Posts by Col_Panek

HP printer software turns up uninvited on Windows systems

Funny, I don't seem to have it on my Chromebook, which runs Linux Mint. But I do have an antique HP LaserJet.

Car dealers openly beg Biden to put brakes on electric vehicle drive

Re: American ULEZs incoming (in Democrat states).

Here in New York, they spread car solvent on the roads from November to April (Syracuse is nicknamed the Salt City) so putting a lot of money into a steel car is a bad proposition. The junkyards are full of good drivetrains surrounded by crumbling Ferrous oxide.

Re: The problem is unchanged

"The minute a manufacturer produces an EV that can go the same distance as an ICE vehicle, AND be recharged in the same amount of time it takes to get a soda at a convenience store, THEN you will see the mass migration to EVs."

There will always be those who swear they pull a boat for 1000 miles without stopping, uphill, and they're allergic to electrons. What they really mean is, it's the Democrats forcing everyone to buy efficient, non-polluting cars so therefore they are evil.

Re: Who wants a second hand EV?

Does a £500 diesel car actually run? In the USA you'd be lucky if it was $5000.

Firefox slow to load YouTube? Just another front in Google's war on ad blockers

If he got 15 years out of a T shirt, that is probably acceptable.

Nukes, schmukes – fuel cells could power future datacenters

That's right! All you can use for millions of years, for free.

Just need a pipeline to the sun.

IBM sells off cloud business – yes, we mean Weather.com

I've used Weather Underground (https://www.wunderground.com/) for decades because they have a graph which shows the weather for the next ten days so I don't have to look at a list of numbers and try to figure out the humidity, %POP, temp, etc. As for ads, what ads? My blockers work just fine.

Israel and Italy have cheapest mobile data out of 237 countries

Re: Yes, but.

Well, goats then.

95% of NFTs now totally worthless, say researchers

Re: oh wow, such a shock.

"Well, I didn't see that coming." --Stevie Wonder

Why Chromebooks are the new immortals of tech

Re: Repair

My ten year old Chromebook Pixel is down to about two hours of battery. Could be worse.

Re: Well there's another angle

This is sad news. Now they will hang on to them longer and jack up the price because they're not "obsolete".

My best laptop is a 2013 Chromebook Pixel (list price $100) that I got just off lease for $200. I went through GalliumOS and Kubuntu, but It runs Mint best.

Re: In-law support is awesome!

Next best thing to running a real Linux, which you (or your kinfolk) can do on an ex-Windows machine without selling your soul to Google.

Google promises eternity of updates for Chromebooks – that's a decade for everyone else

Mine's a 2013 model Pixel, and runs the latest Linux Mint.

Missing Titan sub likely destroyed in implosion, no survivors

Re: Have no fears

"God himself could not sink this ship!"

Florida man insists he didn't violate the law by keeping Top Secret docs

Re: I can finally admit something

They were safely locked in the trunk of his Corvette.

UK warned not to bother racing US, EU on EV subsidies

Re: Batteries

In 'Murica, we listen to anti-EV FUD on Fox News. Same bullshit, less slurred speech.

Ubuntu 23.04 welcomes three more flavors, but hamburger menus leave a bad taste

Re: Stop the KDE and Gnome trains, I want to get off

I use MX with KDE* because I like it. Don't judge.

*Yeah, I know it's years old but the new version is coming.

When it comes to Linux distros, one person's molehill is another's mountain

You could use MX with the KDE desktop and get a speed boost. Just sayin'.

Re: The rise of "It just works"

Look in the back of the AARP magazine and you'll see "Senior Computers" advertised. "So simple to use, and carefree, etc." Yup, Linux based, of course.

Despite being a retired vacuum tube engineer, people ask me about PC problems. My standard answer now is "I Don't Do Windows" but I'll install Linux for them. If they "need" a new computer, I steer them toward a Chromebook, which usually does the job for them. I have one myself, 10 year old Pixel, which I run Linux Mint on. My first PC that was never contaminated with Windows!

Re: it's my wife's laptop that gets monopolised by the kids, not mine.... :-)

My 8 year old grandson had no problem. His older sisters use Chromebooks. Their parents are too stuck in their ways and are hopeless Windows slaves, though. Grandma is happier on Linux Mint than Windows 7.

Re: Easy choice

Yes, I feel the same way about Gates.

You know, in fences, with all those hinges to wear and catches to snag you.

Re: Other Choices

"But there's too many choices ... " Fine, then use Mint.

Re: Other Choices

The latest history books explain that it happened about five years ago, for some distros (ZorinOS, Mint).

Chromebook expiration date, repair issues 'bad for people and planet'

Re: So you actually rent them?

No, it's just the operating system which has an end of life date. Update that, you're good to go. I bought my 2013 model Pixel 5 years ago for $200 (new list $1100), put crostini on it, then GalliumOS, then Kubuntu, currently Linux Mint, which the wife likes.

Better to un-Google it completely, and run Linux.

Re: Bit one sided

" .... or they can be upgraded to run a better OS."

All our antique PCs run a better OS. Even my Chromebook.

America ain't exactly outlawing gas cars but it's steering hard into EVs

Re: Change can happen quickly...

"If I asked people what they wanted, they'd say a faster horse." -- Henry Ford

The SAE projects that EV vs. ICE car build costs will cross over in the 2025ish time frame. If people get a choice of an EV and an ICE at the same price, some of them will go for the EV for its dramatically lower running costs, not to mention the zoom zoom factor (ignoring the noise and smell). There will be many who say they have to drive 600 miles without stopping, in -20C weather, pulling a boat, and park at an apartment or street with no charging. Many who will be convinced that it's a Liberal Democratic hoax like climate change, and that They can shut off your car when THEY want to limit you. Forcing people to change does nothing but generate resentment. Let them buy dino juice and enjoy the price.

SAE = Society of Automotive Engineers

Ukraine invasion blew up Russian cybercrime alliances

Re: If Russia gives legal immunity to cybercriminals

Putin should conscript them all and send them to the front lines.

This is the end, Windows 7 and 8 friends: Microsoft drops support this week

Re: Win 7

I have 3 Linux distros and all their apps on a $30 SSD, might boot a minute on my 13 year old Dell with 4 GB RAM.

It's been replaced by Linux Mint.

Re: Sleeker

I'm from the first half of the 20th century, so yeah. I like a tower that I can load up with cards and extra drives. These newfangled SFF things are really cramped.

Re: Windows 10 is not a problem

I've put Puppy Linux on a laptop that ran Windows 2000 on 256MB. As long as I didn't open more than one browser tab, it was good enough for a kid to do homework on.

MX is another favorite. Even the KDE desktop is swift.

Re: Ramp.....Money......

You lied when you wrote "Now.....Linux requires some effort and commitment....." If you stop trying new distros and desktops, it just works.

Re: 2023 is the year of the Linux desktop /s

If they include any more, people will complain about bloat. But if you can install anything in a minute or so, who needs more?

Re: For once, I recommend the new PC route

I usually buy refurb business class machines when they drop to a quarter of their new list price. I put in a small SSD for the fresh Linux OS, and good to go.

Forget the climate: Steep prices the biggest reason EV sales aren't higher

Re: The ICE will be with us for...

Mazda is rumoring one with a Wankel range extender. Might just work.

Re: The ICE will be with us for...

As a point of comparison, there are seven million horses in the USA, twice the number of EVs. Some are transportation for the Amish, some are pets, some are racers. Probably ICE cars will be the same.

Re: Too expensive, too heavy, too range limited

I am interested in the new Mazda MX-30 with a 100 mile range battery (which covers 100% of my usual daily driving) and a Wankel range extender. That might solve the problems o the rotary engine, running at an optimum RPM.

I said I was interested, not that I'm necessarily going to put a deposit down.

FCC calls for mega $300 million fine for massive US robocall campaign

Six cents per call? I guess crime does pay.

Brit MPs pour cold water on hydrogen as mass replacement for fossil fuels

Re: Hydrogen is an energy storage medium...

Seems to me (although I am not a chemist) there would be more viable synthetic fuels that could be distributed using current infrastructure, saving some trillions of dollars and pounds and thus make all this greenness economically more palatable. Some use nitrogen to suck up the burny stuff, so we couldn't use combustion engines because hot nitrogen makes nasty. We could use good ole moonshine if we take the carbon out of the air, not out of the ground. And filling stations could stay in business.

Yep, all we need is dirt cheap hydrogen and free compressors. Maybe build a pipeline to the sun, and cool it passing through space on the way. All the other ways are energy intensive, but when free fusion power is perfected next year, it will be OK.

Meanwhile, we'll drive battery powered cars.

UK bans Chinese CCTV cameras on 'sensitive' government sites

Internet connected picture frame

... that my wife got as a present, goes to a server somewhere to get photos people email to her. A search turned up a white hat on Reddit who was a little suspicious when one was gifted to a government official for his desk. I await his analysis.

But i think the eyes in the picture follow you around the room.

Microsoft mulls cheap PCs supported by ads, subs

I love my Chromebook. It runs Linux Mint.

Why I love my Chromebook: Reason 1, it's a Linux desktop

Re: Security

I bought a 2013 Pixel for $200 (original $1100) and eventually installed Linux Mint on it. Still my best laptop.

Re: Windows machines lifespan

He refers to the business users' timetable. These are great machines to scoop up: they've been lightly used and are burned in & heavy duty, so very reliable.

Re: Windows machines lifespan

Many times, and my answer is "I don't do Windows". Then offer to install Linux.

Your next PC should be a desktop – maybe even this Chinese mini machine

Re: the year of the linux desktop?

189 euro/dollars isn't such a bargain for an underpowered machine, compared to a refurbed business class SFF desktop. One of which I have.

Laugh all you want. There will be a year of the Linux desktop

Re: Is it "Linux _on_ the desktop" or should it be "KDE _for_ the desktop"?

"I wouldn't expect anyone who isn't tech savvy to use it though."

You mean like my wife, who can't change the stations on her car radio? I got news for you. Mint is easier than Windows nowadays.

California wildfires hit CTRL+Z on 18 years of CO2e removal

Best way to sequester carbon

I cut down a bunch of spruces and started burning them in a biochar retort, which in my case was a meter deep ditch in my garlic patch which took ten minutes to dig. I got about 35 gallons of biochar which went into my mulch piles to soak up nutrients. When spread in the garden, it will sequester the carbon for hundreds of years, and keep nutrients from leaching out.

A retort relies on the structure to pyrolize the material at the bottom of the pile, starving it of oxygen. An untended fire that's a level pile of brush will just turn to ash and the CO2 will just escape into the atmosphere. Of course half the fuel in a retort is gone, but the other half is eternal carbon (to a first approximation).

So, getting rid of brush, sequestering carbon, and making fertilizer. What's not to like?

Scientists pull hydrogen from thin air in promising clean energy move

Re: Storage ? Transport ?

The way to reduce artificial fertilizers is to burn trees. When they're hot enough, cut off the oxygen so they pyrolize into biochar. Throw that into the ground and it keeps nutrients from leaching out, and it holds water too. It sequesters carbon for hundreds of years. Scrap wood that's just burned to ash turns into carbon dioxide. Compost lasts for a decade then it escapes as CO2.