat/d/2PeMoM76RUJVbjoVgKyJMD.webp
This is a Github collection of lists that link to numerous "awesome" sites on various technology related topics. The topics often cascade down into sub-topics too, so there are real rabbit holes to fall down into. It reminds me a bit of the early Internet search engines which were topic based lists really.
Being on Github means that anyone can also contribute to these lists and expand them even further. They have a link at the top of each category called Contribution guide, which helps explain how to do this.
It's not a replacement for Wikipedia content at all, but more a suggestion of awesome sites to look at for a specific topic, and it is supposed to also state why that site is awesome.
See https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome
#technology #awesomelists
BMW smart glasses help bikers navigate with head-up display technology: But of course it's not cheap
The new BMW Motorrad ConnectedRide smart glasses integrate the familiar BMW head-up display technology found in its cars. They project data such as navigation, speed or selected gear directly into the rider’s field of vision in real time.
They are designed for comfort and fit numerous helmets and face shapes. The lithium-ion battery enables up to 10 hours of operation and BMW Motorrad supplies two sets of certified UVA/UVB lenses with the frame.
I remember a helmet also having something like this a few years back and I'm not sure if it is still around. This, being a BMW product, probably means it is solid and works well, but also means its going to cost €690 (ZAR14,202). Having navigation directions also visible does mean your expensive phone need not be sitting exposed on the bike's dash (which in South Africa can be a brave thing to do).
#technology #motorcycling #BMW #HUD