GadgeteerZA

I use read-it-later services extensively to save any news I want to do blog posts about later, or something I want to look at in more detail when I have time (and three monitors).

I had been self-hosting Wallbag for quite a while, and did a video about it too, but I had some issues re-installing it when I moved to Docker container hosting on my VPS.

Ominvore certainly looks very interesting, with a modern interface and quite a few useful features. I'm starting so long with their free cloud hosted service, and could register with ease, and even initiate an import from Pocket. They do have a docker-compose file for setting up containerised self-hosting, but I'm going to wait a bit just to see if that matures a bit, as it seems it is early days still and no proper guide has been completed yet for it.

Apart from the usual saving links for reading later, with tags, archiving, etc, it also supports a clutter-free reader view for easy reading without adverts. In the reading view you can also change formatting, highlight text, add/view notes (in a Notebook view), and track reading progress across all devices (each note also shows a yellow progress line on its tile view to indicate reading progress).

It also has a feature for subscriptions via e-mail. Omnivore can generate unique e-mail addresses you can use for subscribing to online newsletters, and it is intelligent enough to realise that if a mail contains a welcome message, note from the author, etc that will be forwarded by Omnivore to your main e-mail address (without exposing that to the newsletter service).

It also has integration with Logseq, Obsidian notes, webhooks, and more.

You can save links by adding them in the app, using a browser extension, or by using the share option on mobile devices and just selecting to share to the Omnivore app.

There is no price model yet set up for the service, but I'm pretty sure they'll have an ongoing useful free tier with their online service, and probably only charge for some more advanced functionality. There is always the self-hosted option too. But for now, this looks very functional and useful to me, and I've started using it.

See https://omnivore.app/

Tech giants such as Apple, Samsung and Huawei have long focused on the wrist. It’s not the most comfortable option for everyone, and it can be challenging to maintain precise tracking through the wrist. Ensuring that your smartwatch fits snugly to obtain accurate data is crucial. A smart ring can be the great solution, however, provided you have the right size.

A finger has access to arteries, which a smartwatch could not reach, Mohit Kumar, founder and CEO of Ultrahuman, which counts iSeed, Steadview, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume among its key investors, told TechCrunch.

“If you go to any medical grade pulse oximetry devices, you put it on your finger. You don’t put it on your wrist. That’s primarily because this is a much better source of data,” he said.

Khatri of Noise agreed with Kumar and said the data available through a finger is way higher than a device can get from a smartwatch. Launching smart rings from BoAt and Noise is expected to bring competition to this nascent space.

The products are not yet launched, but the R&D and work commenced over a year back. Another positive sign is that it is unlikely that the data will sit behind a subscription pay wall (as Oura's latest ring has). I've been pretty impressed with my Oura ring, but it was very costly, and they did send me a replacement ring just after the warranty expired as the battery was suddenly giving out. So I may be keen to test one of these new Indian rings out when they are available. So I'll be watching this space closely.

More competition in the market, especially from India, is going to be good for consumers.

See https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/13/smart-rings-india/

Yes, there are a few good open-source office suites, but there are fewer that are server based, and actually collaboration based, like ONLYOFFICE DocSpace is (they also have a server version that installs from a Docker image).

Building a secure collaborative environment on a private Linux server definitely sounds like a good idea. Especially if you have to interact with other people and work with them on important documents, some of which might be confidential. In this case, you need a protected workplace with document editing and co-authoring features where you could set right the required access permissions for each collaborator.

ONLYOFFICE DocSpace is a new software tool that became available for local deployment not too long ago. In a nutshell, it’s a web-based collaborative platform designed to allow teams and individual users to manage and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and electronic forms in customizable rooms.

The platform is equipped with ONLYOFFICE Docs, an online office suite, that provides a complete set of formatting and editing tools for different content, including e-books and PDF files.

Moreover, the integrated office suite offers various features for real-time document collaboration, such as two co-editing modes, document review, version history, chat, comments, and video/audio calls enabled by the Zoom and Jitsi plugins.

And although there are paid hosted versions (that many organisations prefer to use for support purposes), you can also self-host a free community version, or even install on individual desktops for standalone use. Something I like about both ONLYOFFICE and FreeOffice, is that they both start up their apps just about instantly, whereas LibreOffice has a much longer lag to start-up. So it is always worth doing a bit of testing first before deciding on what you want to use.

See https://www.tecmint.com/install-onlyoffice-docspace-on-linux/

#technology #opensource #officesuite #collaboration

Google has announced several key changes to make its search platform safer for users by giving more control to South Africans (and other countries) over what personal information appears in results.

The internet giant said that it is bundling a host of new features that will allow users to remove their personal information from search and tackle explicit material posted without consent.

Google said that it is implementing major updates to this tool, making it easier for users to remove their personal contact information from Search. The tool will proactively monitor the web for results containing users’ contact information and enable immediate removal requests. Users will also be notified when new results appear containing their contact info.

Why this is also positive, is that it can also be difficult to get information removed from actual websites which are in many different countries. So being able to also just remove the indexed link, does help quite a bit as there is no longer something pointing most users to that information associated with you.

So will this be possible with DDG and Brave search too? I know some may decry the freedom of search is being encroached here, but it should also be remembered that it does often happen that the private information being published is also not legal. Just today, when testing this out I discovered my private cellphone number published (I know from the wording with it, that it was obtained from very likely a banking or insurance source, and my permission was not given for it to be published). In many countries, the right to privacy is also entrenched in their laws. The right to know does not usually override the right to privacy that individuals have.

See https://businesstech.co.za/news/internet/709098/4-big-changes-coming-to-google-including-removing-personal-information-and-images-from-search/

#technology #privacy #search

If you’re aiming to elevate your Linux learning process to an advanced administrative and expert level, we have meticulously curated a collection of 10 exceptional Free Linux eBooks.

These invaluable resources are designed to empower you in constructing an exceptionally robust foundation for your Linux skills. With these ebooks at your fingertips, you can confidently embark on a journey of profound Linux mastery.

Only one of the 10 books requires some registration for free access. The other 9 books are just click to download. Most of the books start at an introductory level, and what I really like about books versus Internet searches, is that reading a book is a more structured and logical process for building knowledge. You'll get a lot more value from actually reading these books, versus just doing searches to try to put many pieces of a puzzle together yourself.

The titles are:

• The Ultimate Linux Newbie Guide
• The Linux Command Line
• GNU/Linux Command−Line Tools
• Introduction to Linux
• Linux Fundamentals
• Linux Networking
• GNU/Linux Advanced Linux Administration
• Linux Shell Scripting Cookbook (trial subscription needed)
• Bash Reference Manual from GNU
• Advanced Bash Shell Scripting Guide

See https://www.tecmint.com/linux-books/

#technology #Linux #opensource #books

Value your health by keeping track on your training. It records as you go running or walking, and gives you a bike computer with a bigger screen for cycling. You can even mark interesting locations along your way with pictures. The app keeps recorded statistics in great detail for analysis.

It also has voice announcements, and supports Bluetooth LE sensors for heart rate (Polar, Wahoo Kicker/Ticker, moofit, Mi Band 3, Amazfit Neo, Garmin HRM, and more), speed and distance (running and cycling), cadence (cycling), and a power meter (cycling). It measures altitude gain/loss via the phone's barometer sensor. You can export data without any restrictions, as tracks either as KMZ (incl. photos), KML, or GPX.

It requires no Internet access, or extra permissions, and there are no adverts nor in-app analytics. You share only the data you want others to have. It can be installed from the Google Play Store, but also from the F-Droid store, with all Google services excluded.

It is not aiming to be a direct competitor to Strava because there is no public website, and also no iOS app. Strava's website does help create more of a social and peer pressure type motivation for many, across both Android and iOS users. But OpenTrack is focussing more on preserving privacy by not using such a service, although one can import the recording into other apps and share from there. Regarding iOS, well the app is fully open source, so maybe someone could consider compiling it for iOS if the dependencies are not an issue.

See https://opentracksapp.com/

#technology #fitnesstracker #health #OpenTracks #opensource

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.

See https://thenextweb.com/news/fibre-optics-answer-to-water-loss-leaky-pipes

#technology #fibre #waterleaks

The app was written in Python and started out for the HP-45 (ROM is included) but finally included also the HP-35 and the HP-80, as well as three others. For macOS and Windows you could just run the included executables, or with the Python code, this will run fine on Linux if you have Python installed. Nice thing is that you can also modify or tweak the Python code if you wish.

As she states, this is not a "how to learn HP or RPN" but there is a lot of included online help, and the original HP manuals are available online.

What an amazing resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the inner workings of these legendary calculators.

See https://sarahkmarr.com/retrohp1973.html

#technology #opensource #Python #HP1973 #HP45

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.

See https://weawow.com/

#technology #weather #weawow

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.

See https://github.com/jordansissel/xdotool

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 it's 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).

See https://www.timeslive.co.za/motoring/news/2023-07-11-bmw-smartglasses-help-bikers-navigate-with-head-up-display-technology/

#technology #motorcycling #BMW #HUD

All things amateur radio at this instance. So if you're interested, you can follow from any existing Lemmy instance you're at. I see the following communities already there:

• Amateur Radio at [email protected]
• Lemmy talk
• Homebrewing
• Digital Modes
• Rag Chew
• CW Talk
• Weekly Net
• Macs in the Shack
• VHF+
• SOTA
• Shack Pics
• POTA
• DMR