It’s been a long week, so in the interest of time, I paired this week’s report down to four links. Life has its own way of interfering with progress, but it’s better to give something than nothing at all.
That said, some classic systems were purchased.
One will become a gift and the other will become a regular on the website. With that said, let’s get this done.
Unix
What a big surprise usual announcement of a new iPhone! Apple is known for coming out with new phones on a regular basis. The announcement includes a mini version of said phone.
One the free and open source front, Rescuezilla’s newest release became available. Those familiar with tools like Clonezilla, Ghost, and others have an additional option for cloning hard drives.
Overlooked Pop Culture
There’s a reason some parts of the US have substituted Columbus Day for Indigenous People’s Day. Suffice it to say, I was fortunate to have a teacher in middle school who said that he wasn’t the one who discovered America.
Suffice it to say, Mark Zuckerberg was correct in warning that they can’t act as arbiters of truth. The attempt to stop disinformation was fuzzy and ineffective. People wound up talking about the story anyway.
That’s all for this week, and I will take a break from pushing our Patreon page.
As opposed to writing something every day I’ll be doing a weekly wrap up every Saturday night. This week’s report comes courtesy of my Librebooted ThinkPad T500. The keyboard is a dream to type on and this system actually has 8 GB of DDR2 memory.
This fine machine can still hold up to this day and is currently running Linux Mint 20.
Each section will follow the flow of the magazine itself. The Unix section covering Unix-like operating systems and related technology will be followed by the Overlooked Pop Culture section, which covers a variety of popular things that are often overlooked, misunderstood, or both.
Unix
Even though Apple’s OS X is based on BSD, it still has security vulnerabilities. It turns out the T2 Chip is vulnerable to exploits that would let someone take control of a user’s Mac. This would require physical access to a Mac, so it won’t impact most users.
Maybe Louis Rossman can utilize this exploit for data recovery purposes.
In cloud computing news, Nextcloud’s capabilities are increasing as well. Not only can you collaborate with their tools, you can integrate Microsoft Teams, Slack, Github, and more. It’s a good thing that software is updated from time to time, because legacy software has its limits, which can become dangerous depending on the situation.
Pro Wrestling fans may be excited about Halloween Havoc making a comeback this year. The classic WCW Pay Per View event is being adopted by NXT. It has been years since the Halloween themed event has aired, so having spookiness galore may ignite fan enthusiasm.
It isn’t all pumpkins and candy corn.
What may also be scary, albeit to Vince McMahon, is this piece from What Culture about Paige learning about Unionism. This comes in the wake of WWE wanting to take more control over performers’ use of social media platforms, even though said performers are “independent contractors.”
Though the WWE has become creative in offering a form of entertainment to the world in the midst of COVID-19, they aren’t the only option.
On a mental health note, it’s important to understand one thing: Even if one is “being edgy,” it’s never a good idea to show up at someone’s house uninvited and unwelcome.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes; that’s all for this week.
While you’re here, would you be willing to become one of our Patrons on Patreon? Doing so will get you access to the magazine for much cheaper than purchasing from the website while allowing us to grow. With enough resources, we’ll be able to have more content available throughout the week. Thank you so much in advance for your time.
This week’s Distrowatch Weekly is now available, and it highlights some new OS releases that use a Linux, *BSD, or POSIX-compliant kernel at its core. They’re a great resource for Linux/BSD-related news.
In this week’s issue, they talk about:
LinuxFX, a.k.a. WindowsFX.
The Ars article talking about Lenovo going all in by offering Ubuntu-based systems.
This week, I learned of the passing of Road Warrior Animal, one half of the legendary tag team known as LOD (Legion of Doom). As 2020 continues towards its conclusion, I fear we will continue to see legends from a variety of industries close the book on their lives due to age, illness, and more.
It hasn’t been an easy year, but thr best way to address his passing is to remember the amazing career he had in the squarred circle.
He held numerous titles alongside his partner Hawk and they wreaked havok wherever they went. The simple mentality of tough powerful people who don’t go without a fight was the hallmark of LOD.
So here’s to Animal, one who was tough enough to not take anyone’s shit while being spiritual at the same time.
Searching E-Bay listings will reveal that a single can cost at least $20 USD or more, give or take a few. So, the next time someone wants to argue with me about something ridiculous, showing it off will be how I end the “debate” for the last time!
While You’re Here
Would you be willing to become one of our patrons on Patreon? We would like to do so much more with the website and magazine full time. Thank you for your consideration.
It’s hump day, and what better way to start than with a Chromebook with an AMD Ryzen processor with integrated graphics! Michael Crider of Review Geek breaks the interesting news of HP releasing an enterprise-grade device with AMD’s hardware inside.
Android apps can run in ChromeOS, so having a more powerful APU (CPU with GPU integrated) makes sense.
I’ve written about Jeremy Hambly before. He was the one who revealed some issues in The Magic the Gathering community. He may have to wind up in court over a copyright claim on YouTube, which he argues that an image used was fair use.
It’s important to note that Hambly requested that his audience not contact the individual in question. I’ll keep an eye on this and will update everyone as things progress.
While You’re Here
The goal is to provide an entertaining media outlet that provides value. This means not relying on corporate sponsors or just “pushing products we believe in.” By becoming a patron on Patreon, you’ll have access to our digital magazine for cheaper than individual issues.
That’s nearly $50 a year in savings alone.
If you want us to be able to expand and do this full time, you can help us by signing up here.
Full Disclosure: Thomas owns a fraction of a share of Microsoft via SoFI Invest. He was also a Walmart Associate until December of 2016.
In the past, Ubuntu’s Unity Desktop was designed to work on mobile devices and desktop computers. When Canonical changed plans and moved back to GNOME 3 as their desktop environment of choice, the mobile variant all but disappeared.
Thanks to UBports, however, Ubuntu Touch is still being developed and works on several mobile devices.
Their newest release includes but is not limited to:
QtWebEngine 5.14: Now allows more flexible text selection and opening of multiple file types (PDF, MP3, images, text).
Icon-based System Settings Menu.
Newer backend components that will allow Ubuntu Touch to be based on Ubuntu 20.04.
Revamps of Messages, Dialer, and Contacts
Better compatibility with IPv6.
Their official release announcement can be read here.
It’s nice to be able to have progress without dealing with political theater, which TikTok has fallen victim to, according to media mogul Barry Diller.
“It has now morphed into a ludicrous game-match between tossing ownership here, control there. … Its original aims are out the window. It has just come a whole political mismash.”
–Barry Diller on CNBC’s Squawk Box
Microsoft was initially going to attempt a deal with ByteDance until China placed more export restrictions on computer-based algorithms. Now it’s Oracle and Walmart. World politics will continue to impact e-commerce in 2020, especially in the age of COVID-19.
Can You Do Us a Favor?
We are on a mission to make media better by being more entertaining while at the same time educating and empowering the public on a variety of topics. Besides downloading the first issue of the magazine and giving it away to all your friends and family, would you be willing to become one of our patrons on Patreon?
This will help us pay for web hosting expenses, software licenses, better equipment, and eventually allow us to do this full time. Future issues of the magazine will cost $5 USD each, but just $1 USD will allow you to have an issue for $4 USD less.
That’s a savings of $48 USD a year.
Our tiers cost so little because we believe in earning your trust while providing good value.
You can also get a free copy if you write for us and get published. With this issue and others in the future, please give away copies for free. Whether you share the file through torrenting or cloud storage links or print it, the more people read it, the better.
For those who want to print, bear in mind that the color scheme is RGB as opposed to CMYK, so inkjet and laser printers instead of commercial printers used for newspapers and traditional magazines.
I was in high school walking back to class from a restroom break when I heard the news of the twin towers being struck. The day went from being normal to surreal in a matter of moments.
Learning the rest of the day was going to be out of the question.
At one of the computer classes I was in at a vocational school that was partnered with my high school, we watched the news. We were in awe and terrified as the twin towers came down.
I was emotionally numb about the event for several days.
When the numbness began to wear off, I became uneasy as the Patriot Act was passed into law. The next thing I knew, talks of Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction entered the news cycle.
Today is a reminder of the thing that we have forgotten.
We must not let fear prevent ourselves from speaking up. Traditional media has had too many failures in the past, which is why there is so much distrust now. Crying wolf one time too many has its price.
Due to circumstances in my life and too much negativity, I stepped away from this project as the motivation was just not there.
I’ve concluded that the time has come to bring back The *Nixed Report.
There will be plenty of discussion of things that are not always for the faint of heart. At the same time, I’ve learned that a hard price is paid for taking things too seriously. When people say they get four hours of sleep a night or less as they grow less and less sane, it should be obvious that they are about to crack.
While not everything in life is a joke, being able to laugh is important; even if it’s at ourselves occasionally.
The magazine will be returning next week and will be on sale. The first issue will be free for everyone, and copying will be encouraged. I want the word to get out.
The idea will be to sell copies as well.
They can either be purchased off the website directly or through various crowdfunding platforms such as Patreon. Since choice is important when it comes to media consumption, multiple platforms will be available as well.
Publishing again for the sake of it isn’t a part of the mission statement.
The website, the magazine, and other media published will also serve as teaching tools as well so that others who want to know how to build an independent media venue will have a place to start. A store front with tools, supplies, and learning materials will also be provided as well in the future to help fund this project and help others learn about media creation.
Finally, having fun will be of the utmost importance.
If I don’t enjoy doing this, then there won’t be any point to it. I’m looking forward to rebuilding this brand into something better. Stay tuned.
I want to make things brief. After such a long time, I made the decision to bring this media venue back. Before doing so, it’s prudent to know what people want in regards to media consumption.
Let’s face it; a lot of venues have lost trust over the years for a variety of reasons.
For that reason, I want to know a thing or two about some of your thoughts. What would be a reasonable price for a subscription? What would convince you to pay for any sort of media and/or news?
Those are the things I need to know to better serve the audience in the near future.