Danie van der Merwe

Turning An ATX PSU Into A Variable Bench Supply

Fri, 31 May 2024 14:52:06 +0200

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Bench power supplies can sometimes be frustratingly expensive and also kind of limited. If you’re enterprising and creative, though, you can create your own bench supply with tons of features, and it doesn’t have to break the bank either.

ATX power supplies work as a great basis for a bench power supply. They have 12 volt, 3.3 volt, and 5 volt rails, and they can supply a ton of current for whatever you might need.

It is usually true that many devices get more fully unlocked regarding features, when open source firmware is applied to them, for example, true for most network routers. This project likewise does unlock some additional functions for an ATX power supply unit.

One caveat here, of course, is you'd be working with voltages so you'd want to be very careful and ensure too that fuses are correctly applied. There is also quite a debate in the comments about whether this is a good idea or not, but that said, I had actually bought an ATX adaptor plug a while ago for a computer power supply to supply 12V for my radios.

See Turning An ATX PSU Into A Variable Bench Supply

Bench power supplies can sometimes be frustratingly expensive and also kind of limited. If you’re enterprising and creative, though, you can create your own bench supply with tons of features…

#technology #PSU

technology PSU

How to Change Docker’s Default Data Directory

Wed, 29 May 2024 21:57:32 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

I'm getting ready to do this on my home server as it's main boot drive is a 128 GB SSD, and it is always around 80% full.

This article will guide you through the steps to relocate Docker’s storage path for images, volumes, containers, etc., ensuring that your projects continue smoothly without the hassle of disk space limitations.

See How to Change Docker's Default Data Directory

No more room for your deployments? Here's a quick guide to relocating Docker's storage path for images, volumes, containers, etc.

#technology #docker #selfhosting

technology docker selfhosting

LibreOffice has some really excellent getting-started Guides for their open-source Office Suite

Tue, 28 May 2024 15:58:07 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

There are some good reasons why Microsoft Office gets used widely, and that is often because it comes pre-installed as trialware on Windows PC's, it is pushed into schools and universities with educational discounts, it has massive funding for lobbying governments and sponsoring "digital villages", etc.

But it does create vendor lock-in, stifles innovation through being closed-source, pushes many into being locked into a cloud service with ever-increasing costs, does not use a fully open-standard format (provides limited support for ODF as well, and there was good reason why many governments chose ODF over Docx), makes it difficult to export one's documents cleanly between different applications, and of course has numerous license limitation son how it can be used.

It is certainly not to say that LibreOffice is better in terms of features than MS Office, but I've yet to find something I could not do with LibreOffice that I needed to get done. It is fully open-source, free to use and free to modify and examine, free of restrictions on its use, and is fully cross-platform (not only for the application itself, but also for its documents that can move between platforms and even to other applications using the open ODF format).

But one potential drawback with many open-source projects (including GIMP) is their lack of really good documentation. Good documentation needs to be clear and easy to understand. LibreOffice actually does have very good documentation at the link below. The guides are well-designed and many are over 500 pages each. They cover a Getting Started Guide, Writer Guide (word processing), Calc Guide (spreadsheets), Draw Guide (vector graphics drawing and illustrations), Impress Guide (presentations), and the Math Guide (formula equation editor).

The guides are also available in some other languages and can be downloaded as PDFs to be printed, or even in ODF source format for editing or adapting to one's needs.

See English documentation | LibreOffice Documentation - LibreOffice User Guides

English | 中文 (简体) | Deutsch | Español | Français | Italiano | More... For detailed information check out our wiki page. Impressum (Legal Info) | Datenschutzerklärung (Privacy Policy) | Statutes (non-binding English translation) - Satzung (binding German version) | Copyright information: Unless otherwise specified, all text and images on...

#technology #opensource #LibreOffice

technology opensource LibreOffice

Token2 is an open-source Swiss FIDO2 security key that brings innovative features at a cheaper price

Sun, 26 May 2024 19:57:19 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Token2 is a cybersecurity company specialized in the area of multifactor authentication. Founded by a team of researchers from the University of Geneva with years of experience in the field of strong security and multifactor authentication. Token2 has invented, designed and developed various hardware and software solutions for user-friendly and secure authentication. Token2 is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Don't believe what AI tells you, as they tend to generalise around past statements. Token2 is a good example of how newer challengers to the incumbents, like YubiKey, bring lots of innovation. For example, Token2 has the ability to store up to 300 passkeys, dual port USB-A and USB-C on a single device, FIDO2.1 with additional PIN, opens-source, etc.

I also like the fact the device's firmware and management is in Switzerland and not within one of the Five Eyes countries.

There are quite a few options, but their FIDO2 Keys page also has a selection wizard to help out.

Whilst prices may be cheaper, depending on your country, shipping may cost a bit more.

See TOKEN2 Sàrl is a Swiss cybersecurity company specialized in the area of multifactor authentication. We are a FIDO Alliance member.

OTP Token, TOTP token, Replace your mobile authenticator with secure hardware OTP token! Easily programmed via NFC. Designed to use with Google, Facebook, Dropbox, GitHub, Wordpress, Office 365, Azure MFA etc.

#technology #security #Token2 #authentication

technology authentication security Token2

Tue, 28 May 2024 12:15:24 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Token2 sent this clarification after posting: only the management software is open-source for the time being. The firmware (Java applet) is planned to be made available as open source for public security audit purposes, but the timeline is not yet clear.

Stop using Social Media for News, RSS is Much Better!

Sun, 26 May 2024 15:50:36 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

RSS is one place for you to quickly sift through numerous sources of news quickly and efficiently. It's up to you to decide what feeds to add - as many or as few as you want.

Depending on which RSS app/service you use, you can get all your news without adverts, see a quick excerpt or full text articles, not be distracted by other information, keep track of where you have read up to, change the order that the articles appear in your feed, and much more.

All RSS readers improve the quality and focus of your news as you control what sources are shown, and nothing is applying algorithms to insert or remove articles.

There are RSS feeds for most news sites and websites, as well as even for many social network services. A site that does not offer any RSS feeds is usually one that wants to force you to visit it, to apply tracking of your habits, to show adverts, apply their algorithms, or control how you see their information. If in doubt, there are also RSS browser extensions that will detect available RSS feeds on any site. WordPress sites, by default, have RSS feeds activated for any blog posts made on that site.

I have been using RSS feeds for decades to get my daily news and updates. In this time I have seamlessly switched between using different RSS apps as it is easily to move between them by exporting and importing the OPML file of your feeds between readers.

See

https://youtu.be/_7LTwnAaQ3k?si=A4UQMIv_3B_FKiRA

#technology #news #RSS

technology newsd RSS

Google Search’s “udm=14” trick lets you kill AI search for good

Sat, 25 May 2024 15:11:09 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

If you're tired of Google's AI Overview extracting all value from the web while also telling people to eat glue or run with scissors, you can turn it off—sort of. Google has been telling people its AI box at the top of search results is the future, and you can't turn it off, but that ignores how Google search works: A lot of options are powered by URL parameters. That means you can turn off AI search with this one simple trick!

This method for killing AI search is defaulting to the new "web" search filter, which Google recently launched as a way to search the web without Google's alpha-quality AI junk. It's actually pretty nice, showing only the traditional 10 blue links, giving you a clean (well, other than the ads), uncluttered results page that looks like it's from 2011. Sadly, Google's UI doesn't have a way to make "web" search the default, and switching to it means digging through the "more" options drop-down after you do a search, so it's a few clicks deep.

See Google Search’s “udm=14” trick lets you kill AI search for good

The power of URL parameters lets you unofficially turn off Google's AI Overview.

#technology #googlesearch

technology googlesearch

Jumblie is a challenging browser-based open-source puzzle game to guess the four words of the day

Fri, 24 May 2024 11:52:06 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

The game has a theme word for each day, so keep that in mind when guessing the words. It is more challenging than Wordle because there are no hints apart from the theme word. So, if one of the words is 'landing' and you guessed 'land' there is no confirmation you're getting warm at all.

How to play it: There are exactly four words hidden amongst the letters, and all letters are used exactly once. The words will always be between 4 and 9 letters long. Click on the letters (or type them on your keyboard) to spell a word. When you have a word you want to submit, click the "Submit" button. If the word is one of the daily words, it will be added to your found list of words. Find all four words as fast as you can! Each successful word is assigned a colour, so a red word will mean the shortest word is taken, so don't try to guess more words with that same length of letters.

You can also click the Reshuffle button to rearrange the letters, which can help spark some ideas.

If you're struggling, you can give up after at least 5 incorrect guesses. It also has an option to share your results by copying them to the clipboard to paste into whatever social network service you use.

See Jumblie

A word search game with new words and themes daily

#technology #gaming #puzzle #jumblie

technology sleep earbuds

Fri, 24 May 2024 11:58:05 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

And of course plenty of others such as https://lifehacker.com/entertainment/best-wordle-alternatives

Earbuds for more restful sleep: Anker's Soundcore Sleep A20 now officially available

Thu, 23 May 2024 18:10:27 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

With their air-filled Air-Win design with Twin-Seal ear tips, the new generation is said to offer up to 1.8 times better noise reduction than its predecessor, the Sleep A10, according to the manufacturer. Among other things, they are equipped with a 4-layer noise masking system and are designed to better suppress bothersome ambient noise such as snoring, city noise and the like. Anker promises that the special design means there is no annoying pressure on the ear and auricle and that they are also suitable for side sleepers.

The earbuds also enable automatic sleep monitoring, including sleep position tracking, via the Soundcore app.

Wearing earbuds for sleeping is very different from during the day. I'd be interested to hear what others think about the "pressure on the ear" when sleeping with these earbuds. That is one of the biggest issues for most when sleeping. I've been very happy with my own Soundcores for afternoon naps - great noise-cancelling, but you can't sleep on your side with them.

See Earbuds for more restful sleep: Anker's Soundcore Sleep A20 now officially available

Anker's new Soundcore Sleep A20 sleep earbuds have been officially launched onto the market. The earbuds are intended to ensure better sleep with noise suppression and provide sleep tracking.

#technology #sleep #earbuds

technology sleep earbuds

Should you build your own NAS or buy a pre-built?

Thu, 23 May 2024 14:23:33 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

An interesting read, and I have to say I do lean more towards building your own. I did buy a bare-bones NAS by D-Link many years ago because you could add your own hard drives, but what I discovered after a few years was there were no more software updates, and it is not easy to upgrade later on either.

Today I'm running a bare-bones Intel NUC box with two external laptop hard drives (powered through USB), and Open Media Vault NAS software on it. I get ongoing software updates and can upgrade RAM and drives etc. That said, its throughput is not that great as the drives are connected via USB cables. It boots from a SATA connected SSD drive. It also has Docker running on it with a few applications hosted in Docker containers, so it is quite versatile.

Knowing what I know now, I would rather have bought something that would allow proper SATA connectors to the hard drives for way better throughput speed.

See Should you build your own NAS or buy a pre-built? I've done both and here's what I learned

Do you build a NAS yourself or buy one off the shelf?

#technology #NAS #backups

technology NAS backups

Thu, 23 May 2024 14:40:12 +0200

BLACKVOID ⚫️

blackvoid@mastodon.social

@gadgeteer Long time #Synology user here. Personally, I like pre-build solutions that have certain element of freedom in terms of software/hardware.

Also, updates of the apps and the OS are important and Syno does not disappoint in that regard (more or less).

Saying that, they do have their negative sides, but in my book, uptime, stability and features are whats important, and those are excellent.

Thu, 23 May 2024 17:58:34 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@BLACKVOID ⚫️ yes, I suppose the big time brands will provide longish support. I was a bit disappointed with the D-Link on that score.

Netris is an open-source and self-hosted alternative to GeForce NOW, inspired by Stadia

Wed, 22 May 2024 15:36:47 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

It's a cloud gaming platform where the latest titles and your beloved classics are always just a click away, ready to be played on any device you own.

Imagine the freedom to dive into your favourite gaming worlds on a lazy sofa Sunday with just your tablet, or firing up a quick session on your phone during your commute. That's the kind of seamless, barrier-free gaming experience Netris offers.

They're about bringing gamers together. Netris is a community, a place where you can share epic gaming moments with friends and family, thanks to our social-first features.

Netris is pioneering the use of QUIC technology for content delivery, which means Netris games appear better and run more smoothly, even if your internet connection isn't top-notch. Think of it as streaming your favourite HD movie effortlessly on a modest Wi-Fi connection – that's the power of QUIC making every pixel count without gobbling up your data.

Their platform is designed from the ground up to be socially orientated, allowing users to easily share their gaming experiences, victories, and memorable moments. It's like having a virtual game night, every night, where the distance doesn't dampen the fun and camaraderie. They have Reddit as well as Discord communities online.

There's no need to buy your favourite games all over again. Simply connect your Steam account to their service, and voilà – your personal gaming library is ready to stream. Using their platform means you don't need your own Nvidia GPU. You're free to switch between self-hosting and using their cloud service whenever you like, without losing your game progress.

To use their cloud hosting there is a free tier which is limited to 720p 30fps with stereo sound, and public only parties. The paid tiers get you a lot more. It is accessible from any Chrome-based browser, including Edge, Chrome, Brave, and Arc.

See GitHub - netrisdotme/netris: [Experimental] Open-source GeForce NOW alternative with Stadia's social features